Small Business Marketing Tactics Don't Need the Algorithm's Approval
Use hashtags. Don't use hashtags. Post carousels. Now do video. Write long articles. Then short ones.
Every time you turn around, the algorithm has changed again. It feels like Charlie Brown lining up to kick the football. You trust this time will be different, and Lucy pulls it away right as your foot swings.
That kind of chasing wears you out.
The chase never actually ends
If you've ever hit a sales goal only to watch your manager raise it the next quarter, you know this feeling. You reach the target. And it suddenly stops being the target.
Algorithms work the same way. You figure out what's working, adjust your whole approach around it, and then the platform shifts again. Now you're starting over.
Somewhere in that cycle, a lot of small business owners stop asking "does this serve my audience?" and start asking "what does the algorithm want?". Those aren't the same question. And only one of them actually grows your business.
Why this chase feels so familiar
If you spent years in a corporate role before starting your own business, this pattern probably feels like an old friend. Quarterly targets. Shifting KPIs. A goalpost that moved right after you finally reached it.
You left that world so you could build something on your own terms. Then the algorithm shows up and starts running the same game.
It's easy to fall into old habits without noticing. Check the metrics. Adjust the tactic. Check again. Before long, you're managing a platform instead of building a business.
When the algorithm does exactly what you asked
A client of mine runs a landscaping company. He called me one day, excited. He'd let the algorithm handle audience targeting for his ad instead of setting the audience himself. Seemed easy. And he felt he could trust it to find those most interested in his business.
The algorithm did its job. It found people who engaged with the ad. It just didn't know his business only serves a specific region.
Messages started coming in from across the country. People asking where he was located, then telling him Wisconsin was too far away.
The ad performed the way the platform wanted it to perform. Unfortunately, it wasn't built around what was best for his actual business.
Algorithms reward their goals, not yours
Platforms are built around company objectives. Awareness and engagement matter to them because those metrics keep people scrolling.
Those aren't bad goals to care about. But when you build your entire strategy around chasing them, you risk losing sight of who you're actually trying to reach.
Viral doesn't mean profitable. A post that gets shared by thousands of people who will never buy from you isn't a win. It's just noise that felt good for a day.
Signs you've slipped into chasing
A few markers tend to show up when the chase has taken over.
You post about a topic because it's trending, not because it connects to your actual work.
You feel a small dread every time you hear about a platform update.
You measure a good week by impressions instead of conversations with the right people.
You've tried five formats this month and mastered none of them.
None of that makes you a bad marketer. It makes you human. Platforms are built to pull attention. And that attention includes yours.
The fix isn't willpower. It's a foundation solid enough that you don't need to check the wind every morning to know which way to walk.
What actually holds steady
Here's what doesn't change no matter how many times the platforms update:
Your audience.
Your message.
Your values.
Your strengths.
Those are the foundation everything else gets built on. Tactics come and go. Foundation stays.
This is where the Simplify phase of Strengths-First Marketing comes in. Once you know your message (who you serve, what you offer, why it matters), Simplify is about choosing the tactics and channels that fit your strengths. And doing them on a rhythm you can actually sustain. Not chasing whatever's trending this week.
Think of it like tending a fire instead of trying to catch smoke. Smoke moves wherever the wind pushes it. You can chase it all day and never get your hands on it. A fire, though, you can build, feed and maintain. It stays put because you're the one tending it.
The tactics the algorithms are rewarding is the smoke. Your foundation is the fire.
Working within your strengths instead of every trend
Knowing your foundation doesn't mean ignoring new tools or formats. It means filtering them through a simple question. Does this fit how I naturally show up and communicate?
If you're a strong writer, lean into writing and let video be secondary. If you're comfortable on camera, build around that instead of forcing yourself into a format that drains you.
Repurpose what already works. Adjust based on what you learn. Keep learning. Just don't rebuild your whole strategy every time a platform tweaks its formula.
Some weeks a post you barely thought about gets twice the impressions of your best work, with nothing different on your end except the topic.
Other times a post that looks like it flopped brings in your next great client. The algorithm's math and your actual business results don't always line up, and that's fine. Your job is to keep showing up for your audience, not to decode a formula that changes without warning.
Three questions to ask before you adjust anything
The next time a new trend or platform update tempts you to pivot, try running it through a quick filter first.
Does this fit the way I naturally communicate? If a format feels like a fight every time you sit down to create it, that's worth noticing.
Does this reach the audience I actually serve? A tactic can perform well and still bring in the wrong people, the way the landscaping ad did.
Can I sustain this past next week? A tactic you can't keep up with isn't a strategy. It's a sprint that ends in feeling like you want to throw in the towel.
If a new approach passes all three, test it. If it fails even one, let it go without guilt.
What a real test looks like
Not every new format is a trap. Some are worth trying. The difference is testing on your own terms instead of chasing someone else's claim.
My video strategy is a good example. When I started, I tried to follow every best practice for maximizing watch time. It ate hours of my week. The return was a handful of views while I was still building an audience.
Then the advice shifted. Everyone said shorts were the answer. LinkedIn told me the algorithm favored them too. So I built a batch of short videos.
My image based posts still outperformed them. More engagement. More visibility. More actual leads.
YouTube did reward the shorts with more views. But then the conversation shifted again. Long form was supposedly where the real business came from, while shorts stayed useful for visibility. Maybe. But the target kept moving before I could really tell.
And some research even indicated that channels that focused only on one format (long form or short form) had better growth than ones that offered both. (What?! Seriously?!).
So I paused. I realized I was playing a game of chasing the algorithm. So, I'm regrouping. Looking at what adds the most value for my audience, then building around that.
That doesn't mean I've ruled out testing formats, length, titles or thumbnail approaches again. I'll likely keep repurposing written content into video. I even going to test getting help with editing. I may test adding a hook or title as a text overlay to shorter videos to get more people to stop and give me a moment to provide value.
The difference is those will be my tests. Test run on my own timeline. Tests measured against my own goals. Not a scramble to match whatever someone with a big following says is working this week.
A tactic earns a real test when it meets a few plain conditions:
Give it a set amount of time before judging it. A week rarely tells you anything. A month might show indications. Consistency over 3 months usually gives you enough information to start making refinements.
Decide what success actually means to you before you start. More views isn't the same as more of the right people finding you.
Change one thing at a time. If you swap your format and your topic and your posting schedule all at once, you won't know what actually worked.
Your action step
Pick one platform or format you've been forcing because you heard it's what's working right now. Set it aside for a week.
In its place, create one piece of content built entirely around your actual audience and your actual message. Notice how it feels to build from your foundation instead of from a trend report.
If you want help finding that foundation
You don't need to master every platform update to grow your business. You need clarity on who you serve, what you stand for and how to say it in a way that sounds like you. Because ultimately success comes when you can stick with something long enough to build momentum.
If that foundation still feels fuzzy, a Now What? Clarity Session is built for exactly that conversation. No pressure, just a chance to figure out your next right step together.
The algorithm will keep changing. Your foundation doesn't have to.