Why do people like Facebook so much?
When we all first logged into Facebook, it was like that moment Charlie walked through the door into the Land of Candy of the Chocolate Factory.
There were funny cat pictures, baby pictures and posts of people sharing their lives. And OMG – is that my best friend from 8th Grade?
We ate it up to the point of obsession.
With every new connection, our news feeds were bursting with photos and updates from our high school friends, college roommates and all those friends we made when our kids were small.
And then they set up special pages for us to promote our small businesses.
We were able to reach potential customers in a connected way that almost leveled the playing field with those great big companies. People could see our promotions and message us with their questions.
Facebook was like the BEST. THING. EVER.
But as time passed and the algorithm shifted, the news feed changed.
Now our friend lists are so large that we hardly ever get to see pictures from our friend’s recent vacation. Or the pictures of our niece at prom.
And all those business pages that we had Liked to stay connected to our favorite blogger or local business? Their posts are just lost in the massive deluge of ads, videos and news organizations trying to get our attention.
Facebook is no longer user-friendly. With all that data mining stuff and a privacy setting for almost everything, Facebook has lost its charm to me. Unless I want to do Facebook Live videos or spend money on ads, my business page just isn’t showing up for anyone anymore.
After much back and forth, I decided to make the decision to stop using Facebook for my business.
Facebook and Small Business Owners
Years ago, one of the biggest bloggers with a massive following decided to shut down his Facebook business page. There was a huge discussion in the social media marketing world about why he shouldn’t do it.
And here’s what he can try to improve his engagement. And there was this idea about content and that idea about scheduling his posts.
The conversation around this was just crazy and that turned into several other influencers writing blog posts with their opinion about why this blogger needed to stay on Facebook. Like maybe they could change this blogger’s decision and get him back into the Facebook fold.
The whole thing got me thinking about how I feel about my business page and how this Facebook controversy relates to small business owners and smaller bloggers. If one of us shuts down our Facebook business page, would anyone be discussing all the great reasons why we should keep our businesses on the site?
I could go through all those Audience Insight steps and I’m sure that I’d find that my target audience is the same group of people who are active Facebook users. So then why aren’t they clicking my links and commenting on my posts?
I could ask questions all day but I already know the answers.
I could easily break into an hour long dissertation on the Facebook algorithm. And then follow it up with how to use more videos to make my posts pop more in the news feed.
Or I could go into a whole thing about ‘find out where your audience hangs out’ – but we know from the Facebook stats that my target is there on Facebook.
They’re clicking the Like button on their friend’s new puppy pictures. They’re sharing videos from the last concert they attended. They’re taking pictures of what they just ate for dinner.
Or I could get into the ‘not every social network is going to work for everyone.’
I could pull out that advice about how if a social site is not working for you, don’t spend your valuable time on there. Just find out the best place you can connect with your audience.
But we both know it’s more than just that. Facebook has turned into a “pay to play” site for small businesses.
And for those of us small business owners using Facebook, this is the reality that we live in.
It’s clear that if I asked a room full of bloggers and business owners, everyone would have an opinion about why I should stay on Facebook. What I could have done to create more videos and a VA I could hire, what they would have done.
Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda.
What really happened with my Facebook business page?
I can sum up what didn’t work for me in two words: Paid Ads.
I know how the game goes – I needed to pay to get my posts to show up in the feed. And I tried, I really did.
I watched the webinars, grabbed all the worksheets, read the step-by-step guides telling me what to do and I still got stuck. Somewhere between the internal Facebook Editor and the pixal thing I’m supposed to drop into my site, I got lost.
I just couldn’t get my copy set up to convert to clicks to my site. The images that work so well for me on Pinterest didn’t translate on Facebook to promote my stuff and quite honestly, the whole thing was a struggle.
I even paid for an online course to walk me through the exact steps to create Facebook ad sets, how to create better ad images and copy recommendations that convert more clicks.
I did have some moments of success with Promoted Posts { boost posts } and the Paid ‘Like my Page’ thing but I was nowhere near the tons of people who swear by Facebook Ads and see success with them.
And I spent way too much money just trying to ‘test things out.’ In the end, it just wasn’t worth my time or my money to get a few hits on Facebook with the hope that someone would go to my website.
What worked with my marketing
The only reason I haven’t deleted myself completely from social media was due to my renewed interest in LinkedIn.
I’ve been a LinkedIn user for years – even teaching dozens of classes locally in the Orlando area – and wasn’t taking full advantage of the fact that my target clients were actively using showing up there online.
When I moved my attention, time and content creation energy towards LinkedIn, I started to see organic results.
Every time I log into LinkedIn, I read posts and ask myself, “Is this information important for me to know or learn?”
I watch the interaction within the posts. Were people asking questions and helping each other? Or were they just dropping a promotional link and running to the next social hit?
I have found that the most active LinkedIn users are the ones that have provided some kind of value for me. And then I found a couple of business owners who have created a community with their posts that feel more like an online mastermind conversation. In these posts, I’ve seen people share their problems or questions and others jump in with suggestions, links and ideas to help you work through where you’re getting stuck.
I’ve made some great connections from moving my time and attention from Facebook to LinkedIn.
There’s something that happens when you engage in conversations from a business-centered place. It brings a different kind of connection that you don’t get from just someone hitting the Like button on your page.
And the more people I connect with, the more conversations that I have with potential customers. Then those folks click over to my site and join my email list, giving me the chance to share my products and services with them.
LinkedIn is what building relationships in social media is all about. This is the place where we can really see how to be “social” in a social media site.
The truth about Facebook
The truth about Facebook is that it didn’t make those connections. I did.
And as I continue to make my exodus from the site, the people who matter to me will still be connected to me.
I know this for a fact because there’s this thing in my pocket that I use every day. It has the word PHONE in its name.
And since I was raised in a world without the internet, I know how to use my cell to stay connected with the people who matter.
So where am I with my Facebook Business thing?
I’ve stopped posting.
I’ve stopped thinking about what I want to Facebook Live about. It has now become something on my marketing to-do list that’s just not something I want to spend my valuable time doing.
The whole process was such a struggle that didn’t give me a big enough return on my time.
I will admit that if you search for my Facebook Business page, you’ll still find the page up on the site. I know that Facebook is always making changes to the site and maybe … just maybe, something will change in the future.
Maybe the algorithm will shift again and we’ll go back to seeing organic reach with our Facebook Business pages. But right now, my page is more like an online business card just waiting for someone to stop by and find out where else they can connect with me.
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YES!!! I have been soaking up everything I can find about linkedin. I have been thinking about this for a while, but no one really talks about what to do on linkedin. It’s all Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or tiktok. My opinion is and has always been LinkedIn is the one to get into. If you want to make connections and grow your tribe… then that’s exactly what LinkedIn does!
I know – right??? Since I’ve moved my attention away from Facebook and over to LinkedIn, I’ve made more connections that have turned into clients. Now you’ve got me thinking about writing a post about using LinkedIn 🙂