What Social Media Marketing Coaches Don’t Tell You

When Authenticity Doesn’t Work | ⏳ 6 Min Read

“Show up authentically!”

“Triple your income by being yourself!”

“If your account isn’t reaching 100K new followers a month, it’s time to re-niche!”

I didn’t start following social media marketing coaches. It’s only because more than a few friends have added this to their repertoire of careers that I suddenly find my feeds inundated with advice on how to beat the algorithm and get your content seen. The overarching theme of this advice exhorts us to show up #authentically in order to grow our followings — and our bank accounts.

“People connect with people, not products.”

If you’ve realized that showing up authentically loses you more followers than you gain, I’m here to affirm that. You’re not crazy and you’re probably like me: not good at “authentically” showing up as only one piece of yourself. Because here’s the other overarching theme of social media marketing advice: we must choose a niche.

“Be authentic,” and, “Niche yourself,” are utterly paradoxical.

Compartmentalizing yourself to please others — and an algorithm — will help you grow. You will gain followers and your business will flourish faster. You will be more liked, more engaged with, and more purchased from when you focus on a singular aspect of who you are that is relevant to what you’re selling, whether it’s information through a podcast or products through affiliate links. Whether your social media goal is to gain subscribers to your newsletter, Patreon, or other paywalled platform; or, to draw in new customers who will buy your online services or brick-and-mortar products; if you’re self-employed in any way, you know the hustle pays off best when you niche yourself to your target audience.

But I personally do not call this being authentic. I call this marketing.

Of course, one can market authentically in one niche. Let’s not confuse that with “being yourself” or “showing up as you consistently,” unless consistency for you is having one sole interest, which I’m guessing you don’t. Compartmentalizing yourself to please some algorithmic niche is just that — it is not being authentically you, for you are so much more than your business or Personal Brand™.

This gets especially tricky when your business is, in and of itself, multi-faceted. Many of my friends are intellectuals. Their podcasts, Patreons, and YouTube channels are broad-ranging from health and spirituality (hello, CurioCity Podcast) to news (hello, The Social Shift) — the latter of which is not being pushed by algorithms anymore. 

Some people hold social media companies responsible for the irresponsible spread of (subjective) misinformation by others. So, social media companies are opting not to push content that could be considered controversial. News, politics, sexual health, activism, and more are subject to increasing censorship and shadow-banning. Some people don’t fact-check, cite sources, and take responsibility for their foolishness. Therefore, we must all pay the price of living in a society that increasingly silences and penalizes free speech. It blows my mind that people on the conservative right and progressive left want this.

The masses would appear to prefer fascism to freedom and they’ll wrap it in a bow called “tolerance.” 🎀💝🎀

I digress.

How should one be authentically niche when their business is news? Politics? Health? Art?

Marketing advice might better serve creators focused on a micro-niche within their niche. For example, “Australian punter’s politics with a left-leaning slant,” as my friend Konrad of @PuntersPolitics might now describe his former account known as @IdeasDigest, which struggled to grow before blowing up after he decided to rebrand. Konrad chose to sacrifice his passion for global politics and the interconnected nuances of religious influence and capitalism, instead honing in on one microcosm of his interests. It worked. He gained over 100K followers in less than two months. But, though his genuine wit and intelligence still shine through, he is not being authentic to himself. He is being authentic to an algorithm.

How does an independent journalist grow their account? A multi-media artist? A podcast devoted to the ways curiosity about multiple interests helps us grow? 

I have a lot of respect for social media marketing coaches. I appreciate the time it takes to research ever-changing algorithms, platform rules, trends, and so much more. It is not the fault of coaches that social media platforms are built the way they are. They are as much a slave to the algorithm as you and I. To anyone who thinks I’m bashing coaches or portraying them as leading people astray, please hear: I am not. I know this is not their intent, nor the fruit of their outcome for perhaps most people and businesses.

But I will say this: Standard coaching advice may work for very specific, niche fields, like “all-natural women’s health products” or “faith-friendly religious trauma counseling.” But for artists? Intellectuals? Philosophers and journalists and writers? 

You are not alone if you find you are unable to implement marketing advice effectively. I don’t view this as a failure on the part of marketing coaches but as a result of the way social media platforms are designed. These platforms do not favor big-picture thinkers or multi-faceted creators. They favor narrow-mindedness — single-mindedness, if that feels less harsh.

I’d love to see social media marketing advice for those of us whose work spans more than one niche. Unless algorithms change in our favor (doubtful), the best summary I have gathered is this: Niche first, expand later.

If you’re a multi-faceted creator who doesn’t have the time to manage multiple social media accounts for your multiple niches — on all of the relevant multiple platforms — my research says to grow your following by narrowing your content to one specific interest. If your podcast covers the intersections of racism, education, and healthcare, zero in on one of these. If your Etsy shop offers clothing for women, men, and children, market to one group first. Then expand.

If you’re an actor/photographer/musician… Sorry. The best advice I’ve seen for multi-media artists is to create separate accounts for each of your separate mediums. I am in this multi-media category. If you feel overwhelmed and discouraged by my findings, I thoroughly feel your pain. Most of the advice I’ve seen from social media marketing coaches is essentially non-applicable to us.

Some advice can be applicable. I opened this post by planting seeds of doubt and potential upset in you. I took a tip from nearly every marketing coach I follow and started this post with a clickbait title designed to provoke an emotional response. These tips work. Again, this piece is not meant to disparage coaching advice, which I learn from and implement almost daily.

But I haven’t seen anyone give voice to the oxymoron that is being yourself while also sticking to a niche. So there. I said it.

Are you a marketing coach who’s found ways to circumvent the struggles of multi-niche creators? Are you a creator who’s found the secret sauce to growth without narrowing your offerings to one paltry sliver of the whole you offer? I want to hear from you — we all do! What’s worked? What hasn’t? What am I missing?

Any tips, insights, or sheer commiseration are welcome in the comments below!

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I’m Alice Greczyn, an author and speaker. This newsletter is free because I think helpful information should be free as much as possible. Please subscribe, and if you’d like to donate to my costs (news subscriptions, image licensing, audio recording, etc.), I’d surely appreciate it. Thank you.