Bestie, we need to talk about your social media.

Because I keep hearing versions of the same thing:

“Do I really need social media for my business?”

My answer?

Yes.

Not because I think you should spend your entire life making Reels.

Not because every business needs to dance on TikTok.

And definitely not because you need to post seventeen times a day while desperately trying to understand whatever the algorithm decided to do this morning.

You need social media because your customers are already there.

And if your business isn’t showing up in their world, another business probably is.

Social Media Is Your Shop Window

Imagine opening the most beautiful shop.

You’ve perfected the products.

The branding looks fabulous.

Your website is ready.

You switch the lights on…

…and then you forget to tell anyone where the shop is.

That’s what building a business without promoting it can feel like.

Social media gives you places to put your business in front of people.

Your website might be where somebody eventually reads, browses, enquires or buys.

Social media can be what introduces you in the first place.

And that’s incredibly powerful.

You Don’t Need to Be Everywhere

Now before you start creating accounts on every platform known to humanity, this is where your Girl Boss Bestie intervenes.

More platforms does not automatically equal more marketing.

I’d much rather see a business use two platforms brilliantly than maintain six abandoned accounts.

Different platforms can do different jobs.

Instagram can showcase your visual identity and help people get to know your brand.

TikTok can put entertaining or useful content in front of completely new audiences.

Pinterest can help people discover content while they’re actively planning, searching and looking for ideas.

Facebook can still be incredibly useful for communities, local audiences and — importantly — advertising.

The question isn’t:

Which social network should every business use?

It’s:

Where are the people I want to reach, and what am I going to say when I get there?

That’s strategy.

Organic Social Media Is Only Half the Conversation

This is where things get particularly interesting.

You create a brilliant piece of content.

You post it.

Some followers see it.

Some engage.

Perhaps some share it.

Fantastic.

But what if you could take the message you already know represents your business and deliberately put it in front of more of the right people?

Hello, social media advertising.

🩷🧡

Why I Like Social Media Ads

Advertising changes the conversation from:

“I hope somebody sees this.”

to:

“Who do we actually want to see this?”

That’s a much more useful marketing question.

Social advertising can potentially help businesses pursue different goals: introducing the brand to new people, driving traffic, promoting a particular offer, generating enquiries, encouraging sales or bringing previous visitors back into the conversation.

It isn’t a magic button.

Good advertising still needs a strong offer, sensible targeting, effective creative and somewhere worthwhile to send people.

But when those pieces come together?

Social media stops being something you post on because you feel like you’re supposed to.

It becomes part of your marketing system.

And No, An Ad Doesn’t Have to Be Boring

Remember our rule?

Banish beige.

That applies to advertising too.

Your ad is competing with holiday photographs, memes, cute animals, breaking news, someone’s dinner and approximately four thousand other things demanding attention.

Being forgettable isn’t exactly an advantage.

Good social creative should make somebody pause.

Maybe it’s beautiful.

Maybe it’s useful.

Maybe it’s funny.

Maybe it answers the exact question they’ve been wondering about.

Whatever the approach, it should still feel unmistakably like your brand.

Your paid content shouldn’t suddenly transform your colourful, funny, interesting business into Corporate Beige Ltd.

Strategy Before Spend

Here’s where businesses can get themselves into trouble.

They think:

I’ll put £50 behind this post and see what happens.

Bestie.

What are we trying to make happen?

Before spending money, I want to know things like:

Who are we talking to?

What are we offering them?

Why should they care?

What action do we want them to take?

Where are we sending them?

How will we know whether it worked?

The money is only one ingredient.

The strategy surrounding it is what gives that money a job.

Your Organic Content Still Matters

Paid advertising doesn’t mean we throw your regular content in the bin.

Quite the opposite.

Imagine somebody sees your advert and thinks:

Ooh, who’s this?

They tap your profile.

What do they find?

Your social presence can help reassure them that there is a real, active, interesting business behind that advertisement.

That’s why I like thinking about organic and paid social as teammates rather than rivals.

Organic content builds your world.

Advertising helps more of the right people discover the door.

You Don’t Need Millions of Followers

This might be my favourite bit.

You don’t need to become internet famous before you’re allowed to advertise your business.

Your goal isn’t necessarily to collect the largest possible audience.

You want the right people to know that you exist.

I’d take 100 people who genuinely want what you’re selling over 10,000 people who couldn’t tell you what your business actually does.

Every time.

So, Does Your Business Need Social Media?

I think so.

But I don’t want you posting for the sake of posting.

I want your social media to have a purpose.

Create content that introduces people to your business.

Build a brand they can recognise.

Show them why they should care.

And when you’re ready to go further, use advertising strategically to help put that message in front of more of the people you actually want to reach.

That’s when social media becomes much more exciting.

It’s not:

“Bestie, you need to post more.”

It’s:

“Bestie, let’s make your social media work harder.”

And that’s a conversation we’re going to be having a lot around here.

Because we’re not building businesses just to admire them ourselves.

We’re building businesses to be seen.

Hayley x

Your Girl Boss Bestie 🩷🧡

Why Your Business Desperately Needs Social Media Today