With daily reach decreasing dramatically for many company Facebook Pages each and every day it seems, companies are going to have to be very strategic with their social media marketing. Those that think otherwise will see their visibility on Facebook diminish.
Here is what I am talking about. This chart comes from social.ogilvy.com. [Percentage of Page reach is the left axis. Date is the bottom axis.]
Now I added the red numbers for ease of visibility to the social@Ogilvy chart. I believe that you have been seeing this as a Facebook Page Admin for a while now yourself. The chart above just proves what you have been thinking. You are getting less and less of a share in the over all visibility of the Facebook News Feed.
So what’s the solution; besides giving up and trying harder elsewhere? Facebook still has merit as a place to market, but gone are the days of the post and run strategy. Smart marketing is the daily bread and butter for companies today.
Here are a few things that you can do that will actually matter:
- Make sure your posts are not the least spammy at all. If a Facebook user marks your post as spam, it will negatively affect your Page visibility. As a company, when you post, you need to watch how the post is received and respond accordingly. Make sure there is always value for the end-user. Whether it is a picture, a video or anything else, make sure you know it will be received well. Your previous history, found in Facebook Insights, is a good place to see what your best successes have been.
- Promote Facebook posts. You will have to spend some money marketing on Facebook, but do it smartly. Use geotagging, interests, age ranges and such to target your promotion as successful as possible. As a point of action, before I ever promoted a post, I would spend some time watching how the post does on its own before promoting it. If people are not interacting with it, promoting your post probably won’t make it more interactive either. Promote posts that people show an interest in from the start.
- Share photos and videos, where possible, from your company. This gives your Facebook users a behind the scenes look at your people and company. You could make your company more relate able to others by sharing every day moments that give people an idea of what really happens there.
- Share causes that your company is involved in and how others can join. People genuinely want to help others. Sometimes they just need a vehicle to join and help out. Companies need to be seen as more than money generating machines these days. But don’t try to fool people with non-authentic behavior. If your company does not love helping a cause, then stay away from this. You don’t want to be labeled as a phony.
- Make sure you have researched the keywords for your marketing. There is no sense in showing up where no one is looking. Use the Google Keyword Planner to see what people are actually using in their searches. Your Facebook Page can show up as a Google result. Make sure you plan to make this happen. Smart posting produces great Google rankings.
- Build a great Facebook Community one person at a time. Great reach to an audience that could care less about your company is a great waste of time. Don’t get caught in the trap of building numbers at the expense of building great relationships with your customers. When you build with people, you can create super-fans. This takes time and energy. These fans can refer your company to others by all means possible. Make sure you involve your fans in conversations that build. Don’t just post and run.
- Get better at Facebook. Training matters. Make sure your company social media team is always learning. Social media is a moving target at best. Make sure your team gets to hang around with people who are smarter than them. Your team needs to avoid being boxed in and remain open to new ideas and trends as they occur.
- Identify people who are posting. Each post should end with the first name of the person posting. This can help people connect with you. You become a name and not just a series of text. This will ensure that your posts become more personable. People want to know whom they are talking with. Please give them that option.
- Involve your fans in the process. Make sure you ask what your fans want and get their input. If you want to build a better mouse trap, you had better check with the mouse. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not talking about manipulation. Fans do have great ideas and can suggest great improvements; if we but ask them.
- Keep the posts positive. People come to Facebook to be cheered up and have some fun. Please add your company as a source of encouragement and fun. Please make sure you run your post through a colleague before you post though. What you might find funny, might be offensive to others.
- Post on peak times and on off-peak times. Peak times give you the most reach; but they also have the most competition for those eye balls. Off-peak times allow you to post with less competition at a smaller reach level. Try both and see which does better for you. Not sure when those peak times are? Check your Facebook Insights for those times.
I could go on and on with ideas. For now, run with those ideas and apply them. After all, all the wisdom in the world is useless if it is not applied.
Here is to great success for your company today. And as always, if you have a question, please ask. – Jeff
