The #1 web platform “social media experts” recommend for businesses to engage their customers on has always been Facebook. But very recently, I have been wondering if it was as effective as it used to be.
With every passing day, attracting people to like your brand page on Facebook “organically” is becoming quite an uphill task. Then after the likes, we need a comprehensive content strategy to ensure users stay engaged. (By the way, the term “organic” means free methods in web marketing speak)
I recently sat down with a client who wanted to market his new movie using digital channels and as we analysed the best strategy to take based on his marketing budget, I saw the fundamental flaw in any FREE Facebook marketing plan; there is just too much noise on Facebook, separating the signal from the noise is a serious task for the Facebook engineers who have to juggle through about 1,500 entries and decide automatically which 10 stories you would most likely want to interact with.
Well this morning, Facebook has come forward to put it in black-and-white:
Facebook says it expects “organic distribution of an individual Page’s posts to gradually decline over time,” then it suggests, “to maximize delivery of your message in News Feed, your brand should consider using paid distribution.”
If free marketing techniques on Facebook will not work as effective as it used to due to the increased population, maybe it is time for brands and businesses to seek alternative platforms.
For the full story, read the original articles that triggered this post:
- Facebook: Brands Will Have To Work Harder (Or Buy Ads) For Your Attention — But Fans Still Matter (TechCrunch)
- What Increased Content Sharing Means for Businesses (Official post from the Facebook company)
In what ways have you used Facebook to market before? Do you thing free marketing on Facebook still works? Air your views in the comment section below.
