The short-lived ban on TikTok in the US should have reminded us of how risky solely marketing on social media can be. In this article, we highlight key risks and recommend options that can be explored to create a more robust marketing strategy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this month, following appeals to the United States (US) Supreme Court, social media giant, TikTok, was directed to shut down U.S. operations\u00a0by 19 January 2025<\/a>. Though the shutdown was short-lived<\/a>, numerous social media content creators and businesses that have social media at the core of their marketing and public relations strategy were left scrambling and trying to figure out how to recover from the major blow a ban on TikTok would be to their bottom line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although it might seem that the temporary banning of TikTok was just an anomaly, there are several other risks, which can make businesses especially vulnerable if social media is their primary marketing tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, social media platforms frequently change their algorithms, which can drastically affect the visibility of the content posted. A campaign that performed well today might yield subpar results tomorrow due to an update you cannot control. Further, platforms are increasingly expecting businesses to pay for advertising to increase the visibility of posts. Advertising has become the main revenue stream for social media platforms, and over time, it has become a carrot-and-stick situation, where businesses have to pay to even have more of their followers see their posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, as previously noted, businesses and users can be vulnerable to issues on social media platforms, such as outages, policy changes, or even platform shutdowns (as occurred with Vine and TikTok), which can instantly cut off your communication with your audience. It is also important to note that governments have banned social media platforms, which again can leave businesses and users exposed and with little recourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further, although businesses and other content creators may spend time and resources to create and publish posts and other content, social media platforms may have perpetual rights to the material you have posted on their platforms. Additionally, in being the medium through which you connect with your audience, they own your audience data. As a result, you may not be able to directly engage with your customers outside the platform\u2019s ecosystem, and neither would you fully have access to all of the intelligence available on your audience<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To mitigate these risks, businesses ought to adopt a more diversified marketing strategy that does not rely solely on social media. Some options are outlined below for consideration:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although social media is a powerful marketing tool, relying on it exclusively exposes your business to a broad range of risks. In diversifying your marketing strategy, you not only gain more control of your marketing efforts, but it also allows you to build a resilient and adaptable approach that safeguards your brand against unforeseen challenges, and to remain competitive and sustainable in an ever-changing digital landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Images credit:\u00a0 Freepik<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n