Social Media Outage: What Should You Do When Your Bread and Butter Fails?

By Moon Harper

Mar 07, 2024 06:00 AM EST

Recent news has reported that Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, which we use to communicate with clients, customers, friends, and family, are also susceptible to outages.

Whether it's on social media or other software that we've grown dependent on, it reminds small businesses to never rely on a single platform and have contingency plans to mitigate the impact they could bring.

Immediate Steps to Take During An Outage

In our highly connected world, the unexpected outage of major social networks will always be alarming. For digital marketers, it can cause chaos, with scheduling tools malfunctioning and campaigns going off track. To prepare for future outages, here are some steps you should take:

Basic Trouble-Shooting

Start by verifying if there is indeed a widespread outage rather than a local problem. This may seem like typical advice from an IT department, but start by restarting your browser or app and then try reaccessing the platform.

Check Progress Reports

Persistent issues may suggest a widespread disruption. Your initial step should be to visit a website like Down Detector, which verifies the functionality of social platforms. If it confirms the site is down, you can begin preparing for its restoration while monitoring any updates.

If this check doesn't provide insights, consider using another social media platform. During the Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp outages, Twitter became the primary space for announcements and discussions.

Communicate With Your Audiences

Once you confirm a global issue, inform your followers about the outage on other social media platforms. Consider posting a brief update on your blog as well. If the problem persists for hours, message your email subscribers, acknowledging the situation and assuring them that you will be back as soon as possible.

Turn It Into An Opportunity

A widely talked-about event like this can attract new leads. Consider creating a timely meme and sharing it where possible-it could become the next viral hit.

You could even offer your audience a limited-time special deal to distract them from the outage. There's plenty of opportunity to turn a negative situation into a big positive.

Back-up Avenues During Outages

In marketing, there are alternative channels that can function independently if major social media platforms are unavailable.

Newsletters are a great method for connecting with your intended audience and enhancing brand visibility. They typically consist of informative and product-oriented emails sent to a list of subscribers. Effective newsletters adhere to the 90-10 rule, prioritizing 90% informative content and 10% sales material to deliver valuable information to subscribers rather than pushing sales.

Blog

Blogging is an effective strategy to engage your target audience. It draws customers to your website with fresh, informative content, with benefits such as:

Boosts website traffic
Builds trust and credibility
Enhances search engine ranking

Blogging is a valuable marketing tool as it encourages customers to return to your website and fosters interactions with them.

Website

A website is a primary platform for customers to discover your business, brand, and identity. A successful website offers customers a personalized, branded experience, addresses their inquiries, and demonstrates your value.

Google Ads

Google Ads is a paid advertising platform where you pay for clicks or impressions on your ad. When your potential customers search for products or services similar to what you offer, your ad will be displayed to them.

Email Marketing

More people use email than social media, with over half checking their email before logging into social media.

Email is more personal, reaching customers directly in their inbox rather than publicly on a platform.
Instead of followers, you have your list of subscribers, giving you ownership.
No algorithms! Emails are delivered to each subscriber without battling algorithms.
Email marketing boasts the highest ROI among all marketing strategies, with 1 in 5 marketing emails opened and an average click-through rate of 3.57%. Email marketing delivers better results than Facebook's average click-through rate of 0.07%. For every $1 spent on email marketing, the average return is $38.

SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) involves using keywords and content to improve your search engine visibility and rank higher in searches.

Billions of searches are conducted yearly, many of which are from people seeking products and services. SEO drives the majority of online traffic to your website and other marketing channels.

During outages like this, our clients can rest assured because our scheduling platforms are not affected by social network issues, and we can easily reschedule content and pause ad spend as needed.