How to Unlock Social Media for Your Business

Summary

Podcast Summary: EntreLeadership — How to Unlock Social Media for Your Business

Hosted by: Ramsey Network (Dave Ramsey, John Felkins)
Guest: Jen Severtson (Chief Marketing Officer, Ramsey Solutions)
Date: May 4, 2026

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Overview

This episode of EntreLeadership addresses the challenges and opportunities business owners face with social media. Dave Ramsey, John Felkins, and Jen Severtson break down myths around social media marketing, offer actionable strategies for smaller businesses, and share tips for making social media work as a practical, effective business tool—without feeling overwhelmed or burnt out.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Real Role of Social Media for Businesses

• Debunking the “Be Everywhere” Myth: You don’t need to be on every social media platform. Focus where your customers actually are instead of following every trend.

  “You just need to be where your customers are.” (A, 00:18)

• Primary Purpose: Social media is a low-cost, high-opportunity channel for business growth, not just "busy work." It’s about building brand, prompting engagement, and generating leads or direct responses.

  “It's a great low cost way to get your business out there…from a business owner, you can really use that to your advantage.” (C, 01:16)

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Understanding Platform Differences: Interest-Based Algorithms

• Shift from Social to Interest-Based: Modern social media is algorithmically geared towards people’s interests, not just their personal networks. This shift started with TikTok and has expanded to Instagram, Facebook, and beyond.

  “If you notice now you're hearing and seeing less from the friends you're connected to and more the things you're interested in…It's turned into an interest-based kind of interaction.” (C, 01:55)

• Implications for Businesses: This creates opportunities for niche businesses to connect with targeted audiences—leveraging content that speaks directly to specialized interests.

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Selecting the Right Platform

• Start Where You’re Comfortable & Where Customers Are:

  • For broad-audience businesses (like plumbing), any platform may suffice.
  • Demographic nuances matter:
    • TikTok skews younger, Facebook skews older.
    • Choose based on where your ideal client “lives.”

  “If you have an audience that is of a more specific age demographic... you would want to, if you had an older kind of target audience, you would want to start on Facebook and then maybe expand to others.” (C, 03:25)

• Platform Agnosticism: Larger brands and those with broad audiences (like Ramsey Solutions) need to be flexible and “platform agnostic”—putting content wherever potential clients might be.

  “We are platform agnostic when it comes to social media because we have a broad audience range and they are engaging on all of these different things.” (C, 05:47)

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How Small Businesses Can Get Started with Social Media

• Practical, Low-Barrier Content: Use your phone to record everyday tips, insights, and “behind-the-scenes” moments in your trade.

  “You could literally be doing your job. Put a camera on it... talk about what it is you're finding.” (C, 06:16)

• Educational & Trust-Building Content: Provide value with actionable tips—even if it means visitors won’t need to hire you for minor issues.

  “You can start to be that expert in your field where you're building trust with the audience that sees it.” (C, 06:44)

• Industry Specifics:

  • For industries with privacy/logistical barriers (e.g., medical), share general insights, trends, or tips without filming clients/patients.

  “You can't show you're working with a client... But you can say, hey, I saw 10 cases of the flu this week, and let's talk about some ways you can avoid the flu.” (C, 11:19)

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Measuring Success & Avoiding Burnout

• Key Metric: Engagement

  • Track likes, comments, shares, and saves; engagement shows your content is useful.

  “The most important thing is engagement…are people interacting with your content?” (C, 09:37)

• Testing What Works:

  • Analyze what posts “hit” vs. what flops. Double down on what resonates; avoid wasting effort on what doesn’t.

  “Say you put out 10 pieces of content and two of them hit and eight of them didn't—start to dissect why those two hit and then start making more like that.” (C, 10:03)

• Consistency Over Frequency:

  • Decide how often you’ll post and stick to it. Consistency both trains your audience and signals reliability to the algorithm.

  “Consistency is one of the things that both drives the algorithm, but also helps to build your audience.” (C, 10:42)

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Safeguarding Your Business Properties

• Retaining Access Control:
  • Always retain access to your own social media accounts, even if someone else manages them. Never give away complete control.

  “You just should always know what your login credentials are…don’t ever give them access and have them change it so that you no longer have access.” (C, 12:22)

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Not Chasing Trends:

  “You don’t need to chase the algorithm, you need to focus on serving people well.” (A, 13:12)

• On Building Trust Through Expertise:

  “You are positioning yourself as the expert, the guide, the person that can come in and help…” (C, 11:47)

• On the Power of Showing Simple “Magic”:

  “If you are not a plumber, it is like magic, and it is a mystery.” (C, 06:16)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:05: Opening—Why social media overwhelms business owners
• 01:16: The true purpose of social media for businesses
• 01:55: Social media’s evolution to interest-based algorithms
• 03:25: Choosing the right platform for your business
• 05:47: Being “platform agnostic” with wide audiences
• 06:16: Practical tips for small business content creation
• 09:34: Measuring what works—look for engagement
• 10:03: Learn from your best-performing content
• 10:42: Why consistency matters to the algorithm and audience
• 11:19: Applying these lessons in industries with privacy concerns
• 12:22: Retaining access when delegating social media management
• 13:12: Final advice—don’t burn out, start small, and stay focused

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Actionable Takeaways

• Start with one or two platforms—where your customers are.
• Create genuine, helpful content—teach, demystify, and show real work.
• Measure what matters: engagement.
• Be consistent with posting, not perfect or “viral.”
• Always keep your business’s digital keys—never relinquish access.

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This episode offers both a roadmap and a reality check: Social media, when approached strategically, can be a sustainable, effective tool—one that builds trust, authority, and ultimately grows your business.

Transcript

[A]

All right, let's talk about something every business owner feels like they should be doing, but they're either overwhelmed by it or feel way behind. And that's social media. I've talked to enough small business owners to know that this stuff can feel like a full time job. New platforms pop up every other month. You're told you need to be everywhere doing everything, and if you're not going viral, you're losing. Well, that's garbage. The truth is you don't have to be everywhere. You just need to be where your customers are. And today, Entree Leadership's John Felkins and Ramsey's Chief Marketing officer, our CMO Jen Severtson, are going to unpack how to stop spinning your wheels when it comes to social media and start using it to actually grow your business. Let's get into it.

[B]

All right, Jen, let's talk about social media. Yes, social media is, I'm thinking about such a big topic at a society level, right? Like I don't want my kids on social media too much and good things and bad things. But for the business owner, what would you say is the primary purpose of even engaging with social media?

[C]

Yeah, so it's a great low cost way to get your business out there. Right. Like, I mean, at the end of the day it costs time. That's why you don't want your kids on it. Right?

[B]

That's right.

[C]

Plus time. But from a business owner, you can really use that to your advantage.

[B]

So is it for, you know, the different things that we've talked about, is it for direct response, is it for branding, is it something else?

[C]

All the above, all of it. Right. So today social media is interest based. Right. It used to be.

[B]

I'm sorry, say that again.

[C]

Yeah. So, okay, so it's interest based. Interesting. So let's talk about what that means.

[B]

Yes, please.

[C]

So it used to be that social media was you connecting with people in your social circle. Right. People that you were friends with or you followed. If you notice now you're hearing and seeing less from the friends you're connected to and more the things you're interested in. So the dog videos that you love or the whatever, fill in the blank, it's turned into an interest based kind of interaction. Right. And so from that standpoint, as a business owner, you can really, really take advantage of that. In a good way. Yes, in a good way. Because there's all these niche interests, if you will, right now that are being pushed by the algorithm. So it all started with TikTok, right? TikTok is what pushed the other ones to be interest based. TikTok does this really well. That's why the TikT algorithm is kind of always being talked about, because it does this so. So well. It will push to you things that it kind of knows John's going to be interested in. And Instagram and Facebook have picked up on this. They don't do it quite as well as TikTok, but I'm sure they'll get there.

[B]

So I'm glad that you're bringing up these different platforms. Let's talk a little bit about that for the business owner. Which platform should they be on? Should they be on all of them? Like, how do you look at that?

[C]

There's a few ways to answer that question. One, if you're doing this yourself, right, or you're having somebody on your team do this and it is not their full time job, I think you want to probably start where you are most comfortable because that's where you've got the better chance of success. Right? Ideally, though, you really want to be where your customers are. Sometimes that means that it's everywhere because you're a plumber and your potential customers are kind of, well, they're on all the platforms. Right. And in that case, it doesn't mean you have to be everywhere. It just means it doesn't really matter where you start because this general population is kind of going to engage with you. If you have an audience that is of a more specific age demographic, there is some splits there. So TikTok does skew younger, Facebook skews older. Right. And so if you actually have this demographic from an age standpoint, there are some clear, clearer lines. Okay, it still blurs, but they're a little bit clearer. And you would want to, if you had an older kind of target audience, you would want to start on Facebook and then maybe expand to the others.

[B]

Okay, so I've heard you use a phrase before and maybe I'm picking up on it a little bit. Platform agnostic, is that what you're talking about or is that something different?

[C]

Well, it is, it is that we use it a little bit differently here. And let me talk about how we use because I think that does apply to the audience, our entree leadership audience. The way we use it here is we put out a lot of content, we produce shows and we put them out on basically all the platforms that we can get them out on. Because by being out there we have a very broad set of core products. Entree leadership's a little bit more niche, but The Ramsey show is a very broad audience. People need help with their money. And so we are platform agnostic, and we'll put that show anywhere that we feel like we can get it out to audiences. So the way that that applies to social media for us is the same. We are platform agnostic when it comes to social media because we have a broad audience range and they are engaging on all of these different things.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And it doesn't matter if you're 28 and you're in debt or you're 54 and you're in debt.

[B]

Right.

[C]

You need help.

[B]

Yeah. And so everybody's got to get out of debt. So let me ask you this. We're this big. Like you just said, we're this big powerhouse. We do all of these things, but we got a lot of people that are watching. Maybe they've got a little plumbing company or H Vac company or they're fixing computers or whatever it is. What are some real practical how to get started and what to do to just do something small and not be overwhelmed.

[C]

I love this question because it is so much easier than you think it is. So say I'm a plumber and I've got maybe it's me and a couple of people working, other technicians working for me. I am doing my trade every day. And if you are not a plumber, it is like magic, and it is a mystery. So you can do things as simple as take your phone and start recording some of the things that you're finding. You could literally be doing your job. Put a camera on it, put a little bit, you know, some words around, talk about what it is you're finding. Wow, I can't believe this pipe was so clogged. Like, hey, a tip how you can avoid this and avoid having me come out. And you can start to be that expert in your field where you're building trust with the audience that sees it because they're like, oh, John Doe, the plumber will tell me what I can do to avoid having him come out. Or say you're an electrician and you get out to a house and literally the. This is so silly, but say the breaker had just flipped and somebody called the electrician instead of just fixing, you know, flipping the breaker back on. Well, that's not a very worthwhile trip for you. And so you can start to talk about, hey, things to check before you call the electrician, things to check before you call the plumber when you might not need to call me. You know, like, how helpful is that to people as that's helpful to you,

[B]

like you were saying, that's helpful to you as the business owner. Because that's not a profitable trip for you either, right?

[C]

Yeah, yeah. You can charge whatever, you know, whatever your charge fee is. But your skills are much better used where you're expertise is truly needed. Right.

[A]

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[B]

you're really big on is measuring and making sure that it's working. And we've talked about this, but let's hit it again. If you're starting out like let's say you start on Facebook because you think that's where your audience is, which is your advice, right? Go to where your audience is. What do you start looking for to see if it's working?

[C]

Yeah. The most important thing is engagement.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

It's truly, it's engagement. And what that means is likes, comments and shares on Instagram, they have the ability to save things too. That counts as an engagement. So it's are people interacting with your content? Because when they are, that means it was helpful.

[B]

So let me ask you this, and this is a little bit different question. What do people need to avoid when they get on social media? As a business owner, because it seems like there would be some pitfalls, I

[C]

think you can start to hone in on what is working for you. So say you put out 10 pieces of content and two of them hit and eight of them didn't start to dissect why those two hit and then start making more like that. The other thing was consistency. Have a Plan and be consistent. So if you are that plumber and you're gonna start putting out content or start recording some of your actual work that you're doing and helping to kind of shine a light on that, say, make a decision as to how often you're gonna do that and then do it.

[B]

But why is that important?

[C]

Consistency is one of the things that both drives the algorithm, but also helps to build your audience. Right. Because if I'm following you and I care about tips, I want to know kind of even subconsciously that I'm going to be regularly hearing from you.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

But it also helps to build the algorithm.

[B]

Okay. So we've talked about plumbers and electricians. Let's talk a little bit about real world scenarios. Maybe in some other industries. You know, we, we have a lot of people in construction, we have a lot of people in medical. Now, of course, in medical you can't take a camera into your work necessarily.

[C]

No. But you can do so much in the way of giving and help information. Yeah. You can't show you're working with a client. Right. But you can say, hey, I saw 10 cases of the flu this week, and let's talk about some ways you can avoid the flu.

[B]

So what I'm hearing you, you're saying the same thing, but in a little bit different way. What is sharing information doing for the customer? They're getting the help on the specific tip, but what's it doing for you, the business owner?

[C]

You are positioning yourself as the expert, the guide, the person that can come in and help whoever's on the other side of that when they have a similar need.

[B]

So you're building trust.

[C]

That's right.

[B]

So let me go for a different direction here for a minute because one of the pain points that I hear from business owners sometimes is they hired somebody, maybe even it was just an intern, and they gave all of the logins and the passwords to their accounts to this person or maybe an agency, but usually just a person. That person leaves and then they're in trouble. How do you help people in that scenario?

[C]

I have heard this too, and I'm so happy you're asking this question. You just should always know what your login credentials are. So you will have to give somebody else access. Right. If they're going to be doing this for you, that's an inevitable. But don't ever give them access and have them change it so that you no longer have access. So if they need to change it, that sometimes happens. Somebody gets locked out, you need to be in the loop when that happens and make sure that you too always have access.

[B]

Gotcha.

[C]

Yeah, that's just a non negotiable. Just set that and then make sure you stick with it.

[B]

All right. Thanks Jen. That was super helpful. If you've got a social media strategy working for your business, let us know in the comments what kind of business you have and how you're using different platforms to get the word out.

[A]

Social media doesn't have to waste your energy or feel like busy work. Use the right way. It's just another tool in your marketing toolbox. But if you try to be everywhere and do everything, you'll end up frustrated and burn out. So start small. Pick one or two platforms based on where your customers actually are, not where the trends are, and focus on solving real problems, telling real stories, and being consistent. That's it it. You don't need to chase the algorithm, you need to focus on serving people well. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, share and subscribe for more great leadership content. I'm your host Dave Ramsey and this is Entree Leadership.