Often times when I say I work in marketing and social media, people will just say, “Oh, so you’re paid to be on Facebook all day? That’s so easy and awesome!” Or, “Ugh, I hate social media and how toxic it is.” Listen, I'll be the first one to dunk on social media, but I also understand the value of it for businesses.

Yet like most things in life, social media and your presence online is what you make it. Sure, you can’t always hide from the trolls, depressing news, or endless scrolling, but if you are your authentic self online and in real life (with exceptions of course, because privacy and boundaries matter), I promise you will have a much better experience with social media .

I’m here to change your mind about marketing and social media as a whole, so let’s jump into it, shall we?

Social Media is More Than Just Ads & Memes

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Reddit...all of these platforms are so much more than just social media, but instead, ways for people to learn, connect, and grow. Today’s algorithms are so smart and intuitive, that you can literally customize your feeds to see only things that you want to see. Tired of toxic friends or family on your Facebook feed? Hide them from your timeline and join more meme groups. Sick of ads showing up from a brand you have no interest in? Get ‘em out of here.

Being online and interactive on social media is about connecting with an audience. Whether that means from the business side of things, or the consumer. As a consumer, you can completely customize your experience so you can have a much healthier relationship with your online interactions. You don’t have to see the things you don’t want to see, and you don’t have to interact with the things you don’t vibe with. It’s all about balance and remembering that the internet and social media aren't real life.

From a business standpoint, yes, you’ll likely run ads and do social media marketing, but are you just posting for the sake of posting? If so, you’re not looking at social media as a way to connect with your customers, but rather just adding fluff to an already crowded media platform. It’s so important to take your customers through the funnel of awareness, engagement, and consideration before you even get to the action/conversion stage. And I find that that is best done when you approach social media marketing from a people-first method vs. one of business-first.