What happened after LUSH quit social media…

Picture this…

In 2021 it’s all digital, digital, digital for brands.

Post pandemic, people are finding community online, shopping online, spending leisure time online.

Social media is at an all time high.

And LUSH?

They decide to wave GOODBYE to socials. 👋

They had millions following them, so this was about to be a huge loss.

But for them, turning away from socials was a no-brainer. They were a brand led by ethical values, and when they saw a shift in how the algorithms were affecting predominantly young females (LUSH’s largest audience), they decided to turn their Meta channels off.

Fast forward to 2025 and they’ve more than just survived.

Here’s how:

1. Double down on community insights

Annabelle knew LUSH had one of the biggest fan followings on Reddit.

She also knew fragrance was having a big moment at the time.

With that knowledge they:

• Took their bestseller shower gel called Sticky Dates and saw an opportunity to turn it into a body spray / hair fragrance.

• They went into the Reddit LUSH community and asked them what they wanted as their favourite scents – then used the insights to launch 5 limited edition fragrances.

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2. Find other platforms to build community

Audiences are in more places online than just the major platforms.

For LUSH, that meant:

• Building out their YouTube channel for engagement

• Building a Discord for more intimate conversations

3. Look at other marketplaces & third party platforms

For retention and awareness, LUSH looked beyond themselves.

They realised that in Asia, third party platforms were important from an awareness/top of funnel POV.

For the US, Meta was the biggest player – but since LUSH weren’t on social media, they looked into partnerships with similar alternatives.

Brand collabs also became a way for LUSH to make themselves known in other marketplaces. From Minecraft to Wicked to Hello Kitty, tapping into already existing spaces with HUGE cult followings was a goldmine for LUSH.

4. Bring the customer in as far in as you can

Do customer interviews.

Scour your email database and talk to people who have already converted… but also those who haven’t.

(If you’re interested in how to nail your customer interviews, read more here).

***

With all this in place, LUSH built a solid foundation where social media was no longer necessary.

Relevancy is hard when you’re not in the space where people are having important conversations - but it’s possible.

As Anabelle said towards the end of the talk, “nothing happens overnight”. Sometimes you need to layer lots of things together for results to show.