It’s one thing to quit social media as a private citizen, but can you safely delete your Facebook and other online profiles as a business owner or entrepreneur?
Sorry, but I think the answer is no. For now.
Yes, I know everyone hates Facebook now — there are a lot of good reasons for that…same for Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Social media platforms have become synonymous with trolls, hate speech, ignorance, and internet addiction. Many people are advocating deleting our accounts altogether, or at the very least drastically cutting back on your usage and the personal information you allow the services to collect. Truthfully, I’ve also taken steps to limit my social media usage — deleting the apps from my phone, deleting posts and activity logs from years ago, being more conscious of how much time I spend scrolling my feeds and the effect that has on my mood. All that said: You have to go where your customers are. And chances are your customers are still primarily on Facebook.
Over the past 12 years, millions of people all over the world have amassed large and intricate personal and professional networks on the website. Many of those networks haven’t been replicated meaningfully elsewhere. For all its flaws, Facebook offers consumers unprecedented access to information and other people, and that means barring legal action, it’s unlikely that the company will go the way of MySpace anytime soon.
But minimizing your reliance on Facebook and other third-party platforms is still a worthy goal. As recent reports have demonstrated, proprietary algorithms and analytics that can’t be audited by its users can lead to devastating consequences for not only individual businesses, but for entire industries. Remember the now-infamous “pivot to video”? Media companies sure do, as well as the advertisers that partnered with them. It’s a bit of a sore subject around these parts.
Use Social Media Strategically
That’s why it’s crucial that you use your social media profiles to redirect traffic to your own website. Every single post on your dedicated business profiles should do one or all of the following: increase brand awareness, increase brand loyalty, or boost organic site traffic. In other words, don’t publish content just for the sake of appearing “active” — tailor the information you present and your overall marketing approach to fit the consumers you need to reach. Make sure your profiles prominently feature your logo, website URL, phone number, and business address, if applicable. Even if you don’t contribute another cent to Facebook or Google Ad campaigns, your business needs to be indexed by their search engines. Businesses that have complete social media profiles and a dedicated website will still seem much more reputable than those that don’t, not to mention that consumers can’t become customers if they don’t know you exist.
I don’t post to my business Facebook page very often, but when I have new content published somewhere out in cyberspace, readers, clients, and even potential employers have sent me messages through it to get in touch with me. I include my website address in all my biographical materials, but social media offers a sense of immediacy and connection that a standard contact box simply can’t. (That doesn’t mean you can afford to go without one, though.) Accessibility is key, no matter what form it ultimately takes.
But if social media just isn’t your cup of tea, you can always outsource or automate it. Don’t know how? Let’s talk about simple and effective strategies for taking your brand to the next level.
