A lot of freelancers, especially Gen X and Gen Y freelancers, are pondering this right now. We know it brings leads, community, and a sense of control over our marketing. But we also know that building on a new platform from scratch is some hard yakka.

So, should you be trading all your current social media platforms for the new, shiny equivalents? And is the effort worth the pay off, even with fatigue?

The answer always is with social media marketing – it really depends.

Here’s how you can figure whether you have the stomach for another social media platform for you or your freelance business

Building with intentions

a sign to a concert says CANCELLED SICK on it

Photo courtesy of Gratisography

 

Let me be blunt about this – we’ve been convinced by freelance leaders (myself included at various times) that social media is the Kingmaker for freelance business. And it is… for those of us in leadership roles who teach, sell courses, templates, run job boards, or ‘lead’. We benefit from you taking part and believing us when we tell you your business will also fly if you follow our lead, grow an audience, and play the game.

But like I say to my coaching clients:

  1. Not everyone is suited to social media
  2. Not everyone is suited to the same platforms
  3. Not everyone is there for the same reasons
  4. Not everyone’s clients are there

This means you must ask yourself some questions:

  • Do I genuinely enjoy creating posts for social media? Or do I do it because I believe I must?
  • Do I like spending time on social media?
  • When I spend time on social media, is it inspiring, productive, helpful, and entertaining? Or do I feel less capable, less focused, alone, stressed, and negative?
  • Are the interactions I have with other people on social media positive? Do I enjoy them?
  • Am I seeking out interactions or am I simply what posts what I care about? Is that enough?
  • When I interact on social media, what are the byproducts I receive? E.g. leads, a mood boost, great ideas for campaigns, a sense of being connected to my peers, something to talk about in my marketing, insights into my clients or industry, etc
  • Is social media teaching me anything useful or giving me the chance to practice a skill? E.g. to keep it short and sweet on X or Bluesky, to think strategically about what I post overall, to get better at communicating or customer etc.
  • What sorts of social media platforms do you genuinely enjoy using? Why is that?

Once you’ve answered these questions, things might be starting to get a little clearer!

Is social media marketing still a useful tool?   

Forget reach for a minute. Think about the uses social media marketing has for you and your business.

  • Does it make contacting you easier?
  • Can you cutdown the legwork to answering questions?
  • Are leads joining you that you can speak to?

But its not all about the sales or customer service questions. You’ve got to think about the benefits on a personal and professional level.

Observe:

  1. Social media marketing works for me for a few reasons. My natural state is painfully shy and anxious. Breaking the ice with online conversations is so much easier!
  2. Professionally, I like writing about deeper topics. The audience is still here. Dr Google justifies my social media existence. I write in mental health, health, and end-of-life. We turn to the internet for our scary moments, with our questions, to discuss taboo subjects, and research. I help make sure the information people get during these times from social media isn’t harmful or misleading.
  3. Finding the clients is a different story. The content I produce needs to be in front of the client for them to be able to see how it works. And that’s where choosing the right social media and the audience comes in. I need to split half of what I do for peers to see my value, and the other to backstop the enquiries.

If you can spot the difference across what it does for you, what it does for your client’s customers, and where the clients are to find out about you, social media marketing and the real reasons you turn to it, gain clarity.

The social media marketing questions you should ask here are:

  • Can I practice skills I need in my business on social media?
  • Do online interactions make me feel more connected to myself, my peers, opportunities, creativity, and purpose?
  • Are my client’s customers consuming social media marketing when they are making decisions?
  • How do my clients feel about social media marketing?

We don’t all use social media marketing the same or for the same reasons. Knowing where we fit inside the puzzle is empowering.

The social media platforms available to you

Part of the issue I see with the current will I/ won’t I social media decision is this:

  • Everyone’s comparing platform A to platform Z. E.g. is Bluesky the new Twitter/X?
  • The focus is on loss, not opportunity. E.g. But I built this following here, do I really want to do it there?
  • We’re focussing on our late-stage experience versus the early stages. It took a while for any of these platforms to turn toxic. In the meantime, it is OK to use them
  • We’re transplanting what we know instead of thinking about reinvention. This is an opportunity to activate a better strategy
  • We’ve forgotten what we can do without it. Are there any reasonable replacements for any of the above that doesn’t involve social media?

Bluesky might be like Twitter’s left-leaning brother. Cara might look like an artier Instagram. Substack mirrors the blogosphere early days and an ungated Medium. A LinkedIn group could be a Facebook group if you squinted a little. Reels might be Tik Tok and Tik Tok might be replaced by the original Chinese version if it ever gets banned again. WhatsApp might find itself replaced by Signal. And so it goes.

But they are vastly different beasts. And attract different kinds of people.

The beauty of the new platforms is that they are learning from other social media mistakes. There is increased privacy, a greater focus on connection, and much more user choice in how we manage the apps in our lives.

As an audience, we also have the option to be more mature.

The social media marketing questions then become:

  • What don’t I want to lose about the social media I have now?
  • How can I reduce the chance of losing my audience if I move elsewhere?
  • How can I encourage and help my audience make the move across, too?
  • How much do I know about the new platforms available?
  • Which ones align with what I know about myself as a social media creator?
  • As a social media consumer, where would I feel the most inspired and welcome?
  • If I were to use a new platform, what would I like to use it for?
  • What do I want to get it out of the platform?
  • Who do I want to reach?
  • How is this audience different from the one I have now?
  • What sorts of social media content experiments would I like to try?
  • What looks exciting and fun about venturing out into a new social media territory?
  • Who are the early adopters I’d love to hang with? E.g. artists, activists, creators, technologists, socially, geographically, etc
  • How much time can I give to checking this new social media out?

And think about this:

  • What did I like about social media before it became what it is today?
  • Can I recapture that in the offline world?
  • Would I like to change my social media usage habits? How?
  • Has social media added value to my experience in the past?
  • Is that value still worthwhile pursuing today?

Social media marketing isn’t going away. But it is evolving. And that evolution can bring opportunities and change.

Need a hand figuring out whether social media marketing you need and what the alternatives are to the big platforms you are using now? Check out this blog on the Instagram algorithm. Jump onto the Freelance Jungle newsletter page and see how Substack is helping build audience and content.

And if you want someone to help make your next social media marketing transition, hit me up! I can coach or plan you through it.

 


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