It has now been one week since one of the greatest losses in Thai history, and one of global significance.

My Facebook feed has been filled with countless stories about “His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great” while he was still alive—his royal duties, teachings, countless royal initiatives, royal compositions, and more. The more I read, the sadder I become. I am probably like most Thai people: I still feel deep sorrow and still find it hard to accept what has happened.

Even so, life must go on. We must quickly regain our composure and move forward. I believe His Majesty would not want all Thai people to remain in an atmosphere of grief for too long.

It is undeniable that over the past week, the digital advertising industry changed considerably. All marketing campaigns were halted. Facebook, Google, and YouTube announced a temporary suspension of advertising systems as a gesture of mourning and to prevent inappropriate ads from appearing. Most Thai people agreed with this decision, seeing it as a highly admirable sign of respect toward the Thai people.

But during that one week when everything paused, from what I heard from digital merchants and friends in the industry, almost everyone was affected to varying degrees. One friend told me he had been unable to sell anything at all during those seven days, though he himself did not feel too troubled because, sooner or later, Facebook would allow advertising and product sales again.

I quietly warned him that this way of thinking is not right, because it means relying far too heavily on Facebook alone for digital marketing.

In reality, digital marketing has many channels. We should not become attached to only one, because if something unexpected happens, the business can easily collapse.

What if Facebook decides to stop advertising for 30 days? What if your own Facebook fan page gets banned and cannot be used? What if Facebook itself is banned in Thailand?

I would like to suggest a few simple "digital marketing" channels for business owners to consider using alongside Facebook or other social media.

Website together with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Some people may say websites are outdated and that social media alone is enough. But what just happened is excellent proof that business owners who have websites and do SEO for their main keywords can still continue earning income online. It is true that SEO is more difficult today, but I believe it is not so difficult that people cannot study it and do it themselves.

Email Marketing. One of the most important things in digital business is to keep building a customer database. At the very least, you should have your customers’ email addresses. If anything happens, you still have a channel through which you can contact them. Foreign studies also show that email marketing still provides the highest ROI among digital marketing investments.

Mobile Application. For businesses with budget, I recommend investing in their own mobile app, because Thai people now spend an average of four hours per day on mobile phones—three times more than on television. We cannot deny that mobile is a highly important medium in this era. Some may ask why an app is necessary when a responsive website should be enough. In truth, mobile apps have special characteristics that websites do not, especially the ability to connect with users through push notifications or direct messages. Studies show that the open rate of messages sent through mobile apps is three times higher than email.

There is not much time left before the end of the year. The remaining time may be difficult for business because of the slowing economy, but it is also a good opportunity for us to reflect on what has passed and to develop the digital marketing channels we have not yet started.

Keep fighting, everyone.