Are you ready to take the plunge into the exciting world of managing your company’s very own self-hosted social network? Its common knowledge that social media has completely taken over our world, and it’s also common knowledge that operating a social media platform may be quite lucrative. However, there are a lot of obstacles to overcome when it comes to operating your own business.
In today’s post, I’ll discuss the benefits and drawbacks of utilizing a self-hosted social media network for professional purposes.
You Have To Make Yourself Noticeable:
When starting a new social network, the first thing you need to think about is the ways in which it will be distinct from the ones that already exist. Let’s be honest: the fact that there are so many social networks available on the internet is not going to make this task any simpler. Do you want to bring together friends and their families? This is something that Facebook does quite well.
Are you interested in developing a website that allows people to stream videos and share the content they have created? This is something that can be done on YouTube, Twitter, and even Facebook.
Do you want to build a network that brings together companies and their employees? LinkedIn has a good handle on this situation.
The list can be continued indefinitely. You will need to devise a strategy that distinguishes your brand from the ones that are already on the market.
Your first order of business is to determine how your social network is distinct from others like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and Reddit, amongst others. If you are unable to respond, you need to prioritize learning how to do so.
The Benefits of Using a Social Media Network That You Host Yourself
Owning and operating your own social media network comes with a number of benefits, many of which are very evident to the average person. However, I have no doubt that there are a few that will take you by surprise.
1. The potential for financial gain
The user bases of social networks tend to be quite large, and these users frequently communicate with one another and visit the site. Because of this, companies are eager to place their advertisements on those sites. As a result, they generate a significant amount of revenue.
In point of fact, a fantastic illustration of this is Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive officer of Facebook. He has a total net worth of $72.9 billion, which places him as the fifth richest person on the planet. Now, let’s face the facts: not everyone has the potential to achieve such a high level of accomplishment.
Despite this, the potential for profit that can be made through a social network is still fairly substantial. On the other hand, much like the majority of other aspects of the web, its success is greatly dependent on the volume of visitors that your website gets.
2. Make personal connections.
Connecting individuals as well as businesses is the primary goal of social networking sites. As the platform that is carrying out this function, it is only natural to cultivate strong links with other commercial enterprises.
Your best hope as a new network is to begin on a modest scale and work towards making your website appealing on a regional level (this is what Facebook accomplished). Building a platform that assists local small businesses in connecting with local clients could very well be a profitable area of specialization for you to pursue.
As your company expands, these contacts will become increasingly vital, and among them, you may even be able to identify potential investors.
3. Focus on a Specific Audience and Establish a community
When you are just getting started, you need to have a certain audience in mind and move swiftly in the direction of what is successful.
For instance, video game live streams are what made Twitch famous in the first place, although the platform wasn’t always used for that purpose. Instead, it came out of the gate with a number of different content categories. However, searches related to gaming were by far the most popular. As a result, the site underwent a rebranding and shifted its focus nearly solely on gaming.
This is an excellent illustration of zeroing in on a certain audience segment and constructing a platform catered to their needs. Because of this, Twitch has become a very successful institution, and it has developed a community that a large number of players visit on a daily basis.
The strategy that you use for your social network should be very similar.
4. Generate Prospective Customers for the Sale
The operation of a social network is an excellent method for producing sales leads. People talk to one another, share stories about the things they’ve seen or heard, and engage in a variety of other social activities.
While getting other companies to advertise to your user base is likely your primary objective, it is important to note that you may also advertise your own services and products to your audience. Take, for instance, the case where you run a t-shirt company that gives clients the opportunity to design their own one-of-a-kind apparel.
You could promote this on your own social network, and in contrast to advertising on other websites, you wouldn’t have to spend anything to get the benefits of advertising on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. In the end, it is yours to possess.
5. The Content Is Generated by the Users
Despite the fact that there is undoubtedly a great deal more effort that goes into maintaining a social network than meets the eye, one thing that you do not have to be concerned about is the production of content. That is taken care of by the users.
The posts, videos, images, and pretty much anything else that your users contribute are included in this category. It is also known as user-generated content. Because of this content’s ability to be interacted with, site visitors will be drawn to your website, but you won’t have to put in any effort to produce it.
However, it will be up to you to construct a platform that is capable of doing this and that can entice the visitors who are responsible for producing the material.
6. You Run the Risk of Being Bought Out
Allow me to make my point, despite the fact that this may strike some as an odd advantage. Would you be interested in selling you’re really great idea if you knew you could get a lot of money for it?
The response to this question is typically yes, but only if the price is satisfactory. Instagram serves as a great illustration of this concept in the real world. Instagram was acquired by Facebook in 2012 for the relatively low price of one billion dollars.
It was a daring new idea that had a tremendous lot of potential, and rather than go up against it as competition, Facebook decided to simply buy it. In addition, it is highly likely that this form of acquisition will continue, as it recently occurred with Amazon and Twitter.
Therefore, the proper corporation might find your idea appealing, which could result in a significant financial reward for you.
7. Your Domain, Your Laws
A growing number of users have the impression that the rules governing what can and cannot be shared on social media sites have become excessively stringent.
It’s quite usual, for instance, for users to have their whole Twitter accounts deleted without any explanation being provided. If you are a user or a business, you have no choice but to comply with the requirements.
On the other hand, you get to decide what the rules are now. In point of fact, you can discover a market for your products or services if you let more postings that provoke thought on your platform. Just keep in mind that advertisers might be reluctant to acquire advertising space if they feel that it conflicts with their company’s core principles.
Using Your Own Server to Host Your Social Media Network Has Its Downsides
Unfortunately, the bad always follows the good. As a result of this, operating your own self-hosted social network comes with a number of drawbacks that you should be aware of.
1. It Is Difficult to Compete:
Let’s be really upfront about the fact that the market for social media is quite competitive. Companies such as Facebook and Twitter have access to billions of dollars, which gives them an advantage in their competition with one another.
In addition to this, and most likely even more significantly, users of social media platforms have incorporated these sites into their day-to-day routines. In 2019, 79% of people living in the United States alone utilized at least one social networking site. In many instances, they are a regular user of the platform of their choice and visit it on a daily basis.
Because of this, there is very little opportunity in the market for a new social network to compete with the existing ones. Especially when there are not a lot of resources available.
2. Well-Known and Respected Brands
The social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, along with a few others, are household brands and currently control the majority of the industry.
For instance, Facebook reigns supreme in the realm of social media, with 2.5 billion active users on a monthly basis. The majority of people, especially those in the age range of 18 to 34, already have an account. This platform makes it easier to connect families, friends, and enterprises.
Therefore, if you want to connect with a friend, you will choose Facebook rather than some other website you haven’t heard of before. This is also true for any other social media hub, which presents a challenge for the development of any new social network.
3. Responsible for Handling Individual Information
Many people all around the world are interested in obtaining the information that social networks gather on their users. This information is highly sought after. Because of the magnitude of this job, you will absolutely require the highest level of protection.
However, this is not as straightforward as activating a security plugin and calling it a day in order to resolve the issue. A social network is not at all like a small or medium-sized website, where these strategies can be quite effective. Even Facebook, which has billions of dollars to protect its users’ information, has trouble preventing hackers from gaining access to it.
To effectively protect the information of your users, you are going to require both the knowledge and the resources. Or, if you really can’t be bothered, you could always pay someone else to do it for you.
4. The Price Is Exorbitant
Let’s pretend for a moment that you defy the odds and have an immediate and significant amount of success with your website. Your web server will require a greater number of resources proportional to the amount of traffic that is sent to your website. Because of this, the cost of your hosting package is going to significantly increase.
Security is not inexpensive, not to mention all of the other things that you are going to need to be on the lookout for, such as advertising for your newly established network. The message must be spread in some way, but it won’t be for free.
Now I know what you’re thinking, and you’re probably saying something along the lines of “But you said in the pros that this is extremely profitable.” I can guarantee you that it is. However, the reason why it is so profitable is solely due to the fact that these businesses already own the resources and supplies. The initial configuration is quite different from regular operation.
5. There is Going to Be a Prolonged Process
Many individuals have the misconception that success can be achieved overnight, while in reality, it takes years of planning and preparation. For instance, Facebook is frequently considered to be one of these occurrences, although it is simple to misunderstand why this is the case. After all, it did develop at a very rapid rate.
In any case, nothing could be further from the reality of the situation. In point of fact, it took the founders of Facebook six years to build the platform to its full potential. And this was during a time when there was almost no other competition.
In a world where Facebook already exists, the concept that a new self-hosted social network might emerge out of nowhere and experience overnight popularity is laughable. If you are serious about your endeavor, you should anticipate that the procedure will take years.
It could take several months before you finally reach the point where you are profitable again.
Conclusion:
The establishment of a social network may, at first glance, appear to be a rather straightforward process. Create a platform that enables users to communicate with one another through the use of text, videos, and photographs and then sell advertising space on that platform to businesses.
However, this is not quite as difficult as it may sound at first. Simply constructing a platform is complex and time-consuming in and of itself, not to mention costly. On top of that, you have the additional responsibility of safeguarding the sensitive user information that you will be accumulating.
Once more, this is not a simple task. In addition to that, the price is not quite low.
The most challenging aspect is something that every person who owns a website is familiar with: you need to get people to visit your site. If you can believe it, these social media websites spend billions of dollars each year trying to grow their audiences and keep them engaged. The establishment of a social network is anything but easy, but doing so can result in significant financial and personal gain.
In what ways have you already begun to develop a social network, and how do you intend to continue doing so? Do you want to establish a platform by employing a CMS as the foundation, or will you be developing your very own?