Hello and welcome back. It is lovely to have you here for lucky episode number eight. I have just come off a week that felt like a long, slow exhale. I actually made the decision to delete all the social media apps off my phone recently. It is a bit of a personal choice, but I found myself falling into a deep, dark hole of scrolling that just did not feel particularly wholesome.
It is a feeling many of you might share. We spent our latest session asking the big question: Do you actually need social media for your business? For some of you, the answer might be a very liberating no. While I generally dislike social media for the way it sucks up time without returning a cent, most businesses do need some presence. However, the context is everything.
The CNC machinist in Welshpool problem
One of the biggest issues we see at the start of a relationship is a lack of distinction between organic and paid social media. Organic is your following: the people who already know you. Paid is push marketing: using tools like the Meta ad suite to find a specific audience based on their behaviour and interests.
“I actually really dislike social for a lot of businesses. I think it’s a lot of wasted time and effort for not much return on investment.” – Mel Strutt
When we develop a B2B content marketing strategy, we start with the “CNC machinist in Welshpool” test. If you are a small fabrication shop with the same twelve staff you have had for a decade, do you really need to be posting organic photos of Janice’s birthday cake? Probably not. No one is following a CNC business for daily updates, and it is unlikely to help you win a government tender.
The most important question is: Is your audience actually there? You might follow the West Coast Eagles or the Wildcats, but you probably do not follow your divorce lawyer. If your audience is not consuming content in that space, stop wasting your effort.
The viral trap and the wrong audience
“Who signs multi-million dollar construction contracts? Not 16 to 24-year-olds. It’s just really landing wrong, right?” – Mel Strutt
There is a lot of pressure to go viral, but the wrong audience is worse than no audience at all. Mel mentions a US construction company that went viral on TikTok by filming “trends” where the staff tricked their boss. It was incredibly creative and 16-to-24-year-olds loved it.
The problem is that 16-year-olds do not sign multi-million dollar construction contracts. If a decision-maker looking for a reliable partner sees your staff playing games as unproductive, it lands completely wrong. When you look for social media support, you need a partner who understands that a thousand likes from the wrong people will not pay your mortgage.
Understanding the messy middle
Social media often plays a role in what Google calls the “messy middle”: the period of time between someone becoming aware of you and actually making a purchase. It is rarely a straight line.
We had a lead come through from a fabrication business that had built an impressive crew truck on a Mercedes chassis. A guy from Mercedes tagged them, and that post was seen by a major utility company in Western Australia. They contacted the company immediately to ask for a quote. It was a rare, instant win, but it happened because they were consistently showing up and demonstrating their knowledge.
This is why our managed marketing services focus on the “people follow people” principle. Since the rise of AI, we are seeing that individuals have much more resonance than faceless companies. It is often better for the business owner to post their genuine experiences and have the company page simply share that content.
“If you’re a small business owner stressing about it, don’t. If you never got a lead from it and you don’t understand it… just stick with your heart.” – Mel Strutt
Budget and the 2026 reality
If you are going to take the leap into paid social, you do not need an enterprise-level budget. Most of our clients see a solid return with an ad spend between $500 and $1,500 a month. The key is to segment your audience geographically and demographically so you are not wasting money on people who can never buy from you.
The world is changing, and 2025 saw a 30% drop in overall engagement on social media. People are pulling away from the “brain rot” of constant scrolling. If your small business marketing strategy feels like a chore that is not moving the needle, it might be time to pull back.
If you cannot see the value, get off it. Save your time, your money, and your sanity.