Articles

Losing Facebook Traffic? There’s a Reason.

Date: March 25, 2021 By: Kim Deppe

photo illustrating concept of Facebook business marketing

Most small businesses and nonprofits are using Facebook as part of their social media marketing strategy. They undertake various steps to increase the number of followers they have as a way to spread their message. Facebook business pages have been a key part of that process, but over the years changes to Facebook’s algorithm have made that less effective. And they have just done it again.

Many social media managers in my circle are complaining that suddenly they are seeing a big drop in the number of likes, shares, and comments on their posts. Here is what you need to know about the change.

Before the most recent change, you could reliably count on around 10% of your followers to be served one of your posts. To increase that amount, you needed to either pay for a boost or get a lot of likes and shares – or both. With the latest round of changes, that number has dropped dramatically. Now, only about 2% of your followers will see your posts.

Who Sees Your Facebook Posts?

Your business page posts generally will be served to those who have consistently engaged with your content and/or have selected you as one of the posts they want to see first. The new algorithm reflects Facebook’s desire to have users interact with friends and see valuable and engaging content. As a result, some kinds of content are considered less desirable than before (at least as far as Facebook is concerned). This means you should avoid posts that link “outside” of Facebook – they don’t want anyone leaving their site! So linking back to your website is going to hurt your chances of your post being viewed. Unless, of course, you are buying an ad, and then you will have the option of adding a button to further engage your audience.

What does this mean for your brand? Just as with your website, the quality of your content is more important than ever before. Finding what engages your audience is critical and you can do that by looking at your Facebook Insights. The more organic involvement you have with a post (likes, shares, and comments), the better. Facebook will judge the quality of your content using those engagements. If they are robust, then Facebook will share your post with more followers. Facebook will show your posts to others in an ever-widening circle driven by the amount of engagement.

The Bottom Line on Facebook Business Page Changes

Bottom line: engagement counts more than ever. Be sure to remind your employees, board members, clients, etc. to like, share and comment on your posts. This is free advertising for you that also helps you meet your marketing goals. We’ll look at how boosts and ads connect to these changes in future blog posts.

Bonus Help

I like this video because it gives a good overview of how the Facebook algorithm works as well as some good suggestions to help more people see your posts.

Tips For Using Twitter

Date: December 21, 2020 By: Kim Deppe

In my last post, I gave you information about who uses Twitter, and why. Today, I want to share some tips with you about using Twitter for your business or nonprofit. With nearly 500 million tweets every day, it is certainly an important part of the social media mix. Try these ideas to improve your time on Twitter.

Videos get more engagement, so add them as much as possible. Keep them brief.
You can upload up to 4 photos for each tweet. Photos also improve engagement.
You can search on Twitter for hashtags, profiles, etc., to help you find posts to retweet or discover topics your followers care about.
Limit your tweet to 1 – 2 hashtags. Instead of adding more, write additional tweets that are connected to those hashtags.
Use your own voice – keep it personal and make sure it sounds like you.
Keep an eye on what’s trending for relevant content.
For longer content, use a Tweet Thread (good how-to here).
Follow others to encourage more followers. This is a tried-and-true method to build followers and it costs nothing.
Monitor and reply to comments asap.
Ask questions or run polls, do things to encourage engagement.
Follow back anyone who follows you or likes a tweet.
Keep an eye on your analytics for the best days, times and topics to use in the future.
Check “Who to Follow” on your profile for suggestions and follow any that match your target audience – or who are followed by your target audience.
If you want to spend money to promote tweets, choose those with the most engagement.

Tips For Twitter Content

So what do you tweet about? Here are some ideas you can use to generate engagement:

Tip of the Week
Tweet out a video of the week
#MondayMotivation
Use your humor – GIFs are a good way to do that, but cartoons & jokes work, too
Statistics, new findings in surveys related to your business, and new products or services you offer.
Retweet something valuable to your audience with a comment about what you liked about the tweet.

Need help with your social media? Contact Deppe Communications.

What is your Facebook Attitude?

Date: October 1, 2015 By: Bobbi Nagle

Today’s blog post is a guest post by Kat Roedell. Kat is not only a business owner here in Green Cove Springs, Florida, she also has a tremendous background in a variety of corporate leadership roles. Kat is actively growing her Mary Kay business and working as a leader with a local Women in Business Network group. She is a natural marketer and I think you’ll appreciate her take on Facebook posting guidelines – Kim Deppe

What’s Appropriate for Facebook?

Facebook is one of the most popular social media forums today. Yet, time after time, I see my friends posting “I’m leaving Facebook, there is too much drama, and it’s too negative.” I am surprised and saddened to see them leave, because I know their newsfeed can be managed to make life more upbeat, and keep the drama mamas away!
We’ve seen the posts filled with swearing, negative comments, inappropriate pictures and stories designed milk sympathy or dollars from “friends”. It feels as if no one has a filter these days, a thought goes directly from the brain to the keyboard and the social niceties have gone out the window. When people act this way in public we see them on the Jerry Springer show – online they think they are invisible.
It is hard to remove yourself from a place where you can connect with people you haven’t been in touch with for years. Facebook is a great place to keep up with friends, talk about your interests, market your business and express your creativity. You wouldn’t stop advertising in a newspaper or radio because you didn’t like one piece. So how do you control what you see and attract the right people?
Recuse Yourself. Step away from the drama. Unfollow feeds and friends that bring drama along with them. A simple right click on a post will allow you to block a post, or unfollow someone. Right click on their name to unfriend them. This isn’t personal, this is business. If you know them well, talk to them about ways they can change their image on Facebook – some will.
Be Transparent and Real. Post touching family moments, helpful things, things that lift your spirit, and share the good stuff. Make sure your filter is established. Always keep your posts upbeat and influential. The goal is to connect with other people and build relationships.
Establish Yourself as the Expert. Publish helpful tips about industry based items that the general public will find interesting, events that are networking based, connect people to people, and people to your product – but keep the sales language to a minimum. We don’t want to hear about the how and what, we want to know your why!
No Comment. Facebook is like an open air café. You don’t know who will be wandering by, and what they will see. If someone posts something that really makes you angry, you can take the high road and ignore the post, or instant message someone to have a conversation that doesn’t need to be shared with the world. There is no requirement to “like” everything someone puts up. If you don’t like a comment someone put on your status post, hover your mouse on the right-hand side of the comment and click the remove button. If they do it frequently enough, block them or unfriend them.
Surround Yourself with Excellence. Identify trendsetters in your industry and follow them, or become a trendsetter yourself. Post a positive status every day! Add a strong visual to capture attention. If you have a critique – post a positive solution along with it. Recommend sites that are upbeat, and add substance. You are A Positive Light in the darkness – Shine Brightly!

You can E-mail Kat Roedell at katroedell@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

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Meet the Boss: A Social Media hub for small business owners

Date: August 28, 2015 By: Bobbi Nagle

We join clubs and groups to socialize and network, but mainly to be among like-minded people. That’s why many business owners have social media accounts. We want to network and socialize for the sake of our business. But I know it can be a hassle to search for and attract such like-minded people through popular social media platforms, especially if time is limited.

Luckily, sites such as Meet The Boss eliminate that problem. Its users are business executives from various industries who network, communicate, and share and gain knowledge. As a business owner, you will fit right in. While you still have to do a little searching to find the right people to connect with, gone are the days where you have to search extensively.

The best thing is that it caters to everyone. Whether you’re just starting out, you’re a seasoned business professional who wants to gain new knowledge, or you’re an expert looking to share your knowledge, Meet The Boss is great for you!

It prides itself on being “the platform for better business conversations,” which explains why it is also used by many members as a problem-solving tool. We find ourselves at times facing different challenges in our industries, but hearing how other people overcome them can not only be helpful, but inspiring. With Meet the Boss, users facing such challenges can select a fellow executive, visit their profile and initiate a video call to engage in a discussion. By doing this, you have a new connection, great advice and exposure to new markets.

When you can spare a little time—I know this is hard, but it may be worth it—to dedicate to Meet the Boss, tell me about your experience.

Sources:

http://www.meettheboss.tv/about-us

http://www.sqcircle.com/projects/meettheboss-com/

Ryze up!

Date: July 22, 2015 By: Bobbi Nagle

Some social networking sites can be difficult to use because when it comes to their user friendliness, they are behind. But what if I told you there was a free social networking site for business professionals like yourself that is easy to use? It’s called Ryze.

I know that my definition of easy may be different from yours, but by simply visiting Ryze’s website, you see that it has a simple design, which makes it easy to navigate and find what you’re looking for. So for those who are not interested in social media because you think it is too difficult, your problem might now be solved!

So, why use Ryze? It allows you to join special networks related to your industry, interests or location. There are more than 1,000 organizations that host networks on Ryze, and this gives you many options and opportunities to connect with like-minded people.

There are more than 500,000 Ryze members in more than 200 countries, which is another reason why using it can be great for you and your business. Social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter have millions of users, which makes the playing field very large and extremely competitive. That’s why Ryze is great if you’re looking for a smaller and more concentrated platform to network and grow your business!

In addition to it being user friendly and close knit, Ryze also allows users to hold conversations within their networks, which can create a tight community of individuals with similar interests. And this can eventually lead to relationship building which grows your network and can even be word of mouth for your business.

I’ve given you a few reasons why I think Ryze is great, but I want to know what you think. Create your profile, build your network, and drop me a line letting me know how it goes!

Sources:

https://www.ryze.com/faq.php

http://professional-networking-services-review.toptenreviews.com/ryze-review.html

http://get-susan.com/services/10-best-social-media-sites-for-small-business-owners/

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/235864