A well-known blogger named Sam Biddle has leaked news about Facebook he got from a reliable source, that if true, will create huge marketing changes for companies that rely a great deal on generating sales from their Facebook “friends.”
I know, for years now, we’ve been telling you to use Facebook, and you’ve been asking us why? It’s simple. Get someone to “like” you, and they will start receiving your Facebook posts on their newsfeed. (The newsfeed is what most Facebook users look at, especially on their cell phones, to keep connected with their friends and family.)
In the past, when I checked my newsfeed, maybe once a day, I might get a selfie from a relative, a link to the latest cute cat video on YouTube, and a post from a business that I once upon a time pressed the “Like” button for.
Now, according to Biddle, Facebook is going to limit the number of commercial sites I, or anyone else sees, regardless of how many “likes” they have.
In other words, right now, if your businesses Facebook page has 1,000 “likes,” and put a post to it, all 1,000 fans will see that post. Soon, only 1 to 2% of fans will see it. There goes all that work you did building a fan base, and all that work you do every day spending time posting items to your company Facebook page. As a regular Facebook user, it seems to me that this policy is indeed in place. I seem to see fewer posts from commercial sites that I “like.” This is not scientific, but we’ll know that for sure soon enough.
Is all lost? No, there are alternatives to Facebook, such as Twitter, Google Plus, or blogging. And, Riddle thinks the main reason Facebook is doing this is so they can charge businesses for this feature. If it works for your business, it’s probably worth paying for. Some things, like Google Ad Words, are cost effective.
The bottom line is, Social Media is important for building relationships with your brand, if only the rules didn’t change all the time.
What you need is someone to help you navigate social media, and keep up on all the changes. You need internet marketing from someone like us, HD Marketing & Design. Call us for a free consultation on how internet marketing can help build your business.
We’ll continue to monitor this issue with Facebook, and let you know more as it happens.
