Is your marketing plan Facebook-proof?
Updated: Oct 5, 2021
Will life be the same without Facebook?
What will happen the day after Facebook dies? An online marketing apocalypse? The end of the small-business marketing as we know it? It’s going to happen one day - Facebook will die and when that happens the only question that will interest you as a small business owner is: How will you market your small business in a POST-Facebook era? Or as I would ask: "Is your marketing plan Facebook-proof?"
[In the original 2018 version of this blog, Instagram was mentioned for millennial target markets, however since Instagram and WhatsApp are part of the Facebook family, the damage a post-Facebook world will pose to your marketing strategy may be that much greater.]
If your business is B2B-centric then you should be marketing on LinkedIn and your occasional Facebook posts help keep your friends up-to-date on your business, nothing more.
Is your small business Facebook-proof?
But what happens to the thousands upon thousands of small business owners who depend on Facebook as their main marketing avenue and tool? The answer is simple: don’t wait until Facebook is dead and buried – make sure your marketing efforts are Facebook-proof today!
How? Perform the following 7 activities NOW. No matter how long Facebook takes to die or even if it rises from the ashes as Facebook2 or fools everyone and grows even stronger (a bit more about this later), the following steps should be part of any robust marketing plan;
My 7 non-Facebook marketing activities
Here are my 7 marketing activities to make your marketing plan Facebook-proof. I have been lecturing and blogging non-stop about creating a full-blown marketing plan and I hope that the fear of the-end-of-Facebook will be your motivation to really get your marketing plan into high gear:
Cultivate and maintain your database of clients and potential clients (friends, family and contacts who have requested quotes but never hired you).
Email marketing (or emarketing) It’s no secret that “Email is 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter” [McKinsey]. Use email marketing to your advantage by utilizing (1) e-newsletters - whether you publish a monthly or quarterly or bi-annual e-newsletter – get one going now; (2) online forums: register and post regularly (following forum posting rules) and (3) remember to Google your business (click for more info).
Write blogs Sharing information is the name of the game and the best way to prove that you are an expert in your field is to write blogs and share them: on your site, in your newsletter and online.
Keep your website branded, up-to-date, valuable and dynamic, make sure your SEO is strong and your Google site ranking is high.
Have a branded business card and hand it out. This may seem trivial – almost old fashioned – but give out your business card to everyone you know – you never know where it will end up.
Consider traditional, non-digital marketing. Traditional - print - marketing is not as outdated as you may think – advertising in small, weekly local newspapers and magazines, including shul newsletters, have proven ROI. With a specific, narrow target market these print options are, for the most part low-priced and well worth the money.
Join a networking group! Get off line, off your tush and get out there and start talking to humans. One of the best investments in your business marketing time can be a networking group – find one that fits your personality and invest the time and effort required to get your business name ‘out there’ and make business connections.
And if Facebook survives?. . .
Just as an aside, what happens if Facebook surprises us and grows stronger or does become Facebook2? To avoid some of the mistakes of the earlier version, a newer version of Facebook may further segregate personal and business pages and force full pay-for-marketing, which would place Facebook firmly in the 'just like every other online pay-for marketing category'. And as a result, denying small business owners a free one-billion user marketing exposure tool. Only time will tell.
No matter what happens to Facebook or when it will happen, one thing is certain: your marketing plan must be Facebook-proof to protect your business marketing from disappearing into the internet 'ether'. Now ask yourself: "How strong is your marketing plan today?"
Do you want to open yourself to a more successful business? Are you lost in the social media jungle? Let me help you re-energize your business and rediscover your passion in your profession. We’ll work together to improve your marketing strategy and online exposure and find the perfect target markets for your business. Contact me today to schedule a free introductory meeting.
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