I did a thing last week. I deleted all my social media accounts off my phone and announced I would be living off the (Instagram) grid. Yes, I’m officially off of social media–at least until the end of the year (minimum).

For years I’ve craved leaving the apps. Jealous of friends who have turned it off or never got on. And for years, as a marketer, I was told what social can do for your business and that it’s a must for any business to grow. So I stayed.

But is this really true? Is social that important to my brand strategy?

That’s what I’m going to find out.

The reality is, businesses have been around LONG before social media ever existed and will continue to live long after it’s gone. So does social media benefit your brand?

For me, I spent countless hours creating content for my audience to get a some engagement and a few views. Most days I enjoyed creating this content and engaging with a couple of people who showed up to experience it. But the pressure of living up to the algorithm, getting sucked into scrolling for who knows how much time (it always seems to go into a vortex where all time is lost), and an ROI that didn’t make any sense.

But it’s free. So we keep using it. Even if it doesn’t work.

As a brand strategist that speaks about being intentional, I decided it was time to get intentional with my limited time and resources on a strategy that did provide a return. So I’m fulfilling my dream of turning off my social and reporting back to you on the experience–here and on my blog.

During this time of being social-free (which could last til Jan. 1 or longer) I plan on going deeper in my content on a few channels that touching the surface on a lot platforms. My energy will be spent on this newsletter mostly, providing you with content that means something. And if at any point it doesn’t please feel welcome to unsubscribe. I want you to be intentional with your inboxes just like everything else in your life.

Before You Turn Off Social:

Before you turn it off, get intentional. Think about how you’re approaching social media and if you’re doing it with a strategy.

Are you providing content that’s valuable to your ideal customer? Showing up on social is about providing a relationship and as always, providing value. Adjust your strategy to fulfill these objectives and see what happens after 3-months.

How much time are you active on social? This is intentional time of engaging with you audience and looking into accounts that might fit your ideal customer and then engaging with their accounts. (30 comments a day!)

After doing all of this have you made any sales from social? Are you actually seeing an ROI? If not, I suggest trying to go social free for 3-months and see what it does for you.

Social media can be a powerful tool in meeting new people and growing your business, it can also be a tool that feels like you’re being productive when in reality you’re just wasting time.

Ask yourself the hard question–Is social media serving my business? Does it add value to my life? If the answers aren’t a resounding YES it’s time to get off or at least take a break and see what business looks and feels like without it. You can always go back, you can’t however, get wasted time back.

Know that at any time you can reply to these emails and ask me your questions, provide feedback, or share your journey too. I love hearing from you and am always here to help, even if I’m not on social anymore!

Sincerely,