If someone were to ask you what tools you utilize to fight website downtime, your immediate answer would likely be, "An internet site monitoring service". While that answer in and of itself is not a bad one, in case a website monitoring service is the only tool in your arsenal contrary to the havoc that website downtime can create for your web business, you are not taking a comprehensive method of protecting your organization from downtime's effects, nor are you protecting your site's reputation to the best of your abilities. While an internet site monitoring service is definitely a "must-have" tool when it comes to fighting website downtime's consequences, it is not the only tool it is advisable to employ. When you have yet to explore how social media marketing can be used to your advantage in the fight against the damage caused by dreaded website downtime, here are a few things to consider.
Communication Is Key
If your visitors can't do something they want to do while visiting your site, such as create a purchase or browse your site's offerings, they are going to need to know why the site isn't available if they want access to it. Obviously, if your website is experiencing any kind of downtime, you can't utilize the pages of your site to go into detail about what has gone awry or give these potential customers estimates as to when they can expect the website to be functional again. This is where social media is necessary.
While bridgebase.com status could be down, social media marketing networks such as for example Facebook and Twitter are likely up and running. If you have invested effort and time into creating a social media marketing presence and a following on these sites, you can use these platforms to talk to your customers when downtime issues do arise. Let's look at two example scenarios to start to see the difference that using social media in conjunction with your website monitoring service can make.
Scenario One
Site 1 went down. They will have no social media exposure, no accounts, and no followings. They have no way of communicating with their potential customers concerning the downtime they're experiencing or updating customers concerning when the site can be expected to be back ready to go. When customers go to the site they get an error message saying the site is down due to technical issues, but no further information is given. Customers become frustrated with the continued downtime and as they do, they begin searching other websites to meet up their needs and make purchases. Site 1 begins to lose customers to the competition, whose websites are ready to go and who have better method of communication.
Scenario Two
Site 2 has put social media marketing profiles in place and the company has worked on gaining a big social media following in addition to utilizing a website monitoring service. The business has prepared for the worst and they know that when website downtime occurs, they need to use the social media marketing tools at their disposal to talk to customers regarding said downtime. When the business is notified of downtime by their website monitoring service, they go to work to determine what has caused the downtime to allow them to communicate the issue with the public, using their social media accounts. When the company has estimated just how long it will take to get the site back up and running, they communicate this making use of their customers as well. They could even use the social media marketing platforms to market an "apology" offer which allows affected customers to receive a set dollar amount off or a percentage off another purchase to compensate for the inconvenience. Not only does this foster goodwill among customers, it helps ensure that customers will wait before downtime issue has passed so that they can make use of the apology offer instead of going to a competitor to satisfy their needs.
Which Company's Lead Will You Follow?
You have a website monitoring service set up. You're made aware as soon as downtime occurs. The question is, what will you do while you are notified by your website monitoring service that there surely is a downtime issue occurring? If you have invested effort and time into setting up social media marketing accounts and developing a customer following, you should use those social media marketing tools in your favor, providing transparency to your customers and fostering goodwill and respect amongst them.
Assuming mohela.com status have yet to put social media to work for your online business, now is the time to create a social media marketing presence in order to have your customer following created and built before a concern with downtime occurs. Then, when your website monitoring service alerts you that downtime has become an issue, you can go to work to use those social media marketing tools accordingly.