The 2025 Pivot: 'The businesses that stop being run ragged by the algorithm'
For many years, we have been told that marketing is about chasing likes, comments, and the ever-elusive "reach." Over the last 12 months, however, many business owners have executed a strategic pivot, transforming how they find and connect with clients.
I call it "Clarity-First Marketing," a model in which you build on land you own, not land you rent. Over the last six months, I have had hundreds of conversations with clients, other business owners, and my network of contacts in the Marketing Agency sector. The feedback has been striking: 76% reported they're actively reducing dependency on algorithm-driven platforms and investing in channels they directly control.
The data supporting this shift is compelling:
Facebook organic reach has dropped to under 2% for business pages in many sectors.
Instagram and LinkedIn algorithms increasingly favour ad spend or "native platform behaviours" (videos, engagement loops)
Email has a 4x higher conversion rate than social media and isn't governed by an algorithm.
According to Sprout Social, brands post less often but get more engagement, suggesting a shift toward quality over algorithm-pleasing quantity.
So why is this happening? It's not that these business owners are abandoning social media entirely. Instead, they recognise the fundamental risk of building their entire marketing ecosystem on borrowed land.
As one client explained: "I spent three years building an audience on a platform that eventually held my business hostage. Now I use platforms to discover prospects but build relationships where I control the connection."
The psychological freedom of this approach is profound. Business owners that I have spoken to talked about :
Lower anxiety about sudden platform changes
Greater confidence in their marketing foundation
More consistent lead generation and revenue
Deeper, more meaningful client relationships
Increased business valuation due to owned-media assets
However, the most significant benefits I've observed are mental energy and focus reclamation. When you're no longer chasing ever-changing algorithms, posting at optimal times, or feeling that gnawing anxiety when engagement drops unexpectedly, you create space for deeper work.
"I used to check engagement metrics five times a day," one consultant told me. "Now I spend that time speaking with clients and developing intellectual property that differentiates my business."
Another described it as "getting off the content hamster wheel." Instead of creating endless content that disappeared into the algorithmic void, she now focuses on fewer, higher-quality pieces that reach people directly. "I'm producing about 70% less content but seeing 3x the business impact," she explained. "And I finally feel in control of my marketing rather than being run ragged by the algorithm."
The catalyst for this shift isn't just algorithm volatility (though that's certainly a factor). It's the growing recognition that platforms and businesses have fundamentally different objectives. Platforms are designed to maximise engagement with the platform itself, while your business needs to maximise engagement with you. At some point, these goals inevitably diverge.
Thinking about the experience of a consultant I've been mentoring. For years, she built her thought leadership exclusively on LinkedIn. The platform's algorithm initially rewarded her, delivering steady visibility and a stream of client enquiries. However, as the platform evolved to prioritise keeping users on-site longer, her approach, which had always focused on converting LinkedIn connections to consultation calls, became increasingly penalised. Her visibility plummeted not because her content quality declined but because her business objectives conflicted with the platforms.
And she's far from alone. I've witnessed this pattern across every professional services sector:
The HR consultant who spent three years building 7,000+ LinkedIn connections as her primary lead source, only to find her reach suddenly restricted to less than 2% of her network after an algorithm shift
The Solicitor who built her entire business around a thriving Facebook group with 3,500 members—until her account was hacked, access was lost, and six months of appeals to Facebook support yielded nothing.
The brand strategist who achieved "Top Voice" status on LinkedIn, driving consistent monthly enquiries, until the platform's algorithm pivoted to favour video, a format that didn't showcase his particular expertise
The sustainability consultant who built her authority through a Professional Facebook Page with 12,000 followers, only to discover that without paid boosting, her organic reach had quietly dropped to just 240 people
These stories share more than algorithm vulnerability; they share the painful recognition that years of content creation and relationship-building existed on borrowed land, subject to rule changes they couldn't control or predict.
That's when one consultant client began building what I call a "Clarity-First Marketing" approach:
She prioritised email over endless posting, developing a small but focused newsletter where she could speak directly to her audience without algorithmic interference.
She invested in community over feed, creating spaces where genuine conversation happened without being filtered by an algorithm.
She emphasised strategy over noise, creating a simple client-acquisition website communicating her value proposition and methodology.
She established a monthly webinar series that converted social connections into owned relationships.
She implemented what I call "direct visibility," focusing on deepening existing client relationships, which led to a steady stream of algorithm-free referrals.
The results? Within six months, her business became more stable and profitable. More importantly, she regained strategic control over her marketing destiny." I still use LinkedIn," she told me recently, "but now it's one tool in my toolkit, not the foundation of my business."
What I find most fascinating about her journey and so many similar ones is that success came not from doing more, but from doing less with greater intention. The path to marketing clarity often begins with strategic subtraction, not addition.
This strategic shift mirrors a broader pattern I'm seeing across industries. The most resilient businesses are building marketing ecosystems where:
Email forms the backbone of client communication
Community-building trumps algorithm-chasing
Simple websites clearly articulate value propositions
Referral systems amplify client relationships
Social platforms serve as discovery channels, not relationship homes
What's particularly interesting is how platforms like Substack are becoming central to this clarity-first approach. Unlike algorithm-driven social media, Substack combines email delivery with community features, giving creators direct control of their audience relationships.
One marketing consultant I work with shifted from posting daily on LinkedIn to publishing a weekly Substack newsletter. "The difference is night and day," he told me. "With LinkedIn, I'd get unpredictable attention spikes but struggle to convert that into business. With Substack, I have a smaller but vastly more engaged audience, and I can see exactly who's reading what."
His Substack strategy is elegantly simple:
One in-depth article weekly (rather than daily social posts)
Direct conversation with subscribers through comments
A clear journey from free to paid tiers for premium content
Total ownership of his subscriber list
Freedom from constant algorithm changes
Six months in, his paid subscription revenue exceeds what he previously spent on LinkedIn Sales Navigator while generating three times the client enquiries. Unlike his social following, his subscriber list is an asset he wholly owns and controls.
It's worth noting that even within algorithm-dominated platforms, algorithm-resistant opportunities are hiding in plain sight. For instance, LinkedIn Newsletters (ahem, like this one) have become a powerful clarity-first channel for many consultants I work with.
Unlike standard posts that reach a fraction of your network, LinkedIn Newsletter subscriptions create direct notification and email delivery to every subscriber, bypassing the feed algorithm entirely. One financial consultant grew her LinkedIn Newsletter to 3,800 subscribers in under a year, each receiving her insights via email, not just when the algorithm decided to show her content.
"The difference between posting and publishing a newsletter on LinkedIn is like night and day," she explained. "When I post, I might reach 500 people from my 2,000+ connections. When I publish my newsletter, all 3,800 subscribers get notified directly."
This hybrid approach combines LinkedIn's network effects for discovery with the direct delivery of email, essentially using the platform's strengths while minimising its limitations.
The beauty of this approach is its sustainability. While algorithm-dependent marketing constantly demands more input for diminishing returns, clarity-first systems tend to compound in value over time.
Every email subscriber, every community member, every person in your referral network represents a connection that no platform can suddenly decide to restrict.
One business owner said, "I spent years building my house on rented land. Now I'm finally building on land I own."
If you're considering this pivot, start by assessing your current marketing portfolio:
What percentage of your new business comes through channels you control vs. channels controlled by algorithms?
How would your business be affected if your primary social platform changed its algorithm tomorrow?
Are you converting platform-based connections to owned relationships systematically or sporadically?
Does your content strategy prioritise what algorithms reward or what your ideal clients need?
The businesses thriving in 2025 and beyond won't be those that ignore social platforms—that would be foolish in our connected world. Instead, they'll be those who use platforms strategically while building their marketing foundation on ground that can't shift beneath them overnight.
The algorithms may change, but the value of building an audience and a message you control never does.
So ask yourself: Are you still trying to beat the algorithm — or are you ready to move beyond it?
What's your experience been like? I'd love to hear from those who've navigated this journey.
If you recognise these patterns in your business, a Clarity 1:1 session could help you beat the Algorithm. Get in touch if you would like to find out how.
