50 ways to market your work outside of social media

Breaking free from the algorithm. Okay, but what are the alternatives?

Oct 21, 2024

It's been almost 3 years since Lush dropped not a bath bomb, but a truth bomb, leaving major social media platforms to fight for change. Guess what? They're doing just fine!

Despite industry scepticism, Lush stood strong, focusing on engaging their audience through in-person events and maintaining their presence on Pinterest. They chose integrity over convenience, and so far it seems to be paying off.

Why should you care?

Because it shows how cutting back on the mainstream content marketing circus can lead to long-term gains and deeper connections with the people who actually buy from your brand. In short, you don't need to make socials your focus to grow a business with integrity (and I’m not the first to say that out loud).

That’s why, inspired by this post by Amelia Hruby, I've compiled my own list of 50 ways to market your work that'll make your customers actually remember your name and not just your perfectly curated Instagram aesthetic.

The goal here isn’t to get you off social media. Most won't. I won't (for now). But precisely for that reason, shouldn’t we break loose from its grip? Trial alternatives? Explore ways that better serve us and our customers?

illuminated advert for "Sunset Hour" drinks on a screen in a public bathroom

If you're curious about why I'm advocating for turning this social media dumpster fire into a glorious phoenix rising from the ashes, I'm working on a mini-essay. It’ll distil years of marketing experience (and a healthy dose of personal bias) on this topic, and I'll soon be posting it on my other, personal Substack. Subscribe here if you don't want to miss that.

Just gimme the list

Invite someone you admire for a coffee
Host a workshop at your favourite local spot
Put together a showreel of your best work or customer testimonials
Give your clients something back if they introduce you to a new business
Create or update your website
Rent a page on your website to other small businesses
Make a PDF portfolio. Include a maximum of 5 projects, keep it short and sweet
Launch a course on a platform like Kajabi or Thinkfic
Ask a friend to share your work with their peers
Leave reviews for businesses and freelancers you love
Ask a shop if you can leave business cards by their till or put a flyer in their window
Ask clients and past colleagues to leave you testimonials
Join a coworking space
Hang out at a local café/coffee shop and make friends with the folks who work there
Host a coworking or body-doubling meetup
Set up a booking link with a service like Cal.com, so people can easily schedule time to chat when your calendar is free
Invest in a session with a business coach you respect
Write an article that links to your business and pitch it to a trade magazine editor
Record a podcast series
Improve your site’s accessibility to boost SEO and allow everyone (including people with disabilities) to consider your services
Keep an eye on news, work opportunities, and events from your University’s alumni department
Livestream your work process on Twitch or YouTube (okay, this might require a level of social media use)
Reach out to people who do very similar work to you and see if you can collaborate on something
Make a playlist
Launch a Telegram Broadcast and share resources, memes, or words of motivation with your audience
Print branded stickers and stick them all over town
Ask a retail media agency to put your ad in shopping trolleys across selected stores.
Open a Discord and invite your community to join you there
Write an article about your work and pitch it to a local publication
Place an ad inside a taxi
Place an ad on a bus stop
Offer your services or product to someone you admire in exchange for something they can do for you (other than money)
Practice telling people who you are and what you do
Put all your info and links in your email signature
Reflect on what made you start your business in the first place
Show up for a community gathering at your local bookshop, library, or literally anywhere else in your town
Send postcards to people that want to follow your travels (if you travel a lot)
Share some of your photos, sounds, or words with a royalty free license so others can reuse them.
Practice writing to your ideal client. Talk to them as if they were in front of you and as if they were one of your friends (some call this exercise building a brand voice)
Sponsor a pub quiz and offer a branded prize
Start an email newsletter
Write a nurturing campaign to welcome new signups to your email list
Ask a photographer you love to take new headshots or promo photos for you
Write and print a zine about a topic related to your work
Go into an independent store and ask the owner if they would consider selling your work/product
Create a free resource and sponsor a podcast to share it for you (helps you reach new folks)
Repurpose behind the scenes material into resources you can offer to patrons in exchange for a monthly fee (e.g. on Patreon)
Rent a booth at a local trade show or craft fair
Join a business directory
Take a walk and look around
Actually listen to people engaging with your stuff!

And that's all. You just got 51 entries for the price of 50!

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Yes, but which of these will actually work?

It depends—and I know that's probably not the answer you wanted. There’s no one size fits all. Your business location, experience, industry, and niche are ultimately the factors that'll determine which non-social media marketing alternative(s) will work best for you.

My unsolicited advice?

Measure your current results so you know where your sales are coming from and where you should be spending your time.
Run small-scale experiments for any new marketing approach you feel confident in. Analyse the return on investment and you customers’ feedback. Use this valuable data to craft a solid plan.
Stop trying to cram all your eggs into one basket. Spread those babies around and watch them hatch (hopefully) into something beautiful.
We've been sleeping on the old-school marketing playbook. Outdoor adverts, non-spammy emails, sponsored events, physical mailers, and good press - they're all making a comeback. While potentially pricier than some social campaigns, these aren't just accessories. They're potential heavy hitters, especially for repeated exposure (hello, rule of 7).
It’s about time we ditch that perfect-on-the-first-try expectation. We can't predict every twist and turn our audience might take, no matter how hard we squint at our crystal balls. So embrace the beautiful chaos. Trial and error and trial and error. Because you're not going to get it right on your first try... and trust me, that is FINE.

PS

A big shout out to Amelia and her Off The Grid podcast. She's been doing the heavy lifting for years, spreading the word about growing businesses off the clutches of social media. Businesses you can actually dare call 'authentic'!
Feel free to raid my list for inspiration. That’s what it’s there for! Let me know if you gave any of the ideas a go and if it went well.

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