January has rolled in and taken its grip on 2014 and there are 2 F words that stick in my mind for January so far.... France and Facebook. Both have been bashed, kicked, punched and have generally been fair game in the social media playground.
But I am going to concentrate on Facebook. There is plenty out there from social media influencers and fanatics about the recent developments that Facebook has implemented when it comes to its latest change in its algorithms which has had a marked affect on how a business page post is seen in front of fans. There is a huge decrease in visibility. And for many business page owners, particularly those who use Facebook as a main avenue for marketing, this is a huge blow. From various forums, closed groups and blog posts that I have seen this has whipped up a bit of an anti-Facebook frenzy... with people citing that Facebook is not playing and that as a free service it should remain free and that small business owners will not pay to promote their business.
I have included a couple of links that are worth reading and listening to so that you can make your own minds up about Facebook but for what it is worth, it is what it is and business pages owners will have to adjust to the fact that if you want your business in front of a fan or a non business user you will have to pay for it.
But I am going to concentrate on Facebook. There is plenty out there from social media influencers and fanatics about the recent developments that Facebook has implemented when it comes to its latest change in its algorithms which has had a marked affect on how a business page post is seen in front of fans. There is a huge decrease in visibility. And for many business page owners, particularly those who use Facebook as a main avenue for marketing, this is a huge blow. From various forums, closed groups and blog posts that I have seen this has whipped up a bit of an anti-Facebook frenzy... with people citing that Facebook is not playing and that as a free service it should remain free and that small business owners will not pay to promote their business.
I have included a couple of links that are worth reading and listening to so that you can make your own minds up about Facebook but for what it is worth, it is what it is and business pages owners will have to adjust to the fact that if you want your business in front of a fan or a non business user you will have to pay for it.
I have been busy with blog articles this month and have shared the links on my Facebook business page. With the decrease of organic visibility in mind, I decided to invest a few pounds to boost my posts. The results have been interesting. For example a £5 spend resulted in this post being seen by over 9000 people. As a page with relatively small numbers, [of which I am not overly concerned about at this stage of my young and small business] I was particularly interested to see that the visits to my website had substantially increased with Facebook being the dominant driver.
It will be interesting to see where Facebook is going over the next few months, but do expect to pay to promote. I will continue to boost posts regularly. You cannot expect to market and promote a small business for free, although there are still plenty of other platforms such as Google+ and Pinterest and many others available. Some investment has to be made somewhere along the line and Facebook activity should be part of a wider mix of marketing and promoting activity.
What do you think of the recent Facebook developments? Have you seen decreased visibility on your business page? Will you boosting some of your posts?
What do you think of the recent Facebook developments? Have you seen decreased visibility on your business page? Will you boosting some of your posts?
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