That wisdom says that you should grow your social media following and engage with them since it's the best way to reach an audience.

Don't get me wrong, there was a time where that was true. Social media was a place where you could develop a loyal following of fans, make your brand distinct, and share your unique insights. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter used to be a place where your voice was a valuable part of the platform and a wise marketing investment.

Today, however, our clients have been complaining more and more about how the big three feel like a pay-to-play scheme. And we've seen that, too. Social media has become a carnival attraction that is pricing out our local clients in favor of big-money interests.

What's the solution?

A few months ago, we rolled out our email newsletter. You might've noticed the new sign up page and the popup that now appears on the site.

That's not to say that there's no place for social media in your marketing. Indeed, Instagram and YouTube in particular are great ways to onboard potential customers.

But onboard is the operative word.

We've placed a heavy emphasis on our email newsletter. We've done that for a few reasons (which we will outline a little later on).

However, around the time we rolled out our newsletter we also removed most of the links to our social media. While we have Instagram and Facebook accounts, we've found that our effort is much better spent investing in growing our email audience.

This is a big deal for us as we had bought into the contemporary wisdom of "growing your social media presence." Yet, our Facebook and Instagram following already pale in comparison to our email newsletter recipients.

Why Emails?

Expressiveness

Email is a critical part of most people's lives and it allows for your brand to express itself and build that critical emotional connection with customers in a way traditional Facebook posts simply cannot.

Refined Audience

Email marketing is a collection of your brand's biggest fans. These are people who have opted into seeing what your organization is up to, after all.

The importance of this cannot be overstated.

Greater ROI

Email marketing also converts much better than most Social Platforms do, especially for local brands with limited budgets.

Presence

Emails will also (generally) appear at the top of the recipients' inbox. At least for a time. That position keeps your messaging top-of-mind!

Other Options

There are other options to the traditional Social Media outfits like  Facebook, Instagram and the like. There are Fediverse-powered alternatives like Mastodon, PixelFed, Peertube, and more!

These independent services use a common protocol called ActivityPub to enable rich interactions between users on different platforms. So a Mastodon user could leave a comment on a Peertube video or like a photo uploaded to PixelFed.

Critically (and much like email) posts on these platforms are not curated by an algorithm (hostile or otherwise). Instead, content is presented in chronological order and allows for organic discovery and for content to "to viral."

Also, unlike email marketing which depends on paid services like Mailchimp or Constant Contact, these Fediverse services are free to use!