Why Social Media is a Waste of Time For Specific Businesses

There is this misconception in our society that social media is the #1 key for any business to reach target clients.  Although this is true for some businesses, it doesn’t work for all, and I’m going to explain to you why that is.

I focus on helping alternative healing modality practitioners use their online presence in the most effective way possible, so that is who I focus on when it comes to observing social media.  I can confidently say that for most of my clients, using social media in a traditional way is not a good business strategy.  

Social media isn’t made for small service-based businesses, especially location-based ones.  Instead, it’s built for big advertising budgets, or for dopamine hits and anything else that will keep people on the apps for as long as possible. The frustrating truth is that people are rarely on there to find health practitioners. They’re there to zone out or feel an emotional boost and then scroll to the next bit of emotionally boosting content. On top of that, even if people are on social media looking for a certain answer that you have to offer, that doesn’t mean they will translate into paying clients. In fact, the conversion rate from social media to paying clients for health practitioners is very low. People may love and consume your content, but if you succeed in having a big audience and you are location- based, chances are that most of the eyes seeing your content can’t be clients anyway.  For most service based small business owners, social media just eats up their time without adding much back.

With that being said, this doesn’t mean you can’t use social media to your benefit as a health practitioner.  It just means that you’re going to have to change your expectations and your strategy.  Unless you really love making content, which most of us don’t, focusing on likes and follows is not going to get you anywhere. 

Instead, using social media as a portfolio and a way to share offerings is a much better way to look at it than trying to be an influencer.  Your content might not be evergreen in the social media feeds, but it is still a great central hub for people who already know about you to find more information about who you are.  Clicking on your Instagram feed is a fantastic way for someone to take a look and what you are currently offering, where, and even a great place to find bite- sized info about who you are and what makes your business unique.  In this way the number of followers or engagement you see doesn’t matter.  You aren’t counting on the algorithms to show your new content to people.  You’re expecting them to find it through other channels, such as your website, google, or referrals. 

So here’s some homework to make social media work for you: make a list of five things you would like to showcase about your business. Do you host events you want people to know more about, or do you have a unique technique that people have a hard time grasping? Maybe you’re passionate about working with a certain cohort of people.  Make a list and then get creative with turning those things into content!

If you would like more help with your social media strategy, or any other part of your presence online, send me a message! I would love to connect 