The Great Facebook + Instagram Black Out of 2021
No joke! Everyone’s talking about it! The whole day the world had to live without Facebook and Instagram. Do you remember where you were when you found out the platforms were down?
I had decided to take a mid morning break from writing and took a little walk and got a text from Jenni, “Is your Instagram down?”.
What? IG DOWN? No way!
I checked – it was down and so was Facebook!
My first thought – no worries, it’s a blip it’ll be back in no time!
WRONG – it was down all day.
Did Your Business Loose Sales?
Did you see your bookings dip because you had no IG or FB to communicate with clients?
Did you see your sales go down because you had no IG or FB?
If you did, we have some hard news for you – if you didn’t, you were lucky – this time!
Businesses Can’t Thrive with Social Media Alone
The harsh reality is starting to set in for business owners. You can’t rely on a social trend to keep your business solvent. The advent of social media allowed innovative marketing professionals to yell email marketing is OLD SKOOL and your website isn’t as important as a great Facebook Group or an Instagram profile.
10 years ago, Facebook was the new frontier. It was the land of opportunity to promote a business with that magic word – FREE! Business owners loved it! Then came Instagram and its many abilities: promote goods and services, in-profile contact options, and then a direct link to your shopify account.
Ahh, it was amazing!
When The Magic Starts To Fade
Then the world was set on its ear by waring political factions and a global pandemic that created social strife on the Facebook platform. Suddenly the reliability of the content became a concern. The love affair with Facebook began to fade. How many times have you heard people say, “I don’t go on Facebook all that much any more.”
Yet business owners pacified themselves with their love of Instagram. “That’s ok that they’re not on Facebook, I engage heavily on Instagram.” But during the pandemic Instagram got a massive wake up call.
“Hello Instagram, it’s me TikTok, can you kindly step aside. You’re tired and boring!”
TikTok Is The New Cool Kid On The Block
Yes, honey! TikTok is the new Queen of The Ball! She’s grand and robust and rules the social media scene. So much so that Instagram came out publicly and said, “We’re no longer a photo sharing platform, we’re focusing on video content.” (That’s not a direct quote) But what many are saying is that Instagram was desperate to remain relevant. Over the past decade they would continually add features to compete with new platforms, IGTV for YouTube, Stories for Snapchat, and Reels for TikTok.
The only issue at this point in time, TikTok gained so much popularity and had features for creators that Instagram didn’t offer. This combination has proven problematic to Instagram.
The Great Facebook + Instagram Blackout
October 4th – the day we all had our social media wake up call! (Part of me wishes it was October 3rd because I’m such a Mean Girls fan!) Anyway, October 4th is the day we all can point to when we say, how is your business marketing itself besides social media?
Twitter and TikTok creators were savage about the blackout. Many Twitter and TikTok creators were posting content that poked fun at Facebook users and Instagram users seeking information about the black out on Twitter and TikTok.
But don’t get it twisted, Twitter lost its relevance about 8 years ago. Also, while TikTok is the hottest thing on the market – trust – her luster will fade and something younger and newer will come along!
Multi Pronged Marketing Approach Is Key
We love Facebook, we love Instagram, we love TikTok, we love Twitter! They’re all great platforms!
B U T!
As a business owner, one MUST protect your assets! You must ensure that you can engage in an ongoing business enterprise – regardless of social trends and social media love affairs.
One cannot rely solely on a single platform! It’s irresponsible. Having a contingency plan for the business to continue to function and grow is key.
Complete Digital Presence Is Key
Ensuring that your business has a complete digital presence is key! Ensuring your website has strong SEO! Ensuring that you have an engaged list of customers for your email marketing campaigns. Engaging in some direct mail with your key clients and doing 3rd party advertising!
Customers Grow and Change – Your Marketing Must Evolve Too
Don’t get complacent in your efforts! If you see a new platform come on the scene – get on it and learn it! You never know when the consumers tastes are gong to change. Also, it’s important to remember that every 5 – 8 years your consumers go through life cycle changes.
College students become young professionals. Young professionals become parents. Parents then become middle aged. Those life cycle changes create changes in how those customers consume media. Those life changes also create changes in how those customers consume the services and products you offer. Twenty somethings will use your business differently than 30 somethings.