It’s 2020 and here in the Caribbean, the conversation is still being had about whether your focus should be on digital assets or social media. Many people still believe they do not need assets like having your website, email list, notification list, etc and that all they need to do is have a popular social media.

The biggest misconception for this is that people associate building these assets as too expensive and since social media is free, it is the better option. Social media may be free to sign up and free to use but don’t get twisted, social media is expensive.

Organic reach is dead and this is why TikTok is being highly touted right now because of its insane organic reach, which is something we haven’t enjoyed in years. Remember when you would post things and your list would actually see it? No, me neither, it’s been so long.

Social Media is a great tool but we don’t own it. Every other day, we have people complaining about the algorithms and the changes being made or people having lost their accounts, being censored, being banned for 2 weeks due to the type of content they post (most times it is never bad) and the list goes on.

Social Media is now a pay to play platform and it is something that if you are a business, you need to learn how to use each platform’s paid marketing tools, to reach your audience.

Heck, even the creators who are just creating content to feed our escapism addictions, spend a ton of money on gear to create the content and learning the skills to create the content.

Again, Social Media might be free to sign up and use but you are paying in so many other ways. That is something businesses need to understand.

In 2020, it is not okay or gonna get the job done, to focus on building social media and not have your digital assets in place.

Social Media should be used to raise awareness and drive traffic to the assets you own.

What has officially happened is it is now cheaper to build your assets, than it is to thrive on social media.

Not everybody can pull off what a KeevoTV has done. Where he basically sits in his car, turns his phone on and just uses his personality and wide range of topics to make us laugh.

No special equipment, effects, nothing. Just him, in his car, with a phone. Now if you are a business and want to tap into Keevo’s audience, you will have to pay him a pretty penny.

It’s never been this cheap or easy to build your very own website, equipped with a blog and e-commerce ready. You can integrate an email list, notification list, sell yours or someone else’s product, ebooks, do affiliate marketing, host paid webinars, you name it and all for free or very cheap.

Years ago, it was the complete opposite. Not only was building your assets expensive, but it also took a lot of technical knowledge to pull it off.

Social Media was free, organic reach was at 100% and posts were in chronological order. So it was a heck of a lot easier, to build a following on social media and then if you were business savvy, turn around and monetize your new-found influence.

In other parts of the world, businesses have transitioned to building strong assets and have shifted social media into a support role. They use the platforms to bring awareness and to drive people back to the platforms they control.

Now, countries like the US, Canada, UK, Australia, still enjoy more advanced versions of Facebook & Instagram, where they have the added functionality in their shops, so they can properly conduct commerce on social media. We still can’t tag products on Instagram (help us out Zucks, we are people too).

This is why it is now paramount for businesses in the Caribbean to learn how to build their websites, email lists, text message lists, Whatsapp lists, notification lists, Google Business platforms and more.

We need to bring our audience off of social media, to our platforms so that we can communicate with them, without the hindrance of any algorithm. A place where they can begin purchasing our products & services so that we can truly create passive income and extend the life and reach of our businesses.

Google supersedes everything we do online. While social media operates in silos and is not indexable (we can’t go on social media ask a question to get answers) this is where businesses can truly thrive in 2020 and beyond.

Data and building these assets are going to be CRUCIAL. Google’s new 2020 algorithm changes are focusing on showing search results that answer relevant questions.

For our businesses and content to be indexable/searchable, we need to have a website. In order for Google to view our businesses as relevant and a source of authority, we need to provide relevant content.

Where should the focus be in 2020?

To learn what content is relevant, we have to start learning how to read and access search data in our niches. There are a bunch of free tools you can use that provide you info on what people are searching for on search engines (Check this article out for my fav free tools). You will then just need to create content that answers those questions.

If you can build your brand up to be a source of information in your industry, it will make selling in the Digital Age a breeze.

Understanding what people want in your respective niche will also guide the type of content you need to create to be relevant on social media as well.

In the Caribbean…we need to shift our approach to business. We need to stop believing we need to become popular on social media. For many of you, it is not the answer.

Focus on building your assets, a good SEO strategy, use social media to support your assets but ensure you are capturing your audience’s information so that you can nurture those relationships.

Word of mouth is still extremely powerful and will help propel you if you can manage your client relationships.

So while being popular on social media is sexy…Caribbean businesses need to double down on building their digital assets, use social media to support that initiative and learn how to use those assets to nurture your client relationships.

While hiring a popular social media influencer will get you views and Keevo will be happy to take your money, it doesn’t ultimately turn into sales. If you have no assets to capture the information from all those new eyeballs either, you have no way of determining the ROI of your influencer campaign and wouldn’t have gotten the best return.

Time to double down on your digital assets for 2020!