Importance of Diversifying Your Online Presence

Kristina Stubblefield: [00:00:00] Thank you for tuning in to Wedpro Business Solutions. I'm your host, Kristina Stubblefield. I know there's all kinds of buzz going on right now about TikTok. What's going to happen? And so many people have asked me, what are we going to do if TikTok is gone tomorrow? So let's tackle this topic. You know, it's like TikTok hit the market and it was just an absolute phenomenon. It was dominant. It seemed so quickly over other social media platforms that had been around and could it be gone tomorrow? Absolutely, it could be. But also so could other social media platforms. So what do you do? Well, here's the deal, my belief has always been you should not put all your eggs in one social media basket, so to speak.

And [00:01:00] although, some people can get frustrated with that because you already have limited time and showing up on multiple platforms just seems like another hurdle to get over. But in all honesty, when you talk about your online presence as a wedding professional, you find that engaged couples are utilizing multiple platforms in their wedding research in finding vendors.

The list goes on and on, and it comes down to making sure you find out where your ideal clients are spending their time, because that's where you want to spend your time as well. And here's the deal, is TikTok a great tool for wedding professionals to use? I believe it is, now can you waste a lot of time?

Absolutely, you can. And I'm going to come back to, you should always have a strategy, a marketing [00:02:00] plan, and how does TikTok fit in that marketing plan? And a lot of times there's conversation that go on that some of the same content or all of the same content that goes out on TikTok could also go out on Instagram reels.

And that's not what this episode is about in regards to repurposing. I've done episodes about that before, you're welcome to go back and listen to, what should you do? Well, first of all, diversify where you're publishing your content. Oh, that just sounds so easy, doesn't it? Now she wants me to add something else to my plate.

Well, if you are spending a lot of your time, energy, and effort on just TikTok and not other platforms. You may find that it's going to be beneficial for you to diversify where you put out your content, and maybe it's dividing that time out to other platforms that your ideal clients spend their time [00:03:00] that way.

If TikTok was gone tomorrow, you still have an online presence on other platforms. Now the other thing is, I feel like people just TikTok, I need to use it for my business because it's, that's what's popular. That's what people are using. Most don't have a strategy. They haven't really sat down and drilled down to who their ideal clients are.

They haven't done any testing with TikTok to see are they getting leads? Are they getting traffic to their website? Now that's a whole nother topic. I do think all of that is very important, but here's the deal. There's some other things too with TikTok, and this isn't an attack on TikTok whatsoever. I use TikTok.

Have I gotten clients from TikTok? Yes. Have I increased traffic and leads? Yes! Now I'm always one that says you [00:04:00] have to look at your own numbers, your own results. If that platform. Is not producing results for your business. Does that mean you completely pull off of it and shift over to something else? No.

I'm going to come back to, I've always said about not putting your eggs all in one social media basket. Most of the time, as I mentioned before, engage couples are using more than just one platform to find or do research for their vendors. So TikTok, the algorithm, it's still unpredictable. Some people will say that this is how it works or that's how it works, but in all honesty, there's been information out that it is unpredictable.

TikTok is a very fast-paced platform, and I know wedding professionals have shared with me their frustration on how do I get my videos down to 10 or 15 [00:05:00] seconds, how do I even get words out to describe events that I'm part of, or our products or services? So taking this all in perspective. Could TikTok be gone tomorrow?

It could be, but if you were doing your marketing strategy, you probably would not have just one social media platform, TikTok. Now, are there other content creators and influencers out there that put all their eggs in one basket? Yes! As a wedding professional, I definitely do not recommend that. So the key here is diversify.

As a wedding professional, having a strong social media presence is essential for building your brand awareness and reaching your target audience. But we have to remember that social [00:06:00] media platforms are constantly changing. And as I mentioned, relying on one, it can be risky. Diversify, it comes best when it is in a strategic plan, and most of the time you can save yourself a lot of time being able to repurpose content when you have a plan. And I know you're saying, okay, there she goes. She's adding something else to my plate. But in all honesty, when you plan out your content, your blog, your social media post, your post on Google Business profile, your email blast that are going to go out, when you plan that out, in all honesty, you end up having a lot of content that you can repurpose.

So you may think upfront that it takes you more time, but in the end, you end up saving a lot of time. So being active on multiple social media platforms, there's so many benefits [00:07:00] to it. You can reach a broader audience. You can increase your visibility. You can become known as an authority in your industry. Just remember, social media should not be the only part of your online presence. Your website is a crucial tool for establishing your brand and providing potential clients with detailed information about your services, including testimonials and reviews, events you've been part of in the past.

About you. The list goes on and on. But the other thing I want to mention, so you own your website and I've done a previous episode on this. It should be in your name and you should know the company you registered it with. If you don't know that information, go back and look up the previous episode I've done on that.

But your website, you should own it. The other thing is, don't forget about your email [00:08:00] list, and I know before you roll your eyes and think, gosh, she's mentioning something else, just stay with me for a moment because you own your email list and no matter if that's engaged couples, other wedding vendors that you work with, other business associates, maybe it's even past clients, you own that list.

And it's going to be there no matter what social media platforms come and go. Now I do see a lot of people make the mistake of dumping all of their emails into one list, and I really encourage people to separate out their list. Whether it's a list from a wedding show you've participated in, maybe people can join your email list on your website.

Maybe it is leads that have come in to your website, maybe it's wedding vendors that you've worked with in the past, or [00:09:00] maybe it's business associates from the Chamber that you're part of, or other wedding organizations. I really believe it's worth the time to segment your list. And while we're talking about emails list, I always, always, always encourage people to use an email marketing program.

Why? Because number one, you need to give people an easy way to unsubscribe. You want them to be able to get out of your email system if they do not want to receive emails from you anymore, but also, you have analytics reporting on the emails you send out. What are people reading? What links are they clicking on?

So when we talk about email list, I feel very obligated to say, I encourage you to use an email marketing program if that is something that you're utilizing in your strategic marketing plan. Next up. I think it's worth [00:10:00] mentioning, and I know I say something about this a lot, but your Google business profile, let's not forget, Google is the number one search engine, and I'm not going to sit here and mention statistics.

I've done that in a few episodes in the past. I've actually done an episode specifically on Google business profile. So you definitely want to utilize it no matter what social media platforms you are on. One of the best things you can do for your business is to utilize your Google business profile on a regular basis.

Now, I'm going to say this and stay with me on it, but you should at least be posting something and updating pictures once a week. Now if I was a coach for your business, or I was a consultant helping you map out a marketing plan. It would probably be more than once a week. I'm going to go back to [00:11:00] whatever you can do for your business.

If that's once or twice a month, then do it once or twice a month, but I encourage you to do it at least once a week because it is that powerful. It is the number one search engine. And while I'm mentioning that, and while we're talking about different social media platforms and possibly TikTok going away, don't forget about YouTube.

YouTube is the second largest search engines, and I know businesses that have started to utilize YouTube shorts and have produced better results than they have on Instagram reels or TikTok. I'm not trying to add something else to your plate. I'm just saying there are other options out there to help you reach your target audience.

I know that I've probably thrown a lot at you in this, but I felt like it was really important [00:12:00] to talk about this issue. I don't want to see any social media platform go away. I'm not the one to make those decisions. However, I can provide ideas for you to consider in your business to stay top of mind, to keep working on your brand awareness.

And increasing your visibility. It's important to be active on social media as a wedding professional, but please don't forget about focusing on your website, your email list, and as I mentioned, your Google Business profile. I hope that you found this helpful, and if you've not already joined my free Facebook group, I encourage you to do so.

It is WedPro Business Community. Thank you so much for tuning in, and until next time, keep working on your businesses and take care.