Lush quit paid social five years ago and kept growing. Count what you own.

Short answer: Lush stepped away from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat in 2021 and stopped posting to X by 2023. It moved marketing money to an app with 2.8 million users, email reaching more than 6 million people, creators and events. Revenue rose to 736.2 million pounds in 2025 from 672.7 million pounds. Neither Lush nor Digiday says the social exit caused that growth. The lesson is about owning the audience, not dropping ads. (Digiday, Oct 28, 2026)

TLDR

• Lush has not paid the big social platforms for ads in five years. (Digiday)
• App 2.8 million users. Email more than 6 million people globally. (Hamfelt, via Digiday)
• Count your owned audience. Set a 90-day target. Move one slice of rented-reach budget to it.

What did Lush actually do?

Kimeko McCoy reported in Digiday on Oct 28 that Lush stepped away from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat in 2021, and stopped posting to X by 2023.

Julia Hamfelt, head of marketing for Lush North America, told Digiday: "We don't engage in any paid advertising on social media, in that we don't invest in paying the platforms for advertising." And: "our philosophy really is to invest in people over platforms."

Marketing money went to the Lush app, brand collaborations, creators and in-person events. Hamfelt did not give spend figures.

What are the numbers?

Per Digiday:

• Mobile app: 2.8 million users.
• Email: reaches more than 6 million people globally.
• Cross-brand collaborations: around 34 million pounds in sales, per the June earnings report.
• Revenue: 736.2 million pounds in 2025, up from 672.7 million pounds in 2024, with 11 consecutive months of "solid growth."

Lush's own audited accounts credit new product launches, cross-brand collaborations and online customer forums. (weare.lush.com, year ending June 2025)

What is the case against?

It is on the record. Jeremy Ekes of January Digital told Digiday: "Paid social is really about driving reach," and "You're buying a reach vehicle."

Hamfelt admitted the cost: "There was a period of time where we had to rebuild avenues and ways to directly connect with our customers."

Digiday also notes paid social was not a significant part of Lush's ad budget before the exit. Lush is a global retailer with stores. It still posts organically on YouTube and Pinterest, and joined Substack and Bluesky this year. A local business should not drop paid social with no plan.

"Rent reach, own the relationship. Post wherever the people are, but every piece points back to a site and a list you control. The platform can't take your email list."

What does renting all your reach cost?

Every algorithm or price change on a platform you rent resets your reach. You start each quarter paying again for the same customers. (Opinion, Head of Content)

The owned-audience count

1. Count what you own today: email list, SMS or app opt-ins, customers you can text, people who came to your last event.
2. Write the number down with the date.
3. Set a 90-day target for that number.
4. Move one slice of rented-reach budget to growing it: an event, a lead magnet, a referral offer.
5. Report the owned number to the client every month next to paid results.

Next step

Who: the agency owner and the client's marketing lead. What: one owned-audience count and a 90-day target per client. When: this month, before Q1 budgets are set. How: the five steps above, added as a line in your monthly report.