On the heels of my post about Twitter expanding into the email marketing space, here’s another juicy morsel of marketing news…

There’s been a bit of a kerfuffle between Facebook and Australia. The back story Australian passed legislature a bill requiring Facebook to pay a fee to news outlets when featuring news content on their platform.

Of course, Facebook pushed back. Chiefly pointing out that said news outlets see SIGNIFICANTLY higher traffic as a DIRECT result of Facebook featuring their content.

The Aussie legislature appeared unmoved by this argument. In response, Facebook block all news and government-related pages, include associated government charities. And ultimately, Facebook is hinting at pulling out of Australia altogether.

This in turn, had Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison publicly stating Facebook has “unfriended Australia.” Solid Morrison one-liner aside, if Facebook pulls the plug, so to speak, on Australia, it could have uuuuuuuuuuuge ramifications.

Google is similarly affected but this legislation. And has also hinted at a potential pullout from the Australian market.

Now, I bring this up not to instigate a debate about Big Tech or geopolitics or conduct a “who needs who more” assessment.

My purpose is far more practical and, again, ties into my post about Twitter’s move toward email marketing.

What if Facebook + Google Just Disappeared?

Allow me to set a scene for you…

Your business is investing in regular Facebook-promoted posts to build your brand. And you’re also running a steady stream of Facebook ads to sell your services. All of which is delivering solid ROI (return on investment).

And then… Bing! Bang! Boom! Facebook disappears. And the aforementioned ROI dries up.

Or how about this…

You’ve worked D*MN hard to fine-tune your SEO (search engine optimization). And you’ve managed to reach the first page of Google rankings for your crucial business search terms.

You’ve also optimized your Google My Business page, and you’re seeing a consistent flow of local inquires flow through that listing.

Plus, you’re spending money on an Adwords account that generating a decent number of new leads.

Like with Facebook, you wake up one day, and Google is not there anymore. It’s just GONE.

Unlikely, But Not Impossible… Which Should Give You Pause

Now, of course, this is an extreme example. And probably unlikely. But the possibility is always looming—a fact Australia’s current predicament illustrates all too well.

And this possibility reinforces my supposition in the “Twitter is expanding into email marketing” post: You’re in a MUCH stronger position if OWN your own marketing channels.

And the best way to do that is to focus on building your email subscriber list.

You can use social media to do it. Most social media marketing “gurus” see social media as entre to pushing prospects from your social pages to your website and ultimately onto your email subscriber list.

Same goes for SEO. You can use search engines to drive traffic to your website, and once prospects land there, push them to subscribe to your email list.

Because even if your social pages disappear or search engines flat-out abandon your marketplace—no one can “close up shop” on your email subscriber list. Except for you.

Because you OWN that channel.

Not Facebook. Not Google. Just you. And only you.

Need Help Growing Your Email Marketing List?

I can help! Let’s chat… 310.466.7893 | ryan@ryananys.com