Antisocial media marketing

My Logo Design Love Facebook page has been “liked” more than 300,000 times, yet even the most popular newsfeed update (the photo album that’s screen-grabbed below) isn’t shown to everyone who has chosen to see what I share.

Facebook reach for Logo Design Love

That number at the bottom of the image is what I’m talking about — “127,104 people reached.” It’s not that the other 60 percent just weren’t using Facebook at the time. It’s that Facebook limits the reach in order to sell me the attention of the page’s supporters. Thing is, a reach of about 40 percent is now way above average. Page owners normally get a 2 percent organic reach, and declining. Numbers as high as 40 percent are only possible if a lot of people like and share the post (or I suppose if I pay). So if the few people that initially see what I share don’t like it, then no one else gets to see. And even when a post such as the one above gets more than 4,500 likes and hundreds of shares, it’s still only shown to less than half the page’s supporters.

Here’s a more common example. The Identity Designed page has more than 110,000 likes, yet the post below was shown in the newsfeed of just 3,134 people.

Facebook reach for Work for Money, Design for Love

So 3 percent got to see what I shared. The “Boost Post” button invites me to pay to share the post with others. But this 9-minute video (embedded below) is a good deterrent against paying Facebook for anything.

I watched that video after Jeff Hamada talked about The End of Facebook. In one of the comments below Jeff’s post, James Davidson of We Heart said:

“…with around 30k [likes] we were seeing some posts getting just a thousand or so views. Ergo, we were drawn to the dreaded “Boost Post.” Funny thing is, it seemed to have an adverse effect on the posts that weren’t boosted — we dropped down to just a few hundred views for some of them.

“As we grew disenfranchised, we stopped boosting so much. Guess what? The views have been slowly creeping back up. An algorithm to capitalise on those stupid enough to feed the mouth that bites? I wouldn’t bet against it.”

Anyway, just something worth thinking about before spending too much time or money on your Facebook page.


Comments

14 responses to “Antisocial media marketing”

  1. It’s equally frustrating for Facebook users who like a page in the expectation that they will see every post, and later discover how much they’ve missed. Or perhaps never discover that at all.

    I’ve encountered the suggestion numerous times that people who do choose to advertise with Facebook should be advertising (and sending traffic to) their own site instead of to a Facebook page.

    It seems to me that an average 2% reach leaves Facebook with very little room to move (except up, of course). Perhaps they’re racing themselves to the bottom.

    Do you think this will change what you do with your Facebook pages, David?

  2. For now I’ll keep doing what I have been, Tracey — sharing blog post updates and replying to people. It doesn’t take much time.

    There’s talk of organic reach disappearing completely, but also how that won’t happen. Who knows? Either way, it’s really more of a deal for those who’ve invested a lot in Facebook promotion. But like you say, it’s a shame that people “subscribe” for updates, only to find that most of the posts are hidden.

    1. Hi David,

      The detail and heart you put into each reply is really inspiring. You actually sought out content that had both sides of the argument and attached it to your reply. One would think that with all the comments and engagement you get, you’d skim over some responses…but no.

      Thank you. I’m impressed, inspired and challenged.

      I started reading your blog in 2011, when I was about to switch majors in college, medical technology to graphic design. I had no idea what I was doing in design – all I knew was that I wanted to be a designer and make cool stuff! I read your blog religiously – I had around 50 tabs of different articles open from all the 3 sites (logo design love, identity designed, and this one), and I would sleep reading it and wake up reading it.

      Now, I’m a confident designer, employed as a designer, still schooling, graduating in May 2015 with a BA in Visual Communication and Graphic Design, with a concentration in web and mobile interface design.

      You had a BIG part to play in that. Thank You.

      I remember the first logo I designed… I had just read the free chapter you offered for “Logo Design Love” (didn’t have money to order the book). I read that chapter about 3-5 times; then designed my first logo for a client (my roommate) who paid me $50. I was so proud of it then! Haha.

      Fast forward to today. I ordered my copy of the second edition of “Logo Design Love” (employed designer, remember? Hehe) about 2 weeks ago, and it goes with me everywhere I go now. You bet I’m going to read it at least 3 times before I move on.

      I remember my first portfolio site – and I posted it as a comment on your blog. You actually read it! And commented too! Told me to get myself a self hosted portfolio site. Always encouraging; never discouraging.

      Thank You so much, David. Thank you for choosing to share your knowledge with the world. All the way from Northern Ireland, you changed my life in Maryland, USA.

      Keep adding value to the world. Your words will live on for years to come.

      Remain blessed.

      1. Your comment made my day, John. I hope you’re enjoying design more than you did the medical tech, and thanks very much for buying the new edition. It’d be great if you let me know what you think when you’ve finished.

        1. Hi David,
          Loved the book! So, I have an update.
          I loved it so much that I’m recommending it to be the official textbook for a new graphic design program I’m starting up at my job.
          Oh, and I got a job as a graphic design teacher, at a High School. Isn’t that awesome! Come a long way from knowing nothing about design. Thank You, David.

          I’d love for you to speak with some of my students sometime. I’m sure they’d like to hear from the author of their new textbook 🙂 Let me know what you think.

          1. Great news, John. Good luck with the new program, and thanks very much for including my book. I’ll be doing a bit of talking through http://www.officehours.io after an upcoming house move. Maybe that’ll interest your students.

  3. David,

    There are 20-30 brands I wish i could regularly see in my feed. Even SEARCHING for them has become more difficult…
    Facebook is pushing businesses to spend and rewarding the ones who do with the highest levels of reach. Engagement is much easier then compensating for reach. You just need good content. Engagement also means very little if you aren’t reaching the bulk of your audience.

  4. And on top of this I heave read that even if they see, like, or share a post, Facebook still only has around a .003% click-through rate. Compared to a social network like Twitter that has upwards of around 2%.

    Even though active users are probably less on Twitter it’s disheartening knowing the reach is getting smaller in Facebook…especially for businesses that heavily utilized Facebook for promotions. In my small experiments I did not get a good response even after paying for reach and ads on Facebook.

  5. I stopped using Facebook a couple of years ago, followed by Twitter this year, for a number of reasons.

    First, I’m not comfortable with how Facebook operates (a purely personal opinion) and I grew less and less comfortable with using the site – Twitter too – just because I felt it was something I should do.

    Second, I tend to be quite private and not very comfortable promoting myself, so I decided to confine what I share to my blog. That way the people who want to read it can find it easily, I get to control every aspect of it, and I’m not adding to the noise elsewhere.

    Third, and most crucial to me, I received no benefits from it. Not a single client has come via any social media outside of my website. By stopping using these sites, I’ve not only freed up a ton of time, but also removed distractions. I genuinely feel I’ve benefitted both personally and professionally. Hopefully I pass these benefits on to clients.

    Sorry, David, that was rather off-topic…

  6. But even if those within reach think your content is good, Lionel, it won’t be shown to everyone. So you either pay, or accept the lottery of who sees what. I would’ve come off Facebook ages ago if it wasn’t for the number of people who’ve shown some “like” support (and thanks very much to everyone who has).

    I’d thought of testing the boost, Damien, throwing a few quid at it to see what happened, but I read a decent amount from elsewhere before publishing this post and I’m glad I didn’t pay.

    Richard, not off-topic at all. You didn’t get a benefit, the benefit I’m getting just goes lower, and Facebook means less and less to people with small business pages. My time on “social” sites has gone way down over the past year or two. I’m happy with that.

  7. Hi David,
    I provide social media to clients who only want to invest in Facebook due to budget limits and Facebook is chosen because it is the most popular.
    Seeing the limiting reach and connection with people as a Facebook page, I am engaging less with my posts.
    I do not understand why they are doing this, even though I understand the financial benefits if everyone spends on Facebook ads, as people and businesses may start to leave.
    This is not happening though in numbers as I see that published monthly usage continues to rise.
    I am considering suggesting other platforms.

  8. This has been problem with clients and friends of mine too, everyone I talk to says Twitter is the social media of the future and that Facebook may end up killing what made it in the search for ‘shareholder value’.

    Facebook may end up being just another Myspace.

  9. Ah, MySpace. Good while it lasted, Lee. At least, that one tiny section.

  10. Love James Davidson’s comment on Facebook advertising. I’ve more or less given up on my business page on Facebook even though many people around me still consider Facebook to have an impact. Now Instagram is introducing ads…

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