One Year In: Why We’re Failing Fast On Social Media
Photo by Alex Simms Photo
This week, we’re taking a moment to celebrate — because we’ve officially been in business for a whole year (!!!). A year of wild trends, TikTok bans, endless learning, and a lot of trial and error. And if there’s one huge lesson we’ve learned about social media (and honestly, life in general), it’s this: don’t be afraid to fail. And fail fast.
When we started this business, we had no clue what we were doing. Sure, we’d built online communities for ourselves and even for billion-dollar companies, but launching something from scratch? That was a different beast entirely. Our motto has been, “We’re flying the plane as we’re building it!!!” We had to use both sides of our brains, push ourselves into uncomfortable territory, and just… start. And start. And start again.
We iterated endlessly. We rebranded once, adjusted our pricing twice, and completely reshaped our offer three times before we finally figured out what actually worked. It was messy, it was chaotic, and honestly? It was kind of beautiful.
A year in, we’re still a little naive about the challenges ahead. But one thing is certain: we will fail again. And when we do, we’re not letting it break us. We’ll come back stronger, armed with data, insights, and an even smarter plan — because failing isn’t the opposite of success. Failing is the fuel for it.
And we knowwww the term fail is a four letter F word. But don’t let it be. When it comes to social, you just have to take the plunge and adjust as you learn. Here’s a little check list so you know what we mean — you’re welcome:
Your Social Media Fail & Learn Checklist for the Next Few Months
Post it (even if it’s scary). Try content you’ve never done before — Reels, carousels, or long-form captions. Fail fast, learn faster.
Experiment with timing. Test posting at different times of day and different days of the week. Track what actually works for your audience.
Try new formats. Polls, quizzes, reels, guides… experiment liberally. Even if it flops, you’ll know what not to do next time.
Play with copy. Use different tones, call-to-actions, or hooks. Watch what gets people engaging and what makes them scroll past.
Test trends—but make them yours. Hop on a trend or audio, but adapt it to your brand voice. Not every trend will stick, but some might surprise you.
Measure everything. Likes, shares, saves, comments, and even click-throughs — all data is gold. Failure is just data in disguise.
Ask your audience. Poll them, DM them, or post questions. Direct feedback is the fastest way to know if you’re hitting the mark. A quick reminder: IT’S FREE RESEARCH.
Repeat what works. When you discover content that resonates, double down. Failure helps you identify the stuff that actually sticks.
Document it. Keep notes on what you tried, what failed, and what you learned. Your future self will thank you.
Have fun. Seriously. The more you enjoy experimenting, the easier it is to keep iterating — and failing — with zero shame.
Failing isn’t just okay — it’s necessary. The first year taught us that the faster you test, iterate, and learn, the faster you grow. So get out there, try new things, mess up and then use those lessons to crush the next phase of your business.
