I know from talking to clients and other business owners that there’s a real temptation to build your business on Facebook, especially while you’re still in the start-up phase. Facebook is where many of you grow your communities, promote your events, and sell your products. It’s where you do most of your marketing. I’ve been saying for a while now that this is a dangerous strategy.
It’s YOUR business — why would you want to build it on someone else’s land?
So if you’ve nodded along with me, saying ‘sure, Clare, I get your point, I’ll totally get on that soon’, listen up. ‘Soon’ needs to be now!
Mark Zuckerberg has just announced big changes that have everyone in a flap. Facebook is going back to its roots — Zuckerberg wants us to remember the social aspect of social media. So you’re going to start seeing more posts from your pals and fewer posts from businesses and publications.
Great news if you’re fed up of the current ad bombardment, bad news if you’re a business relying solely on Facebook to grow your business. Your reach IS going to take a hit, there’s no doubt about it.
So what can you do about it?
Get yourself a website — pronto.
If you’ve been using your Facebook business page as a substitute for a website, I get it. A website can be a huge investment. But it doesn’t have to be. To get you started you just need a presence; it doesn’t have to be all bells, whistles, and sparkles.
There are loads of DIY options that you can look into but my preferred site builder is WordPress. Building the site takes a little bit of time but it’s not too tricky to get it set up and once you’ve got it in place it’s really easy to navigate and update. (If you’re a bit of a technophobe, check out this free course to help you get started with WordPress)
If you’re not sure what you’re doing in terms of content, check out a few of my previous posts that will give you some useful pointers.
Why your web copy isn’t converting…and what to do about it.
Do you have the confidence to blow your own trumpet?
Three things to include in your ‘about me’ page, and one you should definitely avoid.
Build your list.
We’ve got to talk about your email list. If your community only exists on Facebook, you’re taking a huge risk. What will happen if you inadvertently break FB rules and find yourself locked out of your page? Do you know who your followers are? Would you be able to contact each one if you didn’t have access to FB?
Conversely, if you focus on building your email list, you will always be able to contact your supporters, whenever you need to. Your list belongs to you. Your Facebook fans belong to Zuckerberg.
I’m going to dedicate a future post to the topic of building an email list (it’s something I’m going to focus on this year myself – keep an eye out for a free email course coming soon!) but the gist of it is that you need to make sure you have something of value to offer visitors to your site. It might be great blog content, it might be a free course or checklist but you need to offer readers something that will encourage them to hand over their email addresses.
Explore other platforms.
If you’ve been ignoring all other social media platforms, now is the time to explore the options. It’s generally advisable not to try to be everywhere on social media — you’ll run out of time to do your actual work — but it’s a good idea to choose two or three different platforms to help you build your business community and reputation. I’ve been guilty of over-relying on Facebook myself and these changes have given me the push I needed to get back to Twitter and to try to make more of LinkedIn too.
Focus on quality over quantity.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not for a minute saying that Facebook for business is over. We just have to adapt to the changes. And, focusing on the quality of your posts is going to be key. We’re all going to have to consider engagement whenever we post content to Facebook (more than we do already, that is). What kind of content is going to get people talking and sharing? (Hint: those of us who have so far resisted the lure of video content are going to have to bite the bullet this year!)
Social media platforms do like to mix things up now and again, sometimes SMEs will welcome the changes snd sometimes the changes will send us into a blind panic. It’s vital that we don’t give these platforms so much power over our businesses: it’s time you start building your business on your own land.
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