With the recent Facebook & Instagram outage that happened last week, I want to remind you why it’s important to diversify the way you interact and communicate with your customers!
Social media is an amazing tool to help your business grow online, but it shouldn’t be the only way you’re reaching your customers. At any point, social media platforms can stop working. When that happens, it’s important to have something that you own and can use to communicate with your followers!
There are a couple of ways to ensure your brand stays in your control online:
Build a website to display your products and services.
We’ve discussed the importance of creating a website for your business before, but we’re here to remind you that it is easier than ever nowadays! With platforms like Squarespace and Wordpress, creating a website for your business is quick and affordable. Your website is something you own and can use to truly showcase your expertise within your industry. If social media is down and it’s your only digital portfolio, how else will your customers find you? Are you just going to wait a day, maybe even a few days, until your account is up and running again? With your very own website, customers have the ability to find you 24/7! You have the option of reaching new customers everyday and boosting your online reputation. Your customers expect professionalism and you should show them that by building a unique website that is completely separate from your social media presence.
Develop an email marketing list to reach your customers.
Another way to communicate with your audience is through email marketing.
Sending messages straight to your clients’ inboxes can be a great way to boost your sales. If you don’t have an email list then this is a great time to start one! Growing your email list can take time but is fairly easy to do! One easy way to obtain email addresses is by using a lead magnet! A lead magnet is when you offer something for free in exchange for an email address. For instance, downloadable content such as ebooks, video guides, free trials and more! Offering something free is a great incentive for customers to sign up to your email list! As you can see to your right, we use an Email Marketing guide as our lead magnet, which goes more in depth with email marketing and how to generate even more sales! Email marketing gives you the option to connect to your customers in a more personal way and is something else that you have complete ownership of.
Social media marketing has exploded and is an extremely helpful tool when it comes to boosting your brands reputation, but don’t forget that you don’t own your social media account and it can be suspended or deleted at any time! Create other ways for your customers to reach you and make sure you are diversifying the way you communicate with them!
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