Social media is basically the rockstar of digital marketing these days, and it’s easy to see why. Since there are more than 5.22 billion social media users worldwide, embracing a social strategy gives you a great opportunity to connect with your audience. Plus, social media marketing (paid or organic), has proven itself invaluable to nurturing relationships and generating leads.
Some studies even suggest that the average ROI for social media ad campaigns is around 250%. That’s huge. However, social media isn’t the only resource you should be considering. In fact, if you’re ignoring things like podcasts, email marketing, SEO, and blogs, you’re missing out on incredible opportunities to turbocharge your growth.
Plus, as social channels become more cluttered in 2025, you could find that a holistic strategy is the only way to generate sustainable results.
Alternative Strategies to Expand Reach in 2025
The marketing landscape is shifting faster than customers can click “skip” on a YouTube ad. Social media algorithms are changing, making it harder than ever for companies to generate organic reach, and ad fatigue is greater than ever. It’s time for businesses to get creative.
Here are some great ways to take your marketing “beyond the feed” this year.
1. Networking: Building Relationships that Matter
People trust people. Networking helps create authentic relationships that lead to higher trust and greater ROI. In fact, 84% of people trust recommendations from friends and colleagues, making personal connections great marketing tools for just about any company.
So, in 2025, invest some time in “getting out there”. Attend industry events and conferences, whether they’re in-person tradeshows and expos like CES for the tech industry, or online webinars. Join progressional organizations and invest in regular meetups with other like-minded professionals.
Not only will you boost your chances of reaching potential customers directly, but you’ll increase your exposure to potential partners, and generate ideas you can use for content marketing too!
2. Speaking Engagements: Sharing Expertise
Speaking of the power of events, why just attend an industry conference, when you can actively contribute to it? When you share your expertise, you position yourself as an authority while building trust with an engaged audience.
Speaking at an event, offline, or even online, through channels like TED, gives you a chance to share your expertise with the world. You can even host your own workshops on platforms like Meetup or EventBrite. Not only will you earn more credibility, but you’ll generate content you can use in your social media campaigns and email marketing strategies (like video snippets).
You could even record an entire speaker session and use it as a lead magnet to attract subscribers for your newsletter.
3. Email Marketing: Direct Connection with Your Audience
Social media marketing is hot, but email is still the MVP for exceptional ROI and strong conversion rates. For every dollar you spend, the average return on investment is $36-$42. That’s why we always recommend using email marketing in your promotional strategy.
Beyond simply giving you a great return on investment, email gives you a direct, personalized line to your audience, that can’t be influenced by changes in social media algorithms or rules.
Commit to building a comprehensive email strategy, by attracting leads and subscribers with lead magnets like templates, eBooks, or recorded event sessions.
Once you have your list, segment them into groups based on interests, purchase history, and behavior to create powerful, personalized campaigns. Tools like MailChimp, ActiveCampaign and MailerLite will help you create and automate personalized campaigns with ease.
4. Collaborations and Guest Content: The Team Approach
Two is better than one when it comes to expanding your audience. Collaborating with other brands, thought leaders, or influencers will help you overcome a range of content creation challenges, helping you to come up with fresh ideas, and expand your reach.
They’ll also help you to strengthen your credibility, and earn the trust of your audience, by aligning you with well-known figures. You can ask other professionals to create content for your online channels, giving you a wider range of insightful and valuable pieces to share.
You can also boost your visibility as a brand by returning the favor, creating guest content for other platforms and publishers relevant to your industry and target audience.
5. Referrals and Affiliates: The Power of Community
Other brands and influencers aren’t the only people worth collaboration with when you want to take your marketing strategy to the next level. If you have a community of loyal customers already, who interact with your company through social media, forums, and other channels – activate them!
Ask them to refer new buyers to your brand in exchange for rewards and exclusive gifts with a fantastic referral program. Dropbox famously increased its user base by a massive 60% with a program that rewarded both referrers and referees with extra storage.
Alternatively, why not consider creating an affiliate marketing campaign, working with individuals who will promote your company in exchange for monetary rewards?
6. Webinars and Events: The Value of Video
Multimedia content, such as videos and podcasts are becoming increasingly popular. They offer an excellent way to reach a wider range of potential customers who might not be interested in traditional assets like blogs and articles.
Video gives you a fantastic way to connect with customers through entertaining, fast-paced, and informative visual content. Why not go beyond standard social media videos and YouTube channels with something more memorable, like your own webinar or online event?
Live webinars help to elevate your brand’s position as a thought leader, and video-based educational content and workshops can also play a valuable role in your sales funnels. You can use webinars to collect contact details from customers for future email marketing, or offer videos as lead magnets to potential subscribers.
You don’t even need to invest a lot of time and effort into creating amazing videos. If you already have amazing reports, articles, and blogs, you can repurpose those into a video script.
7. Podcasts: Making an Audible Impact
Podcasts are more than just a passing trend – they’re a marketing revolution. In 2024, there were more than 546 million podcast listeners worldwide. The great thing about podcasts is that they’re surprisingly easy to create – particularly if you already have content and research you can share with your listeners.
You can even reduce the effort involved in creating a full podcast script by inviting thought leaders and guest speakers to appear on your podcast, and “share the stage” with you. Alternatively, offer to appear on other podcasts you know your customers listen to.
With podcasts, you’ll have a phenomenal way to reach your audience on a new level. You might even connect with customers who don’t have the time to watch long videos or read articles on a daily basis.
8. SEO and Content Marketing: The Long Game
Building a strong presence on the search engine results pages with an excellent content strategy takes time and consistent effort. However, it delivers incredible long-term results.
A strong content strategy will help you connect with customers throughout their online journey, whether they’re searching for answers to common questions, looking for insights into industry trends, or actively making purchasing decisions.
Plus, your content strategy will help you to boost your thought leadership, earn customer trust, and increase overall brand awareness. Invest in writing high-quality blog posts and evergreen content that regains value over time, like guides and tutorials.
Leverage SEO best practices, like using keywords strategically, demonstrating expertise, experience, and authority, and experimenting with back-linking strategies.
9. Offline Strategies: The Traditional Marketing Approach
Offline marketing strategies might seem old school at a time when everything seems to be more “digital” than ever before. However, offline efforts still make an impact. Simple strategies like distributing brochures, flyers, and business cards at local events can still help you reach customers.
Hosting community events, or sponsoring local expos still give you a reliable way to get your company’s name out there, and introduce customers to new products.
Even running ads in niche magazines, or on local radio stations can help drive customers to your business. The best part about this strategy? It’s inherently targeted. You can easily focus on specific, local customers, who are most likely to deliver the best results for your business.
Go Beyond Social Marketing in 2025
Social media marketing is powerful, but it might not be enough on its own to ensure you can stand out in today’s evolving digital landscape. Expanding beyond social media, with comprehensive, holistic strategies for content marketing, email newsletters, videos, podcasts, and more, gives your promotional strategy greater scope and impact.
You don’t have to give up on social media entirely, but even starting small with a few simple add-on strategies, like your own newsletter, or speaker session at an event can make a huge difference.
You may even find that a more holistic approach drives a better return on investment from social media, giving you more content to share, and improving your brand’s exposure.
Ready to take your marketing beyond the feed? Check out our free resource for tips on how to grow your email list and expand your lead generation strategy. Alternative, reach out to me for help building a strong voice and presence for your brand.