You can’t just rely on social media!
A common marketing technique these days is to show up on social media, pretty much exclusively. In fact, less than half of small businesses have a website, with many preferring to just advertise on social media.
You’ve all seen them, the Facebook groups, promoting a business and creating a ‘community’.
But as this week in Australia has brought into stark reminder – Facebook is a private business. And like any private business, it will make decisions that are in its best interests.
These just might not always be in your best interests…!
Pages, carefully curated and maintained. Communities built up over years, with their own identities and personalities.
Gone.
Content you post on social media is no longer your own. They own it. All of it.
And they can take it away.
Sure, a week ago we all doubted that they would ever do something so dramatic. But then…they did.
Imagine if your carefully built business was caught up in this situation.
Everything you’ve worked for, gone in a second.
Or, even if your content remains alive, the audience disappears. Many social media pages have failed, MySpace, Google Plus…
And Facebook’s user base is notoriously getting older, with younger audiences departing the platform. If you are trying to reach these audiences, Facebook definitely isn’t the best way to get them anymore!
So when you’re considering where and how to promote your business, don’t just put it up on social media and think that’s enough.
You need to think about making sure your message and your content stands the test of time. Social media has to be just one facet of an overarching strategy that must also include other channels, including a website (and not a web presence on a hosted site, like Medium.com, but your own, standalone site with your own URL).
Don’t let your business live or die at the whims of someone else!
Jo Larvin Communications 