Are you thinking of leaving Facebook?
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Where people used to ask, “Do you have a website?”, these days they’re just as likely to ask you if you have a Facebook page. If you don’t, you may be seen as behind the times. Unfortunately, it’s getting harder and harder to get your posts to show up in people’s newsfeeds.
It’s due in part to the sheer volume of content being shared, but Facebook has openly admitted that they’ve changed their algorithm, making it much less likely that posts from your page will be displayed to people who have “Liked” your page, unless you’re willing to pay for advertising.
I’ve heard that Facebook advertising is not expensive, compared to other online options. But for new businesses with limited marketing budgets, and for those of us who have grown accustomed to nearly unlimited free exposure online, having to pay at all comes as a bit of a shock. Before you shut down your Facebook page, consider these ideas:
Let people follow you on Facebook
A lot of people keep their personal and professional lives completely separate on Facebook. Others use Facebook only for business. They have a personal profile only because it’s a necessary part of the process, but they don’t use it at all and usually keep it hidden from search results.
I get that, but there’s another option, and this might be a good time to consider letting people who aren’t your Facebook Friends to “follow” you on Facebook.
Before you do that, make sure you don’t inadvertently share anything with anyone you may not wish to, by going to Settings – Privacy.
Under Who can see my stuff? click on Limit Past Posts to make everything you’ve posted previously visible only to your Facebook Friends. You also have the option of changing the setting for individual items, but that’s probably not the best use of your time. If you discover later that you’ve hidden something that should be public, you can deal with it then.
Once you’ve done that, click on Followers in the menu on the left. Where it says Who Can Follow Me, choose Everybody. This will allow anyone to read your Public posts, even if you’re not Facebook Friends. There’s even code for a Follow button you can add to your website.
Going forward, whenever you post something on Facebook, take a moment to choose which audience you wish to share it with. Public posts can be seen by anyone, and will come up in the newsfeed of your followers. Use this setting when posting links to your recent blog posts or anything else that’s related to your business. When you post photos from your family reunion or anything else that’s more personal in nature, change the setting to Friends. Just remember that Facebook will default to the last setting you used, so you need to be diligent about checking it each time you post something.
Keep encouraging people to Like your Page
Unless you and your business are synonymous, keeping your Facebook Page active will continue to play a role in building your business brand.
Continue posting regular updates, and occasionally remind those who are following you on Facebook or elsewhere to stop by and Like your Page. As an incentive, consider offering special content that’s only available to those who Like your Page.
Make sure your Page represents your business effectively, with an attractive cover image and profile picture. If you haven’t updated yours in a while, schedule time to do it soon.
Explore Facebook advertising
Although it may go against the grain to pay for advertising, don’t be too hasty to rule it out.
One of the reasons advertising on Facebook is less expensive than other platforms is that you can really zoom in on specific demographics, so you’re not paying to place your ads in front of people who aren’t even in your target market. Furthermore, you set your own budget, so you don’t have to worry about unanticipated expenses.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
Facebook probably isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, but even so, don’t rely on it as your primary source of online visibility. The only platform over which you have full control is your own blog and/or website, so it’s essential that it be the hub of your online activities.
That being said, it really doesn’t hurt to explore other social media options.
I’m curious: Have you changed the way you use Facebook in the last few months? Please do leave a comment!
Image courtesy of Sean MacEntee, used under a Creative Commons license
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Indeed, I at least considered abandoning my Facebook business page. Instead, just last night I “boosted” my latest blog post for $5 to see what would happen. The jury is still out. I’m looking forward to your NAPO VC presentation!
Ooh, I will look forward to hearing about your results!
Actually, Hazel, as I was writing this I recalled a conversation we had about this on Facebook, but I couldn’t remember whether it was on your Page, your Profile, or my Page or Profile, so I gave up trying to track it down.
I’ve definitely developed a love/hate relationship with Facebook. I’ve occasionally tried boosting posts (especially for upcoming events I’m doing), and that does seem to increase the reach. Sometimes when I post a new blog post, I will also “share” that post from my personal page, so more of my friends will see it. I’ve put my toe in the water with Google+, but parts of it are still puzzling to me. I will definitely try to check out your presentation!
I also share my posts on my personal profile. It doesn’t really matter where people see them, as long as they see them! The trouble is, we can only see analytics for our business pages and not our profiles (though we can of course see how many Likes and Comments we get…)
I’m not relying on FB as much as I used to, that’s for sure. Advertising there can get expensive fast I found – I’ve done several ads there, and I find the process confusing and have a couple times ended up with a bill for more than twice the amount I was expecting because I didn’t understand one small part of the ad process. I have already started posting more business stuff on my personal page. Far less than 10% of my biz page fans are now seeing my posts, so part of me is like “why bother”, but with HootSuite it’s easy to send the updates to all my networks and see what comes back. As my business coach says, Facebook is definitely becoming a Pay to Play arena.
Yikes – thanks for the heads up, Tracy! I just assumed that when you reached your allotted budget, your ads would stop.
Like you, I figure that even a little exposure is better than none, but I do wonder what all this will mean in the long term – and even in the short term.
I think the billing issue was with how they split up your ad into different parts – like sponsored stories vs. ad on the right column, etc. Sometimes I feel like the ad set up is intentionally confusing.
That’s unfortunate. I think if it was easier to manage, businesses would be more likely to continue advertising.
Hi Janet, I still don’t have a website or blog going yet so rely almost completely on FB on getting the word out about my business -what I do is join groups in my area and then post my page on there when I can -it took me 3 years to get 500 fans and 10 weeks to go up to 600 but yes, only about 150 are seeing my daily tips which is frustrating. I have paid to boost posts and specified area and such and had some response and never been over billed. I like that they don’t charge you till the end of the month.
That’s a higher percentage than I’ve been seeing since the algorithm changes, Judy. It sounds like you’re getting some results from your ads, which is great too. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Janet,
Yes, I have read about the ‘likes’ on a company page not being tapped as often as before. Since I don’t ‘sell’ anything directly on my page, I don’t think it’s worth it to pay for the boost. I use the page really just to continue the voice of Minimalist Jo, posting resources and my blog writing, in addition to everywhere else. It is my personal page that I get more action from! All of my friends/colleagues are the immediate filter in front of my target market and they have provided many referrals! My personal profile may show me at work and play but it is always tasteful and since I am primarily a coach (who organizes) I believe people are seeing me embody the very points of living I espouse and that leads to recognition and trust (“she practices what she preaches”). But I don’t ‘push’ anything there and I don’t have it set to public. It’s a limited passive/pull kind of thing.
So I am just starting to make more of an effort on Twitter and I am a fan of Instagram! (I call it the visual twitter 😉 I have spiffed up my Google + recently. (see if you can find me!) I don’t feel like it does anything for the moment but hey, it’s a free avenue to be seen. And I have a LinkedIn profile of course.
My website is about to be overhauled – like you said, no sitting still when it comes to having a virtual presence!
Jo
I love your approach, Jo. Some people are reluctant to post business stuff on their personal profile in case it puts off their friends and family, but I think it’s important for those folks to have a good understanding of what we do so they can tell others about us!
My guest author this week is going to blog about Instagram, which I’ve never used. I’ll be interested in seeing what you can add to her tips!
Instagram – I look forward to that! I’m an avid photographer so that is why I started using it, but I am starting to demonstrate what my coaching/organizer ‘eye’ sees and thinks about, via images. For now, just another way to let potential clients see who I am.
Here’s a link to the post: http://organizedassistant.com/2014/02/20/using-instagram-for-business/
As someone just starting out in their business it is defiantly frustrating knowing that it’s unlikely that people will see my Facebook posts. Some weeks are better than others – I’m trying to learn. Eventually I plan to pay for Facebook-dark-posts because I know that’s the way to reach people; however for now I’m doing my best. Even though I’d like more activity on my page, I’m planning on keeping it. Like you said, if a business doesn’t have one – they appear behind the times!
If you do pay for ads, I’ll be interested in knowing how it works out for you.
So….I guess I’ve accepted the fact that I need to pay for ads, in addition to occasionally reminding my personal friends and followers about my biz page, and posting non-salesy organizing stuff on my personal page a little more often. Ran an ad just recently and did receive more likes and other activity. But….I also thought it seemed like it was going on longer than the week I specified, so I checked and it had also racked up more $$ than I had intended. :-/ Easy to stop, and not sure exactly what happened, just letting you know to keep an eye on it.
Thanks for the caution, Hazel! I still haven’t tried advertising on Facebook (except for one time early on, when I received a $100 credit and used it to promote an ebook: not a single sale) but I hear it’s easy to do and very effective.
I’ve noticed that some people don’t work very hard at their targeting though – I saw an ad telling me if I donate to a certain cause, because I’m a public servant the government will match my donation – thing is, I haven’t been a government employee since 1998, so they wasted their money showing me that ad.