{"id":19022,"date":"2021-10-10T11:34:20","date_gmt":"2021-10-10T11:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nobraineragency.com\/seo\/https-www-nobraineragency-co-uk-blog-blog-facebook-insta-whatsapp-downtime-lessons-learned-for-ecommerce-brands\/"},"modified":"2023-10-24T14:58:43","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T14:58:43","slug":"social-downtime-lessons-learned-for-ecommerce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobraineragency.com\/seo\/social-downtime-lessons-learned-for-ecommerce\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook, Insta & WhatsApp downtime: Lessons learned for ecommerce brands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back when Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp experienced around 6 hours of downtime on 4th<\/sup> October 2021, most regular social media users were a little inconvenienced at worst. Facebook lost out on estimated ad revenue of around $100 million<\/a>, as well as share prices taking a big hit, but they weren\u2019t the only ones affected financially.<\/p>\n

Businesses that sell online and generate most or all of their sales through social media (whether paid or organic) will have experienced an unexpected loss too \u2013 with some reporting missing out on \u2018thousands in sales\u2019<\/a>. For most, a few hours\u2019 worth of sales, along with the inability to access Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp for taking orders or managing other customer communications, probably isn\u2019t a make-or-break level of disruption, but it does raise important questions about how much we should be relying on third party applications or platforms.<\/p>\n

There is no denying the potential benefits of selling via social media for some ecommerce brands. Industries such as fashion and homewares, with a highly visual appeal, naturally lend themselves to Instagram and Facebook and this can be a significant channel for driving revenue. Even for brands who don\u2019t perhaps advertise on social media directly, if they use influencer marketing that takes place on Instagram, their online sales can be affected if the platform is interrupted.<\/p>\n

The chances of a social media platform disappearing instantly for good are low, but as ecommerce businesses, should you be mitigating the risks to your business if you currently rely on a platform that isn\u2019t within your control? At No Brainer, we\u2019re always talking about the differences between owned, earned, shared and paid areas of marketing, because we believe it takes a blend of tactics to deliver the best possible results.<\/p>\n

We take a look at ways in which ecommerce brands can diversify their traffic and revenue sources to become less reliant on any single income stream and mitigate the risks of having a single platform or group in charge of their business success or failure.<\/p>\n

Take another look at where your online audience are and the platforms they use<\/h2>\n

Depending on what you sell and who your target audience are, you may very well be able to reach a large chunk of them on Instagram, for example, but that\u2019s unlikely to be the only online platform they use.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t already have them, or haven\u2019t reviewed them recently, having up-to-date buyer personas can be a hugely significant part of your marketing strategy, as it ensures that your efforts stay on track to achieve your business objectives and you can minimise wasted budget and other resource.<\/p>\n

Where possible, surveying your existing customers can be a hugely valuable part of this process, as you can get information from them that simply isn\u2019t available elsewhere, but your website analytics can also give useful information, especially if you look at assisted conversions, as you might have more channels involved in the buyer journey than you realised. It can also help to highlight opportunities for growth with channels that you aren\u2019t currently focusing on.<\/p>\n

SEO is an essential, not a \u2018nice to have\u2019<\/h2>\n

According to 2020 research<\/a>, 81% of internet users aged 16-64 will search online for products and services. While the majority of your customers may also use social media, and you can get instant results from paid ads on these platforms, ignoring the opportunity of bringing in relevant organic traffic without having to pay for every click could mean you\u2019re missing out, especially in the longer term.<\/p>\n

Having an ecommerce SEO<\/a> strategy that is designed to drive people to your site at various stages of their buyer journey, including when they are ready to make a purchase, can be transformative for your business, and will help generate revenue that isn\u2019t reliant on social media platforms. Optimising your website for not only Google, but also Bing (and by default, Yahoo, which is powered by Bing) along with DuckDuckGo, continues this diversification.<\/p>\n

Diversify across social platforms<\/h2>\n

Don\u2019t be afraid to use social media platforms that you haven\u2019t focused on until now, as long as your audience are present on them. It\u2019s worthwhile to run some tests on these platforms before committing big budgets, but you might be pleasantly surprised by results if you give them some attention.<\/p>\n

For example, TikTok, which was very much a minority platform almost entirely used by teenagers in the UK before the COVID-19 pandemic, by the end of 2020, more than 10% of the UK population<\/a> were using the app and this growth doesn\u2019t seem to be slowing yet.<\/p>\n

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Source: eMarketer.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Famously, Twitter remained live and functioning throughout the recent Facebook\/Insta\/WhatsApp blackout, which not only resulted in some entertaining content, but also resulted in double the interest in Twitter<\/a> at that time.<\/p>\n

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hello literally everyone<\/p>\n

\u2014 Twitter (@Twitter) October 4, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n