Yesterday's events (4th October 2021), where Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp were unable to be accessed for 6 hours because of an outage, was a wake-up call for many.
Some people realised how much time they spent on social media and have chosen to take time away.
Others have realised the fragility of the internet; how at any moment, their method of communication can be taken offline.
Some small business owners had their whole business taken offline in a matter of seconds.
These small businesses rely on Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp as their sole source of traffic and publicity.
Diversify
Having a single channel of communication with your customers cut off is bad enough, but when it's your only channel, it's catastrophic.
Now is the opportunity to diversify and develop different platforms of communication. DM's are not enough.
Different platforms of communication doesn't mean other social media. It means a different method of communication.
The three best channels are:
A website
Social Media
Email
When one isn't working, there is another channel to communicate with your customers.
Having multiple channels isn't just for contacting your customers, it's for continuing to run your business.
For small businesses who rely on social media, yesterdays events will have had a large impact; reduced/no sales.
Branching out allows your business to continue running even when another channel isn't working.
Adapt
Business is all about adapting. Adapting to trends and changes. Noticing these can sometimes be difficult, but it is needed and is worth it.
Yesterday was a perfect opportunity to see this in action, with businesses both large and small adapting to the situation.
A great example of this is Twitters tweet about the sudden influx of traffic.
Whilst your aim may not be to reach a large audience, this is the perfect opportunity to get your brand in front of people.
A tweet, email or message on your website explaining that you're still open for business will go a long way in building trust with your customers.
In addition, using hashtags that may be trending, such as #InternetShutDown or #facebookdown will mean your post has a greater chance of reaching people as they browse the latest tweets related to the situation.
Adapting to changes is a must, and a website is a great way to do this.
Whilst jumping onto Twitter is great to inform your customers that you're still around, having an effectively built website means your business will still be running with ease.
If you're looking for help with your website, Let's Make It Happen
Bounce Back
In situations like yesterdays Facebook outage, it's easy to give up or become annoyed at the situation.
These are valid feelings, but allowing them to consume you won't help.
Situations like this happen, there's no denying that. But here's how to deal with it.
Review
Review how you dealt with the situation. What would you have done differently? If it happens again, what will you do?
Diversify
Make those changes. Make sure they are in place for if and when it happens again.
Adapt
Adapt to changes. See it as an opportunity to learn.
Bounce Back
Accept what's happened and get back to doing what you do best! Then review the situation and continue.
Things To Learn
Don't rely on one form of communication.
Now is the time to get a website.
Learn to review, diversify, adapt and bounce back.
Having a website is a must in 2021 because it provides you with another channel to run your business. When one channel suddenly becomes unavailable, there is always another channel to rely on.
Looking for your own site? Need an expert to help? Get in touch and we'll help you on your journey.
Noah Lovell
Noah Lovell - Web Designer
