Today’s talk about the legal issues surrounding Pinterest is a good reminder from a public relations and marketing point of view to not put all your eggs in one social media basket. If people take what this post is saying about the potential to be sued for sharing another’s images seriously – and to be honest, they should – then it could spell the end of the digital photo board pinning platform.
I’ve seen so many businesses pile all their hopes and dreams into Facebook with little plan for what they would do if Facebook should suddenly become non-existent. How would they be able to continue doing business without a website/blog, Twitter, Google My Business or LinkedIn?
Sure, most bricks and mortar businesses would continue. However, if you’re a store relying heavily on Facebook to drive traffic to your Etsy store, you may see a significant impact. If you’ve been selling directly on Facebook, well forget it. You may as well start your business from the ground up again.
I’m not advocating signing up for every social media platform either. You’ll just end up with social media burnout. But having a few options is wise. Theres;
- Google My Business
- TikTok
- and more
Amid all the platforms, there’s one extremely important avenue that has become my bit of “business insurance”. It’s my subscriber list. A newsletter and/or email subscriber list will always be there, regardless of what happens in social media. You can also email your customers/clients/readers to alert them to the fact something within your business has changed.
You can tell them your website is down, but they can still interact and get information from you via Facebook. Or that now Facebook is redundant (heaven help us if that ever does happen), they can find you on Google My Business.
What social media platform do you use for your business? Do you have a plan in place if something should change?
Thanks for this great post. There are certainly some good points on here to think about. I currently have a Facebook and Twitter page as well as a subscriber list. I haven’t really considered what would happen if these fall through but you’ve motivated me to look into further options.
Caroline, I would say you’ve got all your bases covered. If Facebook fell over, you’ve still got Twitter and vise versa. More importantly though, you have your subscriber list, which I think is key. Well done! 🙂
Hi,
Well that’s really interesting about the Pinterest legal issues! I just joined the other day and am still trying to work out how to use it etc. So do you promote yourself on Pinterest?
x
Um…. yes! I didn’t realise that was a no-no until all this came up, Nicole. I thought, like most platforms, that the 20-80 thing applied – 20% of your content is your own and 80% others. With the legal issue being brought up, it makes it all pretty difficult. I joined quite a while ago, but have only just started to get into it and see the benefits of it.
I really hope something can be worked out from Pinterest’s end. It would be sad to see this one quickly die off. I’ve heard some great success stories about it.
Lots of food for thought there. I don’t use my Pinterest account much, but I don’t know what to do with it now.
Here’s a question, how do I set up a newsletter? I knew how to do it using gfc but have no idea now that I’m on wp.
Hey Jess, I’m working on a post about newsletters, but basically I use MailChimp – http://mailchimp.com/. It’s free and easy to manage. You can also create Autoresponders in MailChimp. So, for example, I have the Get Your Business or Blog the Media Attention it Deserves eCourse, which goes out at set intervals after someone signs up to the newsletter. That’s on top of the newsletter itself. Will link you up with the post once I’ve got it done. 🙂
Hello there, I got a Pinterest subscription and have gone a few times but feel completely overwhelmed. There’s just TOO MUCH STUFF!!
I think it’s a great way of creating a visual bookmarking site though… but I can’t keep up with all the social media options at all. I find myself not on Twitter much these days as I just don’t get there.
Love Facebook though! Have just set up a Mailchimp for The Mum’s Diet with subscriptions to a weekly email. Would love Facebook advice, how to spread reach. Have 217 likers so far, would love to increase. All ideas welcome!
Facebook is definitely my prefered place for Three Li’l Princesses, Seana. Mum PR is a different story. I seem to find Twitter works better for that – maybe because it’s a B2B service.
I’ve got a few Facebook posts coming up, so will alert you to them when they run! They should help you build a strong, engaged following on FB! 🙂
Hi Kel,
Good post – never thought about what I would do if we had facebook gone 🙁 Its my favorite from all of the social media sites – we are on twitter, youtube, linkedin and google+ but I still prefer FB.
Sure makes me realise how important my list is and how I need to build it.
Cheers
Lisa
Glad it was of help, Lisa. I’ve heard of quite a few who have had their Facebook pages shut down because they breached Facebook’s competition guidelines and I’ve always wondered how they’ve got on continuing to build their business without it.
Facebook is definitely the prefered choice by the majority, so you’re not alone there! Make sure you build that list though, Lisa. It’s well worth it!