Last week, I held my “Instagram Growth in 5 Easy Steps” as part of the Free Educational Series for ATA Online 2021. There were some questions asked during the seminar that I’ve been mulling over the weekend. Mainly, one attendee said their posts get taken down or suppressed whenever they post a “weapon” such as a crossbow. I asked that person to email me directly as I need more context to understand what’s happening here. Are they running ads? Does this happen all the time, with every post? Or every so often? How do they know the post is being suppressed? Without drilling down, it is really difficult to help. However, I’ve run into this scenario time and time again – especially with my CBD client. (You think you have problems in hunting/shooting world, you are not alone.)

You know the one thing you actually own? Your database. Your email list. You know what you don’t own? Anything to do with social media. Sure, being on social media is important, but if your posts aren’t being seen – and it is a constant stressor for you – then I have to ask: why are you there?

Instead of spending money on ads trying to find people who may purchase your product. Why not spend money on an email marketing tutorial and figure how to get your current customers to buy from you again. Or hire an email marketing expert? The little dollars that would take to get your email database in fine form – and for you to actually understand how to use it – will pay itself back quickly.

Think of your business as a party and you are the host. Do you want to be a good host and ensure the people currently at the party (this is your current customer) are having a good time? Or are you going to be a poor host, constantly fluttering around trying to find more people to invite to the party and ignore who’s already there?

Now, this is all coming from a person who does social media marketing for a living. There are tips and tricks you can do to leverage social media to work for you (if you attended my webinar on Friday, you know what I’m talking about). But after all that, one day, Instagram or Facebook or Apple or whoever is going to decide they don’t need “our kind” on that platform any longer.

And then what? What are you going to do? Will you have your email list already integrated and custom audiences segmented and your shop set up so people can buy directly from the email? Have you looked at your Google Analytics and talked with an SEO expert? You may want to reconsider where you are allocating your marketing dollars online. Maybe ads aren’t the way to go – maybe hiring an SEO expert, or email marketing guru makes more sense. I can’t tell you what is best for your company – all I am saying is take a harder look, re-evaluate, and move forward.

-- Michelle Scheuermann, editor, Archery Wire