I’ve been a social media specialist for a decade now. I’ve been very lucky to have had the chance to work on awesome accounts. And because of that, I’ve been receiving a lot of inquiries not only from my existing clients but from budding entrepreneurs — all worried about whether or not they should join the #DeleteFacebook bandwagon and even give up on Facebook altogether. This, given the current Cambridge Analytica scandal.
A little backgrounder: the Facebook – Cambridge Analytica data scandal involves the collection of personally identifiable information of up to 87 million Facebook users that Cambridge Analytica began collecting in 2014. (In the Philippines, data of about 1.2 million users was used). The data was used to influence voter opinion on behalf of politicians who hire them. As of press time, Facebook’s main honcho Mark Zuckerberg just survived a 10-hour grilling from US Senators. He has apologized and Facebook’s stocks fell. Initial actions have already been implemented by the social networking giant; however, I don’t think things will mellow down any time soon. Suffice it to say that more and more folks are becoming more wary of Facebook and are saying they’ll disable their accounts.
Of course, this could be bad news for businesses that heavily rely on Facebook and other social networking platforms for easy, cheap and effective marketing. Less Facebook users means lesser reach, lesser engagement, lesser possibility of being able to show ads to target audiences.
So, the question now is — should you, as entrepreneur, still invest in Facebook? Should you still continue hiring a social media manager? Should you still bother?
Right now, my answer is YES. Truth be told, it’s foolish to think that this scandal will bring Facebook down. Let’s be honest. They’re still number 1. Their free apps are now basically a part of our lives — we connect with our loved ones, friends, colleagues, favorite brands with the help of their apps. This holds true especially in the Philippines.
So what should you do first? You need a game plan. A step-by-step strategy. Facebook is now implementing a lot of changes to protect data so make sure that your strategy also corresponds with those changes. Next, do an audit. Clean or update information about your business. Revisit your original business plan — do you still remember who your ideal client is? Is your Unique Selling Proposition still the same? How will you now use social media, given these changes? Study your plan and use the proper tools so you can truly maximize Facebook and other social media platforms to bring in the moolah!
Do visit my blog http://www.mindanaoan.com for more helpful posts. I also have videos on my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/mindanaoan1
You can also find me here: http://www.instagram.com/mindanaoan, http://www.twitter.com/mindanaoan, http://www.facebook.com/mindanaoanblogger
Til next ish! Safe travels, everybody!
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