Readers ask: How do I move my audience away from social media?
- Megan Espinal
- Nov 3
- 3 min read
Moniqua in Dallas asks:
"I eventually want to get off of social media entirely for my business. How do I start getting my followers to engage with me somewhere else?"
First, I want to say congratulations for making a decision to kick the energy vampires out of your business! It's bold to buck trends, especially when all of the advice tells you that you have to be on social media, and that you won't succeed without it. (This just isn't true.)
You're also doing the right thing by wanting to come up with a plan. You can't quit social media overnight without a strategy and the systems in place for alternatives, so you're doing the right thing to plan ahead.
How to choose a new digital space to engage your audience without social media
I'd start by figuring out where you ultimately want to engage your audience instead of social media. This will partly depend on how you naturally show up in the world (i.e. Don't decide it'll be email marketing if you hate writing or don't enjoy email as a channel). If you don't know your natural communication style, I'd recommend you take Macy Robison's free Resonant Thought Leader Archetype Quiz.
Maybe you're best "live," and you want to host weekly or monthly Zoom calls with your audience. If your community is super active with each other in the comments now, you might decide a members-only platform like Patreon, Mighty Networks, or Skool is a better place to let them keep connecting and collaborating with each other.
If you're a texting fanatic, consider spaces like Telegram or Signal for regular group chats and access to you. (I don't recommend WhatsApp because it's owned by Meta.)
No matter what medium you choose, make sure to keep your website and email marketing in the mix.
Use the website to make sure your audience knows where your preferred space is, what happens there, and how they can get access to it.
Use email marketing to remind prospects and subscribers that your community space is there, send them to the website to get access, and let them know about upcoming events and offers that are only available for people in your community.
Preparing your audience to move off social media
Once you've decided where you'll build you community, here's how you can start preparing your social media audience to make the switch:
Ask them to sign up for your email list so you can notify them when the new community is live. T
Tell them why you're making the move away from social media, and give them a timeline when you'll stop posting to social or your handles will be deleted.
Remind them at regular intervals on social media and over email that your social channels' days are numbered.
Stick to that deadline.
I have two words of warning as you start this process:
You're going to get some backlash.
It might come from your own followers, but I'd expect some snark from people who aren't even part of your social media network. People get defensive when you make decisions they can't or won't make; it's a reflection of their own fears and insecurities, not your failings.
Remember why you're doing this for yourself. Make your reasons your mantras if it helps, but also use them to communicate with your audience. Transparency, consistency, and honesty are key to helping them understand and get on board with why you want to make this change. Don't let anyone bait or pressure you into reconsidering.
You won't get everyone who follows you to make the jump to your new community space
Be prepared that your 5,000 followers on Instagram may turn out to be just 1,500 subscribers for your emails. But that means you've just identified your most ardent fans, while at the same time realigning your business activities to meet your own needs and values. Those are all wins no matter how you look at it.
Let me know how it goes!
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Have a question you'd like to ask me? Email megan.espinal@marketingbyme.co.
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