what would happen if brands stopped posting on social media

HOWDYYYY! Happy June and Happy Friday!

Literally how is it half way through the year?? You probably didn’t need to be reminded of that at 8AM so my apologies. But, like…how is it halfway through the year???

Anyway, the last few weeks have been those kinds of weeks where you are like building the plane as it’s nearing take off — lots of new work (more coming soon!), current projects doing fun things, personal projects (aka this), gearing up to move, and then trying to balance all the other aspects of life (health, relationships, sleep). I could be doing way better on the latter. There’s never enough time in the day, BUT grateful for it.

Before we hop into today’s newsletter, I have one important thing!

I am teaming up with my friend, Kenny Hanson, who is also the founder and CEO of Mentorpass to put on a Social Media and Influencer Marketing Masterclass TODAY (6/7) at 1PM EST online. I’ve done over 70+ Mentorpass sessions and they never fail to be the highlight of my week so it’s awesome to finally get to do this with them. Currently, we have 100+ brands signed up ranging from billion-dollar SAAS companies (not even kidding) to your favorite DTC brands and more. You can claim your spot HERE. I don’t think there are many left so if you can make it, would love to see you there.

Ok, now that you know that, we’re on to today’s newsletter, which stemmed from a conversation with a brand the other day and a shower thought at 5:55AM this morning.

“What would happen if we stopped posting on organic social media tomorrow? Do all brands need organic social media?”

I thought it was a great question. I have thoughts. They might be all over the place, but I do have them. So, let’s get into it.

BUT BEFORE WE GET INTO IT…

There’s no sponsor for today’s newsletter, which means we’re jamming out while we read. I am going to be at Gov Ball on Sunday (if you’re going let me know!) so currently preparing myself there, but Charli XCX’s new album just dropped and it has a lot of certified bangers so enjoy.

Also, one of my best friends, Grace Clarke, and I were bonding over the fact that why does no one play this classic Britney song anymore or make music like it????

Anyway…

“WHAT IF WE STOPPED POSTING ON SOCIAL MEDIA TOMORROW?”

It’s a great question, right? I was on a call with a very hip and cool home air-care brand that I love and their co-founder asked me that question. It stopped me in my tracks for a bit, but it also opened a whooooole side of amazing conversation.

Despite working in social, I do agree that not everyone needs to be on every single platform (plus, if you don’t have the resources to be on all platforms then why are you giving 29% effort to each…just a thought) and I do agree that not every single brand needs to be “crushing” on organic.

And this doesn’t mean just run on paid ads forever and ever and call it a day. Yes, some companies do that, but if you’re fine on compromising the community factor then you do you, baby boo.

In this day and age, everyone wants a thriving organic social presence. They want the tiktok views. They want the followers. They want the insane engagement.

But, what if your product just isn’t made for that? Also, that reality is totally OK.

There are products that are better off being sold by others than yourself. Those “others” being creators, influencers, and/or your own customers.

Now, would I say that you can just seed (or send) product to popular folks all day long either and never post again on your own socials? No. You would (I hope) want to share the success of your product and the experiences that are being had. People buy from people, even people they don’t like.

Having a sign of life on social is important, but having a true, break down the walls, be loud type of presence isn’t a necessity. If you’re a product like an air conditioner or an AI tool, you probably don’t need to be grueling over internally made content. Why? Because you need others to truly highlight their experience, how the product has impacted their life, and more.

You can invest more of your dollars into your seeding + partnerships programs, your paid ads and have a light to medium touch presence on social where you’re leveraging that content that is coming in, internally producing some educational content that hits on the product or broad subjects around it (ex. a skincare tech company like Canopy, where I worked on the account for 3 years, extended out towards basic education around the home and skincare vs. just humidity), features of your product that truly make it different, and then some entertaining content (if it makes sense!) hitting on those relatable moments that might help gain some top of funnel traction to get new people in through the door.

You don’t need the elaborate budgets for content creation. You can use that for something better, depending on what you’re selling.

THIS IS WHY INVESTING IN INFLUENCERS IS IMPORTANT

I don’t think influencer seeding, as a result, is going to be going away anytime soon.

Why? Because if you’re seemingly in everyone’s hands, on their countertop, in their bathroom, it creates the FOMO effect, whether that’s a customer finally saying “ok, it’s time. i need to buy ______.” OR a creator finally reaching out to work together, helping you get more distribution into a new community/audience.

I’ve written so many newsletters about structuring influencer programs, the tools I use and more. To save you time and more scrolling:

You can read about how I structure my programs here.

You can read about the tools I use and enjoy for influencer marketing here.

You can read my post about the basics of influencer marketing here.

There’s so much as I type this that I am realizing can be mentioned and that I candidly could have structured this better so you’re truly getting some half-asleep thoughts, but I am hoping that if you’re feeling the pressure of “we need to be better on this platform”, “why aren’t we on that platform yet”, “why isn’t tiktok working for us!”, that you can use this as a time to reflect and truly see where to shift your time and effort.

It might feel like we are all in this crazy rat race, but you have to go slow to go fast. Slowing down means taking the time to realize what is for you and your brand and what is and then doubling down on the latter. That might mean coming to terms with nixing a platform and focusing on where your audience is working with you and for you. That might mean testing new channels, like influencers, as a way to get more distribution vs. hoping a piece of content just “pops off”.

So, yeah, that’s the very unstructured brain dump this morning and hopefully you were able to take something away from it.

BRAND OF THE WEEK: CROWN AFFAIR

Brand of the week is when I pick a brand I love in general, personally started using/enjoy, or just love something that they did online whether it’s a campaign, a partnership, or a new launch.

This week’s is every girlie’s fave: Crown Affair.

As a curly-haired girl, I have found finding the perfect haircare formula to be very hard. Some days it’s great and some days it is not, but we have to continue to find a way for answers of how to perfect the curl.

I test out products frequently and I have tried literally all of them, but lately, I finally had my first personal run-in with Crown Affair. Yes, I love the brand and always have enjoyed how the team treats their marketing efforts, their community, and their customers, but I finally was given the opportunity to try their Leave-In Conditioner. I was given a sachet when shopping at a pop-up in Soho.

I used the last of it this morning and I am sad. I have been rationing it like CRAZY. It smells so good, it’s left my hair feeling super healthy, and just overall, with more consistent usage, I can only imagine how my hair would feel.

So, yeah, that’s for my girls. Sorry to my guys. If you use Crown Affair or have curly hair, please send recs. Plz and thnx.

LOGGIN’ OFF

That’s a wrap on this week’s newsletter. I hope you have an awesome Friday and weekend! I’ll be screaming my butt off at Chappell Roan and fully intend on losing my voice, but i’ll have no regrets.

As always, if you have questions, please hit that “REPLY” button and I will get back to you! Also, a huge thank you to the like 50+ of you that responded to Tuesday’s email with topic ideas and things you want to learn more about. It meant a lot that you took time out of your day to do that!

Anyways, off I go now to the eye doctor to see if I need glasses. Hope you can make it to the Masterclass today at 1PM! TTYL.

Peace, love, and KPIs,

-KD

P.S. There are definitely grammatical errors, but please don’t come for me. I am not perfect.