Hold on to your hats folks…
Because social media isn’t the knight-in-shining armour we all think it is.
Why? Because social media marketing has a fundamental flaw for us as business owners – and that is that we don’t own the audience.
Let me explain.
When your business has a customer’s email address, or their details in your database – you own the relationship with the customer, and all things going well, you have permission to communicate with them.
But when you build a following on Facebook, Linkedin or Instagram – the social media platform owns the customer relationship, and that presents a challenge…
Facebook own your fans.
Wondering why fewer Facebook fans are seeing your updates?
That’s because Facebook owns and controls your access to the people who have chosen to like your page – and that’s why most businesses now need to pay to reach their fans (Facebook is a business after all)
That’s just one example – but the crux of the matter is this: with social media you rent your audience – and when you rent something, you loose just a teenie bit of control.
But it’s not all doom and gloom.
Social media does have it’s upsides.
Whilst you might not own your social media audience, at least your business has access to the platform (eg, Facebook) and the enormous number of people who use it everyday – and that’s the real opportunity.
So what?
The challenge for business owners is to use social media to find and grow your audience – and then find a way to collect email addresses and start direct relationships.
In short, find a way to convert your rented audience into long term relationships you own.
