With the social networks Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp outage in 2019 and just now, I want to remind you of the risks of relying entirely on social networks and the importance of diversifying your methods. How to interact and communicate with your customers!
Once these social networks were back up and running, ordinary Facebook users continue with their daily lives, watching videos of pets and commenting on other people’s posts. Business owners and entrepreneurs are assessing the damage, trying to determine how much sales they have lost during the time these social networks were down.
The normal users might have had trouble finding readings and comments. However, the business owners were unable to run an ad campaign, a Facebook Live program as planned, or even failed to make a sale that day thanks to their Facebook store. This is just one of many things that have affected business owners on Facebook.
Thus, we see that a business marketing strategy that relies solely on social networks is a strategy that leads to disaster.
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Risks of depending on social networks:
1. We do not own the social network platforms
No matter how big your followers are or how much money you have spent on that platform, you either don’t own it or you don’t have any control over what happens on it. There are people who have spent thousands of dollars on Facebook ads who lose their Facebook ad accounts instantly. Someone also lost access to their Facebook page with more than two million followers without explanation.
You’re probably thinking, “They must have violated the terms and conditions of that social platform.” You may be right. However, there are also people who lose access to their ad accounts because of vague violations. That’s enough to make us hesitant to put all our eggs in the social media marketing basket.
What do you do if you lose access to your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram account? Can you quickly resume your business? Or will you cry and be numb knowing you have no other way to connect with your customers?
2. Your free customer reach will continue to decrease
Remember the old days when your post got huge hits without having to pay a dime? People can then see your business page posts in their homepage. But that sounds far-fetched now, doesn’t it?
Now to increase reach, you have to spend money to increase engagement for your posts. For large businesses, this is undisputed. However, for smaller companies and startups, spending such money is a challenge. You might think that paying is a good thing because it will generate more customers. But isn’t it? The harsh reality is that paying for views of your posts doesn’t always convert readers into customers.
3. It’s easy to lose all your credits with one bad move
Think of social media marketing like a credit card. Use it wisely – i.e. spend and repay on time – and your credit score improves, giving you access to more credit scores and better interest rates. However, if you abuse it, your credit score will drop, interest rates will increase, and very few people will want to do business with you.
Using your social media marketing cards correctly is like having a good credit score, you will see increased followers and ultimately more business. However, if you take one wrong step, you could lose your entire business. And if your credit card is completely stolen, you’re in a tough spot. If your favorite social media channel is broken or stolen, then you need to go through the difficult process of rebuilding your brand on another platform.
Solutions to ensure your brand is always under your control online:
1. Build a website to display your products and services
Your website is something you own and can use like a showroom for your customers to see. If social media goes down and it’s your only platform, how will your customers find you? Are you going to just sit back and wait a day, maybe even a few days, until your account is active again?
When you have a website for your business, your customers can find your business 24/7! You have the option of reaching new customers daily and enhancing your online reputation. Your clients expect professionalism and you should show them that by building a unique website that is completely different.
Today building a website is easier than ever! With platforms like Squarespace and WordPress, creating a website for your business is quick and affordable.
Grow an email marketing list to reach customers
Another way to communicate with your audience is through email marketing.
Sending messages straight to your customers’ inboxes can be a great way to increase your sales. If you don’t have an email list, this is a great time to start collecting one! Growing your email list can take time but it’s pretty easy to do!
An easy way to get an email address is to give something away for free in exchange for an email address. For example, you can give away downloadable content like e-books, how-to videos, free trials…! Free gifts are a great incentive for customers to subscribe to your email list! Email marketing gives you the option to connect with your customers in a unique way that you take full ownership of.
Social media marketing has exploded and is an extremely useful tool when it comes to enhancing your brand reputation, but don’t forget that you don’t own your social media accounts and this account. may be suspended or deleted at any time! Create other ways for your customers to reach you and make sure you’re diversifying how you communicate with them!
Just like millions of other people use social networks, I love using them too. I can interact with my followers, build connections and get more web traffic. However, with the popularity of social networks, many people have become dependent on the traffic that social network brings to their web.
Regardless of how many visitors social networks bring in, you need to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket. If that basket goes down (whether it’s your fault or not), your web traffic will suffer as well.
Using social media while also taking advantage of other avenues of access will allow your business to succeed without being dependent on a single platform.
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