OWN Your Data

Picture the scene. You’ve built up a great audience in your social media channels. It’s taken a while and you’ve come so far. It’s something to be proud of since you have satisfying engagement, you’re providing value and your people are responding to it. Then one day you login as you always have and … you’re blocked! You’ve been denied access to your own channel, platform, etc. For whatever reason the platform with its algorithm has decided you are no longer following their rules. You’re no longer compliant with what they deem should be. You’ve been temporarily shut down, censored, canceled or whatever the term may be for the appropriate platform.

Perhaps you’ve gotten hacked. Perhaps you’ve been a victim of fraud or someone is impersonating you.

Then again, perhaps you know exactly what led to this. Perhaps you already knew what you were sharing, posting or engaging with had a risk and you took it, pushed the envelope.

But for a lot of other users, it’s usually not that obvious. Perhaps you’re that user or that business owner that is now scratching their head for all the possibilities that could have caused this outcome. Was it a word used that triggered this drastic action? Was it a conversation, a post, an image? Geez, what could it be?!

Well, no matter what it was, or how it was, the bottom line is that now, you have no way of reaching your audience, getting back to folks or following up on people that are awaiting your response. Whether this can be fixed or not, it doesn’t help you now. They need you. You need them. But the platform says No, Do Not Pass Go, and it stinks to be you right now.

This has been happening more frequently and it reinforces something we here at EFM Business Solutions keep stressing with clients- you need to Own your Data! Your social platforms are NOT your sole database for which to run your business. Yes, it’s a great starting point but too frequently business owners do not realize the impact of relying only on this until the dreaded day comes when they can no longer have access.

While it’s true that even having a CRM (Customer or Contact Relationship Manager) which is run by a third party isn’t a guarantee against having the same ill results above, it is far less common than what’s happening with social media platforms.

(please see our other articles)

It is important, actually, ESSENTIAL to have these contacts off the platforms and backed up into your own database or CRM. Even if it is a third-party CRM system, most will have an option or a report that can be used to export the information as a backup. These will usually be formatted as a *.CSV file that can be viewed in Excel or some other spreadsheet type application. It may not look pretty but it will have the core information needed. This will only be a speed bump of an inconvenience while running your business rather than a whole roadblock that delays your entire operations.

Small Solution, Big Results

It is recommended that this be implemented as part of your SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures) which can be something your IT team can assist with. For small startups, micro businesses and other small entities, just implement this as part of your weekly or daily routines in order to ensure smooth operations. While it can be a simple small solution to tackle, it will definitely result in having peace of mind and operating like the big businesses who do not take this for granted.

If you need help with this or would like more information, reach out to our team of solutionists for the peace of mind you need.