3 reasons you shouldn’t ONLY rely on social media for marketing
I had planned on writing about post-pandemic entrepreneurship, but so much has and is happening in the social media sphere that I think it’s important to talk about how it could affect your marketing strategy.
If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, let’s break it down…
Twitter is an absolute mess right now. It would appear as though it is completely imploding and there has been a mass exodus of both employees as well as users. A lot of users have stuck around to see what might happen, but many are carefully considering alternatives in case the platform as we know it disappears completely. It’s important to remember that even the channels you use to market your business can reflect poorly on your overall brand.
Beyond Twitter, a little while ago, Instagram had some major issues where a lot of people were locked out of their accounts and some accounts were even shut down. Social media hacking seems to be on the rise and most of us know at least one person who has been hacked.
And lets not forget all the times a platform is just temporarily down and we all collectively panic.
So, what does this all mean for you and your marketing? It means you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket – don’t ONLY focus on social media as a strategy.
In case the three above situations haven’t convinced you, here are 3 reasons why you shouldn’t ONLY rely on social media to market your business.
You don’t own your audience
Each platform you sign up on and set yourself up on is a BORROWED platform. It’s a BORROWED audience. If Twitter shuts down tomorrow or if Instagram shuts your account, you don’t get to carry that audience with you to the next platform or the next account. You have to start from scratch. Use these platforms as tools, but don’t make it your entire strategy. Collect emails, build your database in the event that you need to rebuild on a new platform.
Variety is the spice of life
People aren’t one-dimensional, and your customers are people. You need to find ways to connect with them that are unique and that means trying different things. If you’re ONLY relying on Instagram, then you may be missing out on a bigger opportunity to connect via email or set up a workshop series where you can have more in-depth dialogue. These are just two examples, but there are so many ways you can connect with your audience! The more you can connect, the better.
A reminder that this doesn’t mean you need to be EVERYWHERE, it just means you need to be strategic with where you market your business. I still maintain that it’s best to pick a few things and do them incredibly well than it is to be on ALL the social media platforms and do ALL the different types of marketing. It’s a quick recipe for burnout.
If you have the tools, use them
The equivalent of “when you got it, flaunt it” for marketing! When you’re building a house, you wouldn’t ONLY use nails. You need to also use a hammer along with it (… and other things, I don’t build houses, so maybe I shouldn’t use that analogy, but you get it…). Your marketing strategy will be stronger if you use multiple tools together and work towards your ultimate goals. I always like to talk about doing a mix of both traditional and non-traditional tactics. Set up in the right ways, you can find efficiencies to make your life a whole lot easier. For example, if you have a blog, you can repurpose the content for multiple social media posts, email newsletter content teasers, and even downloadable marketing content that you can use as a lead magnet.
Remember the above point though, you don’t have to be everywhere because it can lead to burnout, so prioritize your marketing channels and build your strategy by seeing how they fit together.
Feeling stuck on social media? If you’re wondering how you can incorporate other marketing channels into your strategy, book a complementary consultation with us and we’ll point you in the right direction!