“What the!? I’ve only gained one new like this whole week after my killer content?”
Okay, so if you’re an entrepreneur no doubt you can relate to this scenario. Firstly, you’re not alone, I’m there with you and so too are many of my clients. Secondly, (now you might not believe I’m saying it but…) the number of Facebook likes should NOT be your ultimate end-goal nor should it be a measure of your Facebook marketing success.
If you researched into Facebook before diving in you would have seen scary headlines hailing the end of organic reach and the death of Facebook pages for business. Dun dun duuuunnn!
However there is a method to Zuckerberg’s madness. Like food, it’s not the quantity but the quality that matters.
On average, there are 1,500 stories that could appear in a person’s News Feed each time they log onto Facebook.
Plus, it gets more complicated because page managers won’t know the exact number of friends or liked pages their followers— or potential followers — will have (think privacy reasons and sheer time to find this out!), so it’s futile to solely focus on increasing your page likes or focus on the lack of them. I’m not saying Facebook likes aren’t important, on the contrary — quality likes are what you should be aiming for.
With Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm it serves news that people want to see. So, rather than going to a restaurant and getting food you didn’t order, the waiter (Facebook) serves you food (news) you ordered (pages/content you Liked or interacted with). This makes for a happy customer…and a happy restaurant (page) because more than likely you will be repeat business (future engagement with the page).
What you need to know
Recently, Facebook announced it was tweaking its algorithm to optimise the feed for users, which is a plus for profiles and a ‘dammit’ for business pages. Now Facebook will prioritise updates from family and friends over businesses.
“…tries to ensure that content posted directly by the friends you care about, such as photos, videos, status updates or links, will be higher up in News Feed so you are less likely to miss it. If you like to read news or interact with posts from pages you care about, you will still see that content in News Feed. This update tries to make the balance of content the right one for each individual person.”
Another key point is that if a fan of yours liked your page or commented on your post, this story will appear lower in the newsfeeds of their friends. Specifically: “…many people have told us they don’t enjoy seeing stories about their friends liking or commenting on a post. This update will make these stories appear lower down in News Feed or not at all, so you are more likely to see the stuff you care about directly from friends and the pages you have liked.”
So how the hell do you ‘beat the system’?
The key takeaway here is to focus on attracting relevant audience. The more relevant your audience, the greater cut-through you will achieve, and this applies to social media and your overall marketing efforts.
So, experiment with different content at different time, ask questions, curate relevant content and most importantly listen to what your audience wants.
Like most things in the digital world it’s an agile approach — test and learn with different content and targeting filters.
I’m there with you, testing my own content with my relevant audience. Remember you are not alone!
Until we meet at the same restaurant again ;0)
https://www.facebook.com/j9marin
Author profile
Janine Marin is a marketing coach to women in business. With more than 10 years experience in digital marketing Janine relishes seeing her clients succeed because of what they’ve learnt through their coaching calls and e-lessons. The purpose of Janine’s business is best summed up with this: “give a man a fish and you feed him for one day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
