What Facebook aaand Instagram ARE DOWN?!?
Can you believe it? I personally thought it would never happen. So much so I called my sister to be sure I hadn't been sent to "fb prison" (more extreme than jail because when you are in fb jail you can at least see everyone else chatting it up. I have NO access, hence "prison").
How does that effect those running ads, I wonder? How does that effect those who only connect via social media? OMG how does that effect those that only run business via Instagram and Facebook???
These are all things I am looking into and have some alternatives to suggest for the future so you don't have to worry about loosing access to new or old customers ever again!
Before I jump into the tips let me tell you what is being said about what's happening...
Per Theverge.com it is their (Facebook's) DNS server, it's been "withdrawn from the internet". This could actually mean a number of things but in a nut shell it means that the internet is not allowing their customers/users to connect to their database. As the information comes out I will keep you posted with updates here.
Alright, now to the tips! Don't rely on social media to pull in clients... I know it sounds crazy but having access to your customers outside of social media is vital to every business owner. I know social media is not going anywhere we still have LinkedIN, YouTube TikTok, Snap and more. But just in case thing go awry always ask for additional information when making connections.
Tip 1. Get your website up to par!!!
There is no time like the present to build your site up and out. Lay out your funnels (within your site) so you can start driving those customers in and get those product / service descriptions laced with keywords.
Google, Bing and Safari probably won't go down at the same time so make sure you own the presence that search engines can find you on.
Tip 2. Build your email drip and email list.
I know it sounds antiquated but it's a life line to your clients especially in times like this. I suggest building out two drips one for clients on board and one for leads and speak to them accordingly. You don't want to sell clients what they already have and you don't want to speak to leads like you know them. I suggest to start your email drip with 5 or more emails educating them on topics that pertain to them and space them out to 7 to 14 days you don't want them to go a month without hearing from you.
Then build your list by having a lead magnet or subscription field in the footer of your site (this way it is always on every page). You can drive customers to your lead magnet by collaborating with other small business that share customer demographics, create a digital billboard in your area, guest blog for your business, sponsored blog post, leave a qrc/nfc stand in stores.There are several others strategies and tactics to drive customers in social media was just the easiest way to do it...
Tip 3. Send text messages or broadcast messages from your website.
Keep in mind no one likes to be spammed but most people don't mind discounts, updates, coupon codes, useful information and gossip...
Depending on what your product or service is let them know why they would want to sign up for your SMS list and send them out only when agreed. You can text about twice a week (keep it short but urgent). You can even sprinkle in a lead magnet if needed.
Tip 4. Flyers... Yep, flyers.
Flyers still work and if you are too cool for flyers turn your business card into one. Place your contact information on the front and one lead magnet on the back. Place them in stores and on cars in the parking lot of businesses that have similar demographics.You can also create a digital flyer to send via text, nfc tap or air drop (mass air dropping is frowned upon and works best when the other person knows its coming).
If you would like a strategy call on any of theses tips above feel free to reach out!
And check back for updates on what the heck is going on with facebook and instagram.