Ok hands up, Facebook was never entirely free, it’s always taken time to generate content and maintain your presence on Facebook. And time = money.

One of the most appealing things about Facebook is that most of the Internet using population is on it and if you could folks to click that ‘like’ button, well, you had ‘em.

Things have changed, a lot.

Over the last couple of years, many changes have occurred to business pages (sorry, timelines) – moving to the timeline design, losing the tab format, losing the obvious landing page to name but a few. And don’t forget there are just simply hundreds of millions more users on there than 2 years, you’ve got more noise to compete against.

But the biggest change? Visibility – thanks to Facebook’s algorithm, Edgerank, which dictates what percentage of the people who like your page actually see what your post.

2 years ago – you could expect 80-90% of your followers to see your posts.

Now - for small businesses you’re looking at 30-40% visibility, for larger businesses that percentage goes down to a paltry 15%. Eek….

Unsurprisingly, many businesses aren’t happy about this. Some now employ the tactics of the ‘share this post if/like this post if’ quick engagement post (although I understand it, it’s lazy marketing in my book) to try to boost their Edgerank. Others have just wondered why their engagement rate has dropped through the floor.

And the rest?

They pay. Using the Facebook advertising model, they hand over cash on a regular basis to Facebook to promote either their page or individual posts. Those ads show up as an advert or a sponsored story – you’ll have seen them filtering through your stream by now I’m sure.

And there’s a problem with those sponsored adverts. I’m starting to see the same brands advertising on Facebook in the same way, all the time. And it’s annoying, to the point where the brand is potentially devaluing itself to it’s target audience.

(Image courtesy of Darren Dean)

Oops. Handing over cash and not helping their brand in the long-term (even though they get some short-term hits). Sainsbury’s and Aviva are both guilty of this recently for me.

Should all businesses be spending money on Facebook Advertising?

Yes, if:

➢ Your business is suited to Facebook (most B2B business aren’t, in my view)
➢ You want to boost your engagement and visibility of your posts.
➢ Your content is good/engaging/creative etc…

If you’re not using Facebook advertising but Facebook is a major part of your social media marketing, it’s time for a rethink.

You need a balance of consistent, compelling, creative content and then use advertising for certain posts where you want your reach to increase towards 75% of your followers (and others). Where you use advertising, don’t run campaigns for too long otherwise the same users may see the same adverts time and time again, and that may well not do you any favours when they just want to see what their mates are up to!

What do you think: are you running a Facebook page that’s producing a return, has high engagement and reach without advertising? I’d love to know!

Are you considering starting using Facebook advertising this year? There’s a good article here with some tips.

Jan

The post Facebook: No longer a free social media tool for business? appeared first on The Net Advantage.

Don’t get me wrong, I always advise clients on the need for calls to action (examples include: like if, comment if you agree, what do you think, has this happened to you…. the list goes on) when posting on Facebook – research has showed time and time again that if you include calls to action, you get more interaction, which is critical if you want more of your fans to see your posts.

On Facebook particularly, this need for engagement and interaction with your page is more critical than ever as Facebook are hell bent on getting all businesses to use it’s advertising model – all businesses will have seen a drop in reach over the last year thanks to changes Facebook has made to it’s Edgerank algorithm.

What’s Facebook Edgerank algorithm?

EdgeRank is the name of the algorithm which Facebook uses to determine what appears in their users’ news feeds. It determines not only which of your connections is the most important to you (and therefore what content from them you see the most) but also which kinds of content should appear higher than others.

There’s more in this eConsultancy article on Facebook Algorithm if you need it.

So what’s the problem with ‘Like this if’ posts?

Frankly, it looks lazy if a large part of your Facebook posts are so obviously geared towards getting interaction on the page – you’re not providing content of value, you’re putting up posts for the sake of getting interaction to push your Edgerank up. Every time I see larger brands (and the digital agencies behind them) joining in, I feel a little sad & a kitten dies

I think Social Media managers need to look afresh at Facebook before it become a post-fest of ‘like, share, comment if’ posts – it’s turned me off (but granted I see a lot) and I think other users will get to the same point. Just because you did it 6 or 12 months ago doesn’t mean it’s ok now, sure still use it but apply a heavy dose of moderation please!

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I was beginning to wonder whether I was alone in my rant about lazy ‘like if’ posts – thankfully not, I stumbled across a brilliant sarcastic and satirical Facebook page set up to name and shame companies taking the short cut route to interaction with their fans – thank you Condescending Corporate Brand Page for making me feel less alone!

So let’s get back to doing what Facebook users want – interesting, refreshing & GENUINE content that adds value to their stream, not pandering to the restrictions on visibility Facebook’s algorithm places on your posts – get an increase to your Facebook advertising budget, or get more creative … please, just for me?

Thank you

Jan

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Avatar image courtesy of blogs.independent.co.uk

The post A plea: No more ‘Like if you’ Facebook posts…please appeared first on The Net Advantage.

These workshops will take place at the new training facility at The Academy, Shrewsbury.

The aim of these workshops is to provide advice and hands on training to allow businesses and organisations to maximise their return from Social Media, or get going with how to use each of the main sites more effectively, while applying a healthy dose of reality in terms of what is achievable in our busy business lives.

Each session stands by itself (but obviously we’d recommend you come to as many as you can to get the most benefit for your business!).

Full information on each workshop is available on the Shropshire Chamber website via the links below:

May 2nd 2012 – Building a Social Media Strategy
May 9th 2012 – LinkedIn
May 15th 2012 – Twitter – an introduction for business
May 23rd 2012 – Facebook – an introduction for business
May 30th 2012 – Blogging for Business
June 13th 2012 – Advanced Twitter
June 19th 2012 – Advanced Facebook
June 27th 2012 – Latest Social Media developments & top tips for Online Marketing success

Please note that first and final sessions are workshops, sessions 2 to 7 require a laptop to get the most out of the session. If you do not have one or cannot borrow one please let Shropshire Chamber know at the time of booking and we will do our best to ensure you have one.

If there are other workshops you would like to see us do, please let us know in the comments below and we’ll see what we can do.

I hope to see you at the workshops soon….
Jan

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