I’m No Longer Mixing Business & Pleasure on *This* Social Media Platform
During my recent social media detox I compiled a list of all the platforms my business is on. It was 10+ long.
One of my goals for going on a social media detox was to reduce marketing fatigue when I returned and hone in on the platforms that are truly effective for my business.
I read Zulie Writes’ Medium post on how it’s more effective to limit your social media channels to two, and Becca of Inside The Square echoed this in a recent podcast episode.
Part of my struggle with marketing, even though my business teaches other small businesses how to market themselves, is that my offers aren’t locally based and my content errs on the educational side.
Which means my audience is on numerous platforms.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t have to be on all of them.
I made a list of platforms I believe are or will be effective for my business, a list of those I’d like to continue with and maybe let go of later, along with a short list of platforms I felt confident dropping now.
The one I was most excited to drop? Pinterest.
My journey with Pinterest
Now I love Pinterest. I discovered it in high school and had boards for photography inspiration, outfit ideas, and my future home. Pinterest was fun and inspiring.
A few years later I had started my photography business and used blogging to showcase my recent photo shoots. (These were the days before carousel posts where you can now include multiple photos in a single Instagram post.)
And that’s when I learned Pinterest could be used to drive traffic to my blog, so I began designing pins for every post and sharing them to new Pinterest boards.
I added boards for business tips where I’d pin ideas from other accounts, and began adding my own when my business pivoted to marketing and teaching online business courses.
My Pinterest feed went from gorgeous photographs, cute outfits, and home decor to how to hack the algorithm, tax write-offs for small business owners, how to build passive income, etc.
I’d log onto Pinterest and instead of feeling inspired I’d be sucked into work mode, seeing all the things I could be doing which led to overwhelm and feeling like I wasn’t doing enough.
(At one point I decided to separate my business and personal Pinterest accounts, but managing two was a lot and I decided to merge them again when I rebranded.)
How it went
Pinterest wasn’t working from me. Not only from a user standpoint, but from a business one as well.
I decided to give Tailwind a try, scheduling my pins and sharing pins from communities. But after one year, there was no noticeable difference.
Each platform takes time and strategy, and I’m sure I could have had more success with Pinterest if I designed multiple pins per blog post and pinned them frequently, but that was more than I wanted to manage. So I left Pinterest to focus on the marketing channels I was gaining traction on.
It’s been a couple of years since I dropped pinning, but my account still had seven boards dedicated to business and my newsfeed was full of those relevant pins. Pinterest wasn’t fun anymore.
Not all platforms are going to work for all busiensses
While it felt liberating to downgrade my Pinterest account from business to personal, FOMO immediately set in. I still blog frequently and continue to see social media posts from Pinterest gurus lauding how effective the platform is for bloggers.
But they’re promoting it because they’ve found success on it. Not all platforms are going to work for all businesses.
Marketing has evolved from strategy-based to “how can I get the most views?”. And while views are important — marketing is a numbers game— they shouldn’t be the focus.
You can receive tens of thousands of views on a post, but if it doesn’t lead to sales of your offer, it’s not an effective one.
It’s been a month since I downgraded my Pinterest account and my personal feed is now a collage of recipes, travel — and yes- cute outfits and home decor.
It feels almost insidious to keep a social media platform entirely to myself and use it for the simple enjoyment of it. But I think that’s important to do when you own a business.
Our business and personal lives can blur as small business owners, and I think it’s essential to set boundaries and maintain lives of our own.
Since letting go of Pinterest for Business and a few other platforms, I’ve honed in on my marketing strategy to make it more manageable — and effective.
I’m now blogging on Medium and love the built-in community it comes with. And my inner high schooler would be proud that I’m still having fun on Pinterest.
Want your own manageable yet effective marketing strategy? Check out Self-Employed School.
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Hey there! I’m Meg:
LOVER OF CATS, ROLLER SKATING, AND VW BUGS
I also love business and share all kinds of tips and resources to help you grow yours.
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