You don’t own your social media

Yep, Mr. Zuckerberg and his crew had quite the afternoon meltdown. It was rather frustrating not being able to log-in, and some accounts even thought they’d lost their access forever…

 

There are some big lessons to take from the outage (other than deciding what to do with your time whilst they fixed the mess… although I’m not denying that hot cup of tea was good!)

 

Here are my 5 key takeaways:

 

Don’t put all your eggs in one social media basket. Losing access to your accounts or followers can happen in a flash, whether it’s a hack, a platform glitch or god forbid a permanent loss of the whole system. We must remember we don’t actually own our followers or our social accounts…

 

Diversify, diversify, diversify. While FB and Insta are great, they shouldn’t be your sole social platforms. Explore other options like X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and TikTok to spread your reach and mitigate risk.

 

Build that email list. Collecting emails gives you a direct line to your audience, no matter what happens on social media. Use lead magnets to capture their data and keep your followers in the loop with updates, promos, and more.

 

Keep your website fresh. Having a solid website means your business stays visible even if social media goes MIA. Use it to showcase your offerings and connect with potential customers.

 

Get out there in real life. Don’t forget about the power of face-to-face connections! [See my post from last week for a reminder] Attend local events, partner up with other businesses, and build those community ties to complement your online efforts.

 

Stay resilient, and make sure you are not solely reliant on social media platforms. There is so much more out there to complement your social marketing, and reach those ideal customers.