Social media: blessing or curse?

The threatened TikTok ban threw millions of businesses and content creators into a panic. We don't know what its ultimate fate will be.

But this is a perfect moment to talk about the benefits and drawbacks of using social media as a marketing tool to build your business.

Keep these points in mind:

1) Social media exists to entertain and distract. These platforms are not built to create sales for your business.

2) Social media can build brand awareness. Social media can be a useful touchpoint to introduce yourself to your audience, but it should not be your only digital marketing channel.

3) Social media is rented land. When you create a social media account, you don't own your follower list or your content. You do not control who sees your content, or when. If a platform goes dark and you've built your business on it, you're dead in the water.

Mind you, I'm not saying to leave social media altogether. It can and should be part of your marketing mix.

So, what should you do?

Here are my top 3 recommendations:

1) Choose one social media platform and post regularly with high-quality content.

2) Follow your customers. Select the platform that is the most popular with your audience - not your favorite platform, unless they are the same.

3) Build your email list with help from social media. Constantly look for ways to migrate your followers from social media to your email list. At the end of your posts, add links to your subscription list. You can also add them to the comments section of your posts.

👉🏼 Watch this #MarketingMinute to hear my additional thoughts.