A Saturday Morning Ritual

Photo courtesy of www.americaslibrary.gov

My Saturday mornings do not include sitting in front of the television watching Saturday morning cartoons with the kids or home improvement shows with the husband; nor do they entail reading the newspaper over a leisurely cup of coffee.  To me, nothing goes better with that first cup of Saturday morning coffee than analyzing weekly Facebook insight reports for the various pages I manage.

Unlike many social media marketing geeks, my concern is not in how many likes any of the particular pages have but rather in how many people did my posts over the course of the week reach and how many were talking about them.  Since I manage these pages on both a freelance or volunteer basis, Saturdays have become my day to catch up, regroup and plan for the coming week.  

The Facebook insight numbers are extremely helpful in letting you know what type of posts are working and what aren't.  No Facebook page manager is perfect and there is always going to be those few posts that miss their intended mark.  Facebook lets the page managers know how many people are engaged with each post and, more importantly, the post's virality.

For those just getting a handle on the terminology, virality is defined by Facebook as "the percentage of people who have created a story from your Page post out of the total number of unique people who have seen it."  At first, I was disappointed when I did not see a percentage in the virality column.  It has taken a few months to realize that I needed to view the absence of the percentage as more of a learning tool than a demerit against my marketing skills.

A few of the other statistics Facebook lets you in on are the demographics (age and gender) and location breakdown of your Page likes, reach and of who is talking about your page.  You have a clear indication if a particular post appealed to the female audience more than the male or if the post generated more interest in the 35 - 44 age group rather than the 18 -24.  These figures are extremely helpful if you are trying to target a certain audience.  The location figures come in handy when your target audience is more on a local level than worldwide (i.e. local business page or local community page).  It can be very telling when you see your page's reach extend beyond your locale more than you originally intended.  While you may want the worldwide reach, never forget the local audience for which you created the page.

As long as you adhere to Facebook page best practices and view the insight numbers has just one of the helpful tools available to get your page's brand out there; the customers will come, the supporters of your cause will show up and the members of your community will grow.  

Social Media As the New Watercooler

There comes a point in all our lives when a single event; personal or public, envelops us to a point where we cannot think, speak or focus on anything else.  This is not new by any means; however, social media has taken it to a level which may or may not be a good thing.

Whether you are an online journalist, a social media strategist or, simply, the everyday person who subscribes to the various social media platforms, it is difficult to not bear witness to the flurry of activity on a site's feed when such an event happens.  Even more difficult is fighting the urge to comment or reply to the posts.

Granted, if you are of the same opinion as the original poster, it is easier to post your thoughts.  There is less chance of being publicly called on the carpet by those who disagree; there is strength in numbers.  The hard part is having the courage to post your true beliefs and opinions knowing full well that you are opening up yourself to as much scrutiny as the event itself. 

Everything we post online is a reflection of ourselves and our personal social consciousness. Social interaction is the driving force behind social media and all it encompasses.  We must, however, learn to decipher between fact and raw emotion.  Initial emotional responses are subject to many interpretations.  Never should we take something we read online as truth without inquiring further.  Our personal perspectives on the topic are just that; our personal perspectives.  Even my writing this piece, is a personal perspective and I am opening myself up to scrutiny as soon as I hit the publish button.

No matter the event, we should not allow the overwhelming opinions of others shape our own personal social conscience.  That is something, I fear, we are losing in the age of social media.  It seems that too many are willing to latch on to the seemingly popular opinions rather than having the courage to express our own thoughts.  Social media has become the watercooler of the world.  For every opinion, there will undoubtedly be five differing ones.  The only difference is that they are all much more public than in the breakroom at work and have a global reach.

How Many Likes & Shares Does It Take?

We have all seen them on Facebook and many of us have actually tried our luck by "liking and sharing" them.  Okay, since we are being honest here, I have even done it.  Who wouldn't want to win a free trip to the Bahamas or tickets to the Super Bowl by simply clicking the Like and/or Share button?  What harm can it do to like a page or a photo and then share them so all our Facebook friends can do the same?

Theoretically, liking and sharing a page or photo is not going to cause you harm.   However, these types of promotions are in direct violation of Facebook's Page Rules and Regulations. The continued use of them by Facebook pages can and will result in that page being shut down.  There goes all the hard work put in to build up a loyal following and strengthening the social engagement on the page.

We are not talking about a lot of money either.  There are some approved Facebook contest apps that cost as little as $4 per month to run contests on all your business pages.  Honestly, I do not believe it is about the money.

Unfortunately, too many business page administrators are so focused on building up the number of page followers, that they forget the true reason why they should be using Facebook as a social media marketing tool.

1.  It is to be social.  It is more about your followers getting to know you and for you to get to know them.  The more you interact with them, the more exposure and reach your page gets on Facebook.  Your followers' friends will see their interaction with you on their news feeds.  Johnny's friends are going to want to know what Johnny is talking about on your page.

2.  It is about the media.  It is proven that images and video extends a page's reach than mere words.  There are many ways to use images to get your message across.  And when someone comments on it, don't forget to respond to the comment.

3. Finally, it is about marketing.  Promoting a brand, product or cause is more than asking people to either buy or donate.  It is about educating the public about your brand, product or cause.  It is meant to be the soft sell approach to advertising.  

All it is going to take is one local small business page being shut down by Facebook for everyone else to sit up and listen.  Until then, if I can't beat them, I might has well join them... so for every share, like and comment this post gets, everyone will win.....  POOF!!!!!



  

Facebook Change You May Have Missed

Unless you are a self-proclaimed Facebook geek, you may not have noticed one of the subtle changes the platform made recently.  This change directly affects how proactive page managers need to be; as well as, how the average user interacts with the pages they follow.

Page Tagging: We all know the drill when it comes to tagging.  If we tag a friend in a post or image, that it will appear on their timeline.  Even if their security settings don't allow it or if they deny the appearance on their timeline, it will still show up in your mutual friends' news feeds.  They will have to go through several steps to actually remove the tag permanently. The tagging of pages, however, has changed.  While you can still tag the page, your post no longer will appear on the page's timeline.  Your rant or rave about a business, product, or celebrity will no longer be seen by other page followers or even the administrator of the page, for that matter.  Your Facebook friends will still see the tag and be able to click on it to be directed to the page in question.  But, isn't the primary purpose of the tag to let the page know of your satisfaction or dissatisfaction?  The only way to do this now is to post directly to the page's timeline or by sending them a private message. 

How does this subtle change affect how you interact with a page?  More importantly, how will it affect how the page interacts with its followers?  To page administrators, my recommendation would be to start using a hashtag in all your posts.  Eventually, your followers will pick up on it and begin using it themselves.  The use of a hashtag will make it easier to find mentions of your page in search.  While you may not be able to comment on the post as the page, you will still be able to get a sense of how well your brand is faring on Facebook.  The same holds true for the average Facebook user.  As the use of hashtags becomes more prevalent  you should be able to do a search if there is any question in your mind about a page or brand.  Keep in mind that search results will be of those posts which have the "public" privacy setting from the original poster.  You might never see all the mentions - good or bad - for a particular page.

Finally, on a more personal pet peeve note; it is my belief that this very subtle change is Facebook's way of putting a stop to the "like, share & tag" promotions still running rampant on the site.  These promotions are in direct violation of Facebook rules on promotions and contests.  There are so many of them out there, that this may be one way to deter the pages from continuing them since they cannot see who is tagging the page.  Again, that is only a personal opinion, not based on fact and, clearly, a topic for a future post.

  

The Vacation That Wasn't

Wow!  Just realized it has been awhile since I wrote something on here. While it would be nice to say it was because I have been vacationing in paradise somewhere in the South Pacific; alas, it has simply been because I have been extremely busy working at both my regular day job and on various freelance social media projects this past month.  

I have not forgotten everyone who has taken the time to visit and read my posts.  I am humbled to have learned that the blog has surpassed 3300 visitors.  Even more humbling is to find my name mentioned in article tweet and re-tweets on Twitter.  For all of this, I thank you.

Moving forward, I am currently gathering my thoughts for a new post.  As I do this, is there any topic, old or new, in the area of social media that you would like me to touch on in future posts?  I write these posts for you.  It is your input and support that provide the driving force to keep this blog going.  I look forward to hearing from you and, again, thank you!

When Community Pages Collide

Much has been written about business branding on social media; in particular on Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. However, the so-called community pages seem to have been left on their own to evolve.

Before I continue with this post, I should offer some full disclosure.  I, myself, currently manage 1 business page, 1 public figure page and 3 separate community pages on Facebook; along with the page associated with this blog.  Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I can continue on my rant.

All too often, you will find duplicate pages and accounts promoting either a cause, place, belief or public figure.  My pet peeve for the purpose of this article is the multitude of pages you find promoting a place; more specifically a city or town.

Facebook pages created to promote an area's businesses and events are usually done so with all good intentions.  Unfortunately, as they grow in followers and as other pages are created a sense of competition for those followers starts to emerge.  Page administrators tend to forget the reason they created the page in the first place.  Original posts start to take on a more altruistic feel.  A more "we are better than them" look.  Some even resort to promotions which violate Facebook's own rules and regulations for pages (for more on that, click here).

Now, many may try to argue that the more community pages there are promoting a region and its events, the better.  That may be true in some respect; but are those managing the pages truly in tune with the true reason their followers "liked" them in the first place?  Has this duplicity simply become a competition of which page has more likes over everything else?

I have also been of the belief that it is not the number of followers a page has but the overall reach of the posts made to the page.  I am probably not in the majority on this one.  However, I have seen firsthand how pages with a 1,000+ followers have not been as effective in reaching the target audience as those with much less.  I have also seen how flooding your followers' news feeds with multitude of posts and shares can backfire on a page's effectiveness.  The optimal one, two or maybe three targeted posts a day are far more effective than the 100's of posts, all day, every day.

To be a true Facebook page "manager", "administrator" or "owner", you really need to familiarize yourself with all that the job entails.  It takes much more than simply hitting the "share" button.  You really need to know what is expected of you from not only your followers but from Facebook itself.  Following the rules set out for pages is a start.  Educating yourself on how to read the Facebook insight reports is just as important; if not more so.  They are provided as a tool to help you do your job better and more effectively.  You have a snapshot of what posts are working and what aren't in real time.  Use these numbers to your advantage.  Ignoring them is a recipe for disaster.

Finally, to all those duplicate pages out there promoting the same thing; keep in mind that it is not a competition.  I welcome any and all thoughts on this subject; positive or negative.  If I am off-base on this, please let me know.









  

I'll Take Quality over Quantity Anytime

Is it just me or does there seem to be an obsession on the various social media sites with how many friends, fans, followers or likes there are?  We are constantly bombarded with "share & like" Facebook promotions and contests (which, by the way violate Facebook rules on Fan page promotions - but that is a topic for another blog post); pleas to follow someone or some brand on Twitter; and endless Google + Hangout requests.

When is it going to end?  Does a brand or community Facebook page have to reach a preset number of followers until they are satisfied that they are making a difference or getting enough exposure?

I have come to the conclusion that if you are managing your social media presence properly the number of "LIKES" is inconsequential.  Up until recently, I was a Facebook page administrator where my only "job" was to share every status I could from local area businesses.  Sure, I did what I was asked to do by the owner of the page and increased the number of page likes from 46 to over 900 in less than 5 months.  At the time, the Facebook insight report was showing an average of 1,700 people were reached weekly.  I was led to believe I was doing a great job and felt I was letting many down when I had to step away for personal and professional reasons.

That feeling, however, has quickly faded.  Having the freedom to post my own original content when and how often I want on both my own community page (PattiLovesBing) and on twitter (@pattischwartz) has given me the ability to actually socialize with my followers. Releasing myself from the pressure of having to share everyone else's statuses on the other page, I now have the time to actually comment on and share the ones that I truly am impressed with.  Taking the time to truly bring the "social" back into my own social media presence through follower engagement has been validated by both the Facebook insight reports and the dramatic rise in Twitter mentions and retweets.  With less than 100 followers on the community page, the weekly reach is well above 1,700. Statistically much better than the page with 900 fans.

The above figures reflect my personal social media presence.  They do not take into consideration the one business page that I manage (287 followers with a weekly reach of 2,094) or the Facebook page dedicated to this blog (56 followers with a weekly reach of 197 - ***Note to self - I need to work on increasing these numbers ***).

It all comes down to how you engage with your fans and followers no matter how many or how few you have.  If you take the time to actually engage with them in a meaningful way, your brand or message will have a better chance of reaching a larger audience. The ultimate validation that you are doing it correctly is when you are stopped on the street by a total stranger who wants to engage in a conversation regarding something you posted.