Katie Wight | May 25, 2023
Is it just me, or do others feel anxious and burst into tears when looking up their competition? It makes me feel like I'm shit at what I do and gives me so much doubt about whether I’ll build what I’m dreaming of…
This was posted by one of our clients in our public Facebook group the other day, and it’s a real-life, real-time example of what the research tells us: that increased use of social media is associated with increased symptoms of depression and anxiety (University of Pennsylvania, 2017).
Another study published in the Journal of Business and Technical Communication affirms that social media usage is associated with increased feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt among entrepreneurs:
We compare ourselves to the curated and idealized versions that other entrepreneurs and brands put out.
We’re constantly exposed to the opinions and feedback of others.
We feel the pressure to constantly be “on” and present our best selves.
When you combine the pressures of bootstrapping entrepreneurship and the current conditions of the social media marketing industry, it’s a fast track to burnout – if not clinical depression.
That’s why my team and I focus on efficient and sustainable frameworks that allow my clients to grow faster by spending less time on social. This approach looks out for my clients and it also looks out for their customers.
"But Katie, all the big names with lots of followers on Instagram say that the more you post the faster you’ll grow."
As a social media marketer with 13 years of experience in this field, let me unpack that for you with a few facts:
● Posting more / spending more time on social media apps leads to more total user engagement with the platform…
● Advertisers are willing to pay more to reach a larger and more engaged audience, so as users spend more time on the platform and post more content, the value of the platform to advertisers increases.
● Additionally, more time spent on the platform means more data for Facebook to collect and use to target ads to users, which also increases the platform's value to advertisers.
● This allows Meta (or YouTube, or Tiktok) to charge more for advertising and therefore make more money.
● That’s why, over the past two years, these platforms have paid out BILLIONS of dollars to creators to create more content, while simultaneously rewarding those accounts with accelerated growth.
Look, if you’re a brand that’s having a ton of success growing your customer base by publishing tons of content, don’t stop. But if you’re a brand that’s not seeing the same results, understand that those accounts are being treated differently by Meta because they are literally being paid by Zuckerberg to do his work for him.
After consulting thousands of brands across dozens of industries, there’s one thing I know for certain: There’s more than one way to grow your brand online.
We’ve proven that lean, mean, strategic content machines are what’s best for reaching your revenue goals, better for your sanity, and better for your bottom line because you’re able to reduce your costs.
Not to mention, those time and money resources that you were previously being duped into deploying to work for Zuck and his buddies were also contributing to addiction-depression culture: the opposite of what most big-hearted entrepreneurs want.
There’s a better way, and we’re here to share it with you! Thousands of brands across dozens of industries have used our S3 System ™ for Social Growth to grow faster by spending less time on social media.
If you want accelerated growth, better ROI, and a more enjoyable experience, join us at our upcoming workshop where we’ll share social media marketing’s best kept secret strategy (step-by-step) with you. 👇
