Is Social Media your Only Marketing Tool?

Why putting all your marketing “eggs” in the social media basket is a bad idea!

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “don’t put all your eggs into one basket”, right? So, what does that mean? It means don’t put all your efforts into just one thing – if that one thing doesn’t pan out or blows up, you’ll be left high and dry. That caution can be applied to virtually every aspect of your life, but today I want to talk about marketing, and the fact that way too many small business owners are putting all of their eggs into one basket – the social media basket!

Whether you’ve got a side hustle or are running a full- fledged business, you’re probably relying on social media to help you get the word out.  It’s typically one of the first places you go when you’re going to put yourself “out there”, right? Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok – everyone is talking about them and using them for their marketing efforts. The focus on social media is understandable, because generally it’s free, at least to get started, and you pour all your efforts into creating content that will make the algorithm happy and show your content to your ideal clients. Unfortunately, this is where many small business owners stop.

So, why is this a problem?

First, because YOU don’t own the social media platforms – you are completely at the mercy of the platform; what would happen if they shut down the platform, or more likely, if they ban you or shut down your account? Think it can’t happen? It’s happened many times, so thinking it can’t happen to you is a naive and extremely risky business decision. If your account gets shut down today, what’s your backup plan? How are you going to communicate with your potential clients? Do you have one? If not, this is the exact risk I’m referring to when I say you don’t want your eggs all in one basket. If you’re a small business owner trying to grow your business and your marketing efforts end at social media, you’ve put all of your eggs into one basket, and this is the exact risk I’m referring to. You’re missing some huge opportunities, and potentially setting yourself up for failure by putting all your eggs in the social media basket.

The second problem is that you don’t have any control over who sees the content you post. Ever hear people complaining about changes to the algorithm? Yep, that’s right! Just when you think you understand how they’re prioritizing content, they change it up and you’re back to square one.

I’m certainly not suggesting you don’t need to be on social media, but I am strongly encouraging you to make sure it is not your ONLY marketing strategy. If it is, you’re walking down a very dangerous path. In reality, while a social media presence of some sort is beneficial for most small businesses, it’s even more important that you have your OWN platform to market your business. 

One of the easiest, most effective, and best marketing strategies you can do for your small business is to start an email list. Having an email list and your own website is much more important in the grand scheme of things than social media.  First off, you don’t OWN social media, so if you solely rely on it for marketing your business, you are putting all of your eggs in a basket that you don’t own or control. You are putting your livelihood in the hands of the owners of those social media platforms, and are beholden to the whims of the algorithms.  This is NOT a place you want to be! 

So what should you do?

Get your email list started. One of the things I do most often for small business owners is help them get their email list up and running. While most website and email marketing platforms are not free, there are many very inexpensive options out there that will allow you to directly market to and nurture YOUR ideal clients on a platform you control and OWN. And If Facebook or Instagram suddenly decides to ban you or change their algorithm, you won’t lose your entire customer base!  You can still use social media to drive traffic to your email list, but it’s critical that you bring these clients into your world so you don’t lose touch with them if and when social media stops being effective for you.

If you’re not familiar with email marketing or how to get started, a typical email strategy goes something like this:

1. Encourage people to sign up for your email list – offer a freebie, special offer, helpful information, guide etc that they will be interested enough in to give you their email info. This can be done on social media, at trade shows and events, mailpieces, etc.
2. Welcome them to your business by educating them about what you do and who you do it for. Help them get to know you.
3. Nurture the relationship by providing relevant and useful information on a regular basis.

Email marketing can be a very complex and extremely effective marketing strategy, but even in it’s simplest form, it is extremely effective, and will help you develop and nurture your ideal clients along on the buyer’s journey. Having direct access to your ideal clients will allow you to present opportunities to them that they are actually interested in. For example, if you offer massage therapy, yoga classes, and essential oils, you can segment your email list so you can send info on your upcoming yoga classes to only those interested in yoga, or you could send it to all, but having the flexibility to choose is incredibly powerful. How would you do that with social media? You wouldn’t – you’re essentially throwing it all out there and hoping something resonates with the people you’re trying to reach. Again, there IS definitely a place for social media in marketing, but it needs to be in conjunction with a more focused and reliable marketing plan.

If you don’t have an email list or have access to your potential client base (followers) outside of social media, it’s high time you make a change! 

A few simple setups can help you leverage the power of social media to drive traffic to a platform you own and can directly market to no matter what the social media algorithms decide to do.  This is one of the very first marketing steps you should take in your small business, so if you’re not there, it’s time to get started!

If you need help or want more information, you can book a call with me here: Book a Call