Hi ~Contact.FirstName~,
You’ve probably heard about the recent Facebook data scandals and the crippling algorithm changes for business pages.
What’s your take on Facebook for business these days? Are you jumping ship or staying with it?
I’m keen to hear from you.
As for my thoughts, I was interviewed for an article on My Business earlier this week and here’s an excerpt from it: Facebook faces exodus as businesses call time.
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“A lot of people move to LinkedIn, because the results are a lot better. I’m seeing a big shift from Facebook, but there is still some value in Facebook,” Adam Franklin, digital marketing speaker and marketing manager at Bluewire Media, told My Business.
“I don’t think the Cambridge Analytica scandal did them any favours, and I don’t think changing the algorithm to reduce the visibility of business pages was very friendly to businesses, and the fact they are also putting up the price of advertising to even reach your own followers doesn’t make it easy for business owners on Facebook.”
Mr Franklin also referred to digital publisher Little Things, which went out of business in March, as demonstrating the severe impact the Facebook algorithm change can and has had on businesses.
“It was an online publication that amassed 12 million followers, but it was entirely dependent on Facebook and when Facebook changed the algorithm, they couldn’t communicate with their customers and so they went out of business,” he said.
However, Mr Franklin suggested that Facebook’s own actions have likely just accelerated a process that would have occurred regardless because of the different reach available.
“Because it’s more of a professional platform, people are more comfortable talking about their business and putting business-related content on [LinkedIn],” he said.
“It’s getting huge reach – for example, I had about 3,000 contacts on LinkedIn at one point, and the videos I posted were reaching 12,000 or 13,000 people, so three to four times the people in my immediate network. Whereas if you compare that to say Facebook, you might have 1,000 business followers, but an organic post may only reach 2 or 3 per cent of those people.”
“LinkedIn may change, but at the moment it’s providing tremendous reach and it’s organic and it’s proving really popular, so I’m seeing a lot of people moving over to LinkedIn.”
A My Business poll currently underway is asking business owners whether they plan to continue using Facebook as a marketing tool, and the results so far appear to back Mr Franklin’s comments.
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Take the Facebook poll (& read the full article) >>
*Btw when you click the poll link or the image below, you’ll find the poll is at the bottom of the right hand menu (it’s not the easiest to find, but it’s there!)
