Think you should not invite people with the promise that steemit is a mature platform that will give them better results than existing social media. Steemit is not there yet. Instead, it's an exciting opportunity to establish a presence, and build a network, on what could potentially become the next big thing.
So unless the person is excited about the opportunity to spend some time trying to figure out the possibilities that blockchain-based platform technologies can do, or have the desire to start blogging/interacting much more actively than what is done on platforms such as Instagram, then I don't think it makes sense to promote it just yet.
I have barely told anyone in my circles about steemit. Because for 95% of them it is simply not mature enough yet. So I would put less effort into promoting it widely, and instead focus on yourself, the people already here, and those you may know that have an above average curiosity for new technology and the future of the internet and social media.
I guess you are right. Steemit is not a social media platform that is easy to use compared to Facebook, Instagram and others. I tried to invite people that create content on other platforms on a regular basis and would only have to do some cross posting.