image by katerha
So you know that Facebook Page you’ve got for your brand? Remember the hours you spent thinking about what sort of custom tabs you want to put there? Remember the design comps you poured over, and the slick little graphics you threw together? Guess what – they don’t matter. Because no one goes to your Facebook Page.
Read it again and make certain it sinks in: no one goes to your Facebook Page.
This is a bitter pill to swallow, so here’s some supporting evidence to help wash it down:
- Fact: 95% of Facebook users view only their “Top News” feed
- Fact: Over 20 million people interact with Facebook from an iOS device, which doesn’t display custom tabs (and that was back in 2010)
- Fact: Just 3% – 7.5% of fans see a brand page’s posts
Overwhelmingly & unequivocally, the lion’s share of interactions with your Facebook Page – upwards of 90% – are happening in the newsfeed, and most brands either don’t know, or don’t care. Interactions are not happening on your Page’s wall. Interactions are not happening on the custom tab you spent hours developing so that people can watch a talking, animated snake-oil salesman. Nope. Interactions are happening in the newsfeed, and they are happening with pieces of content that involve simple (but thoughtful) language, and rich media (e.g., pictures and video).
Now that you know this, what do you do? Post too often, and you risk the dreaded unsubscribe link being clicked. Don’t post often enough, and watch your active user base dwindle, and disappear. What you need is The Goldilocks Principle; you need a strategy that isn’t too hot or too cold – it’s just right.
Start by learning about your Page’s fan demographics. Track your impressions against your actual fan count. What percentage are you really getting your content in front of? Where are your fans – active and inactive – located? Figure out what days and what times are best to reach them. That is, don’t post once a day, at 9am, New York time, if most of your fans are in San Francisco, and won’t do their morning Facebook trolling until it’s ~1pm in New York. What time does your audience use Facebook? Is there another audience you want to reach, that operates under slightly different rules?
Sure, there’s more to it than that – but start there. You’ll be leagues ahead of most, and well on your way to a winning strategy on Facebook.
Testing.
Great post and a little scary for the Social Media “gurus” stating that you Facebook page is the most important piece of digital real estate.
I argue that people go to the page rarely, if prompted to enter a comp via and effective post.
It is amazing how you learn what works if you pay attention, with my experience as the digital manager of a major retailer I soon learnt what and when I should post.
Excellent post! As a social media manager for several clients, I’ve observed that just because a page looks ‘pretty’ with all the latest and greatest tabs and applications, it does not result in higher engagement or relationship building with one’s audience. Content – and engaging content at that, is key. As you said: “Interactions are happening in the newsfeed, and they are happening with pieces of content that involve simple (but thoughtful) language, and rich media (e.g., pictures and video).”
I also love your reference to the Goldilocks Principle. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to the best time to post, and the ‘cookie cutter’ approach that so many social media gurus seem to subscribe to DO NOT fit every client, every page, and every brand.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi Ed,
I was inspired by your post that I mentioned you in my blog also.
http://joemillward.posterous.com/facebook-is-not-a-community
Keep up the good work!
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