Many brands are seeing their Facebook business page engagement and reach decline exponentially due to recent changes Facebook has made to their algorithm. As a result many business marketers who have put all of their social business and social media marketing eggs into Facebook are “freaking out.”
These are the top questions we are hearing from every client, partner, colleague, friend and neighbor…
What the heck is going on with Facebook Edgerank?
Why are no fans engaging with my content?
Why has my Facebook reach tanked?
Should I give up on Facebook?
Should I head over to Google+ as my number one platform in 2014?
Where should I focus my time in 2014?
Is Google+ the Answer for Businesses in 2014?
If you are reading this post looking for the answer to if you should jump ship and head to Google+, I will tell you now you will likely be disappointed.
There is no cookie cutter answer to this question. Here is why…
- I do not know your business.
- I do not know your customer.
- I do not know your target market demographics.
- I do not know what content marketing assets you have that can be leveraged to help you meet your business goals.
- Because I do not know your business, customer target demographics I can not tell you if your customer is hanging out on Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram. I have no idea where they are hanging out to be honest.
Here is what you need to do:
- Stop putting your social media and business eggs in one basket!
- Stop putting your business strategy and success dependency into a social network basket you do not own!
- Stop depending on social media to determine your business strategy.
- Acknowledge that your business should not plug into Facebook. Facebook and the other social networks should plug into your business.
- Focus on integrating social media into your business. This means you need to be thinking about an integrated platform that uses your blog and / or website as home base. Smart marketers were already doing this from day one.
- Social media is a medium, not a solution, treat it as such.
- Acknowledge that you do not own your Facebook fans. Yes, you may have paid good money to Facebook via advertising campaigns to get them to like your page.
- Accept that Facebook owes you nothing. What do you expect from a platform you have been using for close to free for months and/or years? You don't own your fan page, your business page, your personal page, nothing. This is why it is a risk putting your eggs all in one basket you do not own.
- Accept the fact that your fans may have liked your page, but did not necessarily fell in love with you. Get over it. You must move on to plan b, and fast.
- Develop a plan inclusive of business goals and objectives and serves the needs of your audience.
- Get in the head of your customer. Know what and where they eat, sleep, drink. Know when, where and how they tweet, pin, post, blog, read, and share. Know why they do all of the above.
- Your mission is to determine where your audience is hanging out online and figure out how you can have the most relevant conversation with them possible that helps them meet business and life goals, and you do the same.
- Inspire your audience to connect with you, with a goal of helping them achieve their objectives. When your audience achieves their objectives, you will achieve your objectives by default. Inspire, connect, achieve!
- Google+ is not going to solve your problems any quicker than Facebook will. Quit looking to the social networks to solve your business problems.
Watch this video to better understand and get a grip on your social media for 2014 and beyond.
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- Worksheet: Download our POST audience analysis worksheet to help you identify and prioritize your top audiences. It is based upon the Forrester POST methodology.
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- Top 16 Social Media Predictions for 2014
- 16 Tips to Create a Consistent, Relevant, Trusted Social Brand
- 9 Tips to Stomp Random Acts of Marketing & Social Media
- Social Media Communities: 10 tips to Build, Grow & Sustain
- Communities Create Markets: 13 Tips to Build Loyal Tribes of Brand Evangelists
- 13 Characteristics of Human Brands
- Time to Grow Up! Social Businesses Mature, Yet Many Still Lack a Strategic Foundation (Brian Solis)
This was not a helpful article (and it includes suggestions that are borderline insulting to most business owners and small marketers).
The recent drop in organic reach has not been attributed to changes in the Edgerank algorithm as this post says. In fact, Facebook recently described the change as a result of increased competition for limited space, since “content that is eligible to be shown in news feed is increasing at a faster rate than people’s ability to consume it.” There’s more info here http://adage.com/article/digital/facebook-admits-organic-reach-brand-posts-dipping/245530/
Ryan -My post may be insulting to biz owners who have taken a one sided approach to social media, focusing only on one basket with a lack of goals/objectives and alignment to audience needs. If that’s the case I don’t know what to say other than to have a conversation with them ;)
Your statement about the algorithm not changing is inaccurate. I didn’t state specifically there was Edgerank change. I stated “algorithm.” Even in the post you link to, there is mention of such. Algorithm, Edgerank, whatever you want to call it there are changes being made by Facebook that impact organic reach / views of content by fans and they have clearly admitted such. Here is also another article on Adage which talks specifically about the algorithm change. http://adage.com/article/digital/facebook-tweaks-algorithm-add-news-news-feed/245494/
Why won’t you identify yourself Ryan? Your profile now links to a dead page?
It appears “Ryan” is a fake (flake?) account.
Ha, I think we can assume such @kayakonlinemarketing:disqus ! Funny thing is I have his/ her IP & location thanks to our commenting system.
Disqus rocks!
Ryan, why no avatar? If you wish to have people take your comments seriously, you cannot post anonymously.
Already done. 90% in G+ now. Hardly in FB ever any more.
Wow, interesting @kayakonlinemarketing:disqus. Why did you switch? Is your target audience really on G+ more than Facebook?
Hi @PamMktgNut:disqus It’s all about the level/amount of engagement. It is a closed system, limiting my public dialogues and engagement with connections. My experience in G+ on the other hand has been open and friendly. Google isn’t limiting who can see my posts, and I don’t have to worry about security.
Hi Randy,
Just curious, what do you mean by “I don’t have to worry about security.” on G+? Nice to see you here, btw. We are connecting all over the place this past week! :-)
We are! What I was referring to is two-fold: a) the potential for identity thieves to piece together information on FB (have you been prompted lately by FB to “update” your information – that’s a whole lot of private questions they want to make public), and b) in some FB version/App updates, some users report experiencing a reset of their security options, revealing past hidden or deleted content.
Pam,
I enjoyed reading your post. It was very insightful.
Thank you.
Thanks Sharon, glad you liked!
[…] Should You Jump the Facebook Ship & Head Over to Google+?, https://www.pammarketingnut.com […]
Hi Pam, Really enjoyed this post and loved the video. I read how Facebook explained this drop in organic reach – and basically it boils down to the fact they want us to pay to be seen, pay for advertising. Integration Integration Integration – agreed :)
Thanks @MichelleDHarris:disqus! Glad you liked it. Yes, integration is a good word, not bad. People need to stop being so afraid of it!
[…] Should You Jump the Facebook Ship & Head Over to Google+ [video] (PamMarketingNut.com) […]
Good golly. That bulletted list is gold. Thanks for the reminder not to overly fixate on social networks that are out of our control but to come back to the basics of our own sites, email lists, and products.
I’m a nut about G+, so take this with a grain of salt. I think the idea that your audience/market may not be on G+ could possibly be a moot point because of personalized search. Everyone uses search. And most of that search is via Google. Who you circle and interact with on G+ directly affects personalized search, so I think even if your audience isn’t there, per se, G+ should be part of your strategy. Well, if you care about being found in SERPS. If not, then you can safely ignore G+.
Glad you liked it @jimmielanley:disqus. I agree with you on needing G+ for search. However, you hit the nail on the head of why so many are confused about how to use G+. Using a social network to only see benefit with search via google search window is different than using G+ to build community with your target audience. We have MANy clients who their audience is NOT on Google+ so them spending vast amount of time to build community there is a mute point and would be wasted time. Their time is much better spent on platforms where there audience is already hanging out. However, it is obvious any brands who wants to show up in search via Google must properly leverage Google and include G+ in their strategy, it would be stupid not to.
[…] Should You Jump the Facebook Ship for Google+ in 2014? […]
You hit this out of the park Pam! Should be mandatory reading for anyone trying to figure out how to use social media in their overall marketing plans.
Thanks Sue. Glad you liked :)
Loved seeing you on video Pam. Great thoughts. Am 90% Google+ now and driving all my posts on other places to there or my websites
Thanks & glad you liked the video :) Why are you 90% on G+ @michaelqtodd:disqus? Are you solely focused on search? Is that where your target market is primarily? Being 90% only on G+ would not make sense for most biz’s. For people who want to target influencers, techies and early adopters, yes there is a lot of opportunity to build community there. For SEO / SEarch /SMO benefit yes. But many are confusing search with community. If your target audience is not there yet then anyone would be a fool to spend 90% of their time only on G+. I think the leaders teaching those wanting to learn about social business social media networking strategies must be careful not to confuse objectives of search/seo vs community. Yes, they can be complimentary but focusing on G+ for search does not guarantee nor offer community benefits for a brand who’s demographic is simply not on G+.
[…] Should You Jump the Facebook Ship for Google+ in 2014? […]
Great post and on target with the video message as well, Pam. I can’t imagine a professional marketer or brand manager having put ALL eggs into any ONE basket, especially “baskets” they do not own in the first place. Obviously, it has happened or we wouldn’t be having this conversation, but really, as you say, if you look at your business integration and address every piece as part of a WHOLE, there should be no “freak out” factor. I also think that (as you say), it’s not an either/or question. It’s like comparing apples and oranges….Each channel has it’s own “personality” just like each brand does. There is no “one-size-fits-all” and there never will be. Thank you for being a voice of reason here. Healthy business development encompasses so much more than just the social media channels we engage in.
I completely agree and I appreciate your style.
Thanks @lynnabatejohnson:disqus ! Yes, we must look at the whole picture, not just a group of +1’s. Brand must have an integrated strategy INCLUSIVE of G+, not solely focus on it. It is simply a matter of time before we all see more ads, more controlled post streams in G+. They are an ad company at heart and G+ won’t be any different in the end IMHO.
Great post Pam!
Thanks @SebRusk:disqus! Glad you liked :)
[…] 21. Have a home base. Twitter should not live on an island of it’s own. Instead think of Twitter as a big fishing net you can use to connect with all different walks of life and human beings. You should leverage Twitter to meet new people, connect with them and eventually bring them back to your own home base such as a blog, website, or whatever it may be. Leveraging content from your blog, video and other platforms will help bring credibility to your brand on Twitter and overall. Putting all of your business eggs in a social network basket you don’t own is a recipe for disaster. Read-> Should You Jump Facebook Ship to Google+ in 2014? […]
[…] Should You Jump the Facebook Ship for Google+ in 2014? […]
“Acknowledge that your business should not plug into Facebook. Facebook
and the other social networks should plug into your business.” <—worthy of a stone tablet. Great post! dcxposed.com
Thanks @DCXposed_com:disqus. Glad you liked it. However, why did you throw your blog link in there?
habit from posting political blogs, sorry. No rel link value but hot comments can get really ampped up on a red hot article. Sometimes I forget when I switch hats back to seo/social media/optimization. :)
[…] Should You Jump the Facebook Ship for Google+ in 2014? […]
Insightful and captivating Pam. When an Executive describes the architect of their online presence with terms like “Web Guy” or “SEO Guru” my radar shoots up. 9 out of 10 times my follow-up questions leave me troubled by how strongly technology drove the solution instead of the company’s market and the form of engagement best suited. These are just the type of Executives to direct to your video before the call comes in from their “trend based” consultants blaming short-lived results on FBs downfall and pay for modification to next fad with no further investigation.
[…] One of the top questions we are hearing from business and marketing leaders from organizations of all sizes is “how much time and resource should I invest in Google+ in 2014?” Read and watch video-> “Should I jump ship from Facebook to Google+ in 2014?” […]