Your Roadmap to Life Beyond Social Media
So you're convinced. Social media isn't delivering the ROI it promises, the algorithms are working against you, and you're ready to invest in marketing channels you actually control. But where do you start?
The good news: you don't have to burn it all down overnight. The transition from social-dependent to social-optional marketing can be gradual, strategic, and tailored to your organization's specific needs and resources.
Here's your practical roadmap for building a sustainable marketing strategy that prioritizes owned channels—based on what's actually working for arts organizations right now.
Step 1: Audit Your Current Situation
Before you make any changes, get clear on where you stand:
Ask yourself:
How much time does your team spend on social media each week?
What's your actual reach and engagement? (Not followers—actual people seeing and responding to your posts)
How many website visits, ticket sales, or donations can you directly attribute to social media?
How does that compare to email, your website, or in-person word-of-mouth?
What would happen if you cut your social media time in half tomorrow?
This honest assessment will help you make decisions based on data rather than fear or habit. Remember: Facebook's organic reach averaged just 1.37% in 2024, so if you're spending hours for minimal returns, you're not alone.
Step 2: Build Your Email Foundation
If social media is rented land, your email list is property you own. This is your most valuable marketing asset, and it should be your top priority.
Start here:
Choose a platform: MailChimp, Constant Contact, or Squarespace Email Campaigns all work well for arts organizations. Pick one and learn it thoroughly.
Grow your list strategically: Add signup forms to your website, collect emails at events, offer something valuable in exchange (exhibition previews, artist interviews, behind-the-scenes content).
Send consistently: Monthly newsletters work for most arts organizations. The key is consistency—your audience should know when to expect you.
Segment your audience: Different people care about different things. Artists, donors, members, and general audiences may need different messages.
Measure what matters: Track open rates, click rates, and conversions (ticket sales, donations, event registrations)—not just vanity metrics.
Why this matters: According to industry research, email marketing delivers $36 for every $1 spent—a 3,600% ROI. That's 10-12 times better than social media.
Real example: When we helped Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator prioritize email marketing, they achieved 25.3% open rates and raised $35,000 on Give Miami Day. That's the power of owned channels.
Step 3: Optimize Your Website
Your website is your digital home. It should work as hard as your best staff member.
Essential elements:
Clear navigation: Visitors should find what they need in three clicks or less
Mobile optimization: Most people will visit on their phones—make sure it works beautifully
Easy email signup: Multiple opportunities to join your list throughout the site
Updated calendar: Current events, exhibitions, programs—keep it fresh
Compelling visuals: High-quality images of your work, your space, your artists
Clear calls to action: What do you want visitors to do? Make it obvious.
Blog or news section: Fresh content helps with search visibility and gives people reasons to return
Pro tip: Your website should answer the questions people actually have, not just the information you want to share. Think like a visitor, not an insider.
Step 4: Create Content That Serves Your Community
Instead of feeding the social media content machine, create fewer, better pieces that genuinely help your audience.
Ideas for arts organizations:
Artist spotlights: In-depth profiles that showcase the people behind the work
Behind-the-scenes stories: How exhibitions come together, how programs are developed
Educational content: Art history context, technique explanations, cultural background
Community impact stories: How your work changes lives and strengthens community
Practical resources: Guides for artists, tips for collectors, ways to engage with art
Where to share it: Your blog, email newsletters, print programs, in-person events. Social media can be a distribution channel, but it shouldn't be the primary home for your best content.
Learn from the leaders: When Bottega Veneta left social media, they launched "Issue," a quarterly digital magazine with high-quality content. Quality over constant posting.
Step 5: Invest in In-Person Connection
Arts organizations have a huge advantage: you create experiences that bring people together in real space. That's marketing gold.
Maximize in-person opportunities:
Collect emails at every event: Make it easy and explain the value
Create shareable moments: Give people experiences worth talking about
Build community rituals: Regular events that people anticipate and attend consistently
Empower word-of-mouth: Give your biggest fans easy ways to bring friends
Document and share: Turn in-person experiences into content for owned channels
Remember: one person telling their friend about your exhibition over coffee is worth more than a thousand Instagram impressions.
Step 6: Decide What to Do With Social Media
You have options. There's no one-size-fits-all answer.
Option 1: The Complete Exit
Delete your accounts and redirect all that energy into owned channels. This works if social media is actively harmful to your values or if you're getting essentially zero ROI. Lush took this approach in 2021 and hasn't looked back.
Option 2: The Strategic Minimal Presence
Keep accounts for basic visibility and SEO, but post infrequently and only when you have something genuinely worth sharing. Don't try to "feed the algorithm"—use it as a broadcast channel only.
Option 3: The Redirect Strategy
Use social media primarily to drive people to owned channels. Every post should have a clear call to action: join the email list, visit the website, come to an event.
Option 4: The Gradual Transition
Slowly reduce social media time while building up owned channels. Once email and website are strong, reassess whether social media is still worth the investment.
What we recommend for most arts organizations: Start with Option 3 or 4. Build your owned channels first, then decide how much social media actually serves your mission.
Step 7: Measure What Actually Matters
Stop obsessing over follower counts and likes. Start tracking metrics that connect to your mission.
Better metrics for arts organizations:
Email list growth and engagement rates
Website traffic and time on site
Event attendance and repeat attendance
Donations and donor retention
Membership growth and renewal rates
Volunteer applications and community participation
Media coverage and partnership opportunities
These numbers tell you whether your marketing is actually supporting your mission—not just generating vanity metrics.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Let's say you currently spend 10 hours a week on social media. Here's how you might reallocate that time:
3 hours: Email marketing (writing, designing, analyzing newsletters)
2 hours: Website updates and blog content
2 hours: In-person community building and event planning
2 hours: Strategic partnerships and media outreach
1 hour: Minimal social media (strategic posts that drive to owned channels)
Same time investment, but now you're building assets you control and relationships that last.
You're in Good Company
This isn't a fringe movement—it's a growing trend among organizations that prioritize values and results over vanity metrics:
Lush Cosmetics left social media in 2021 and has maintained growth through owned channels
Bottega Veneta deleted accounts with 2.5M followers and surged to 6th place among world's hottest brands
Wetherspoons, Tesla, and others have proven that social media isn't required for success
These organizations share a common thread: they invested in channels they control, prioritized quality over quantity, and aligned their marketing with their values.
You Don't Have to Do This Alone
Transitioning away from social-dependent marketing takes strategy, time, and expertise. That's exactly what Font Squared helps arts organizations do.
We specialize in:
Email marketing strategy and execution
Website design and optimization for arts organizations
Content creation that serves your community
Event marketing across owned channels
Analytics that connect to mission impact
We're artists helping artists. We understand your budget constraints, your mission-driven values, and your need for marketing that actually works.
The Bottom Line
Social media isn't inherently bad. But for many arts organizations, it's become a time-consuming distraction from marketing strategies that deliver better results and align better with values.
You have permission to invest your limited resources where they'll actually make a difference. You have permission to prioritize channels you control. You have permission to build marketing that serves your community rather than feeding an algorithm.
The organizations thriving right now aren't the ones with the most followers—they're the ones building genuine relationships through channels that can't be taken away by the next algorithm change.
Your work is too important to be held hostage by platforms that don't share your values. Let's build something better.
Ready to develop a marketing strategy that prioritizes owned channels and sustainable growth? Font Squared works exclusively with artists and arts organizations to create digital marketing that actually serves your mission. Let's talk: team@fontsquared.com
