The ever-changing world of social media.
Humph.
Whether we like it or not, Facebook is still the master of the interwebs’ social universe. Even so, a few weeks ago, we revealed the fact that less than three percent of your fans actually see your posts–unless you fork over the almighty dollar, or whatever currency you deal in (let’s hope it’s not Bitcoins!)
Just as our Facebook focus wanes, they go and make another change. On February 24, the social media giant made another change to their News Feed algorithm. That’s two major changes in roughly two months.
Here’s the skinny on how you can use this change to reach more people. Before the 24th, when you post on your business/author/book “Page” it would potentially end up in the News Feed of your “Fans.” The result of that equates to about 2.5% of your fans seeing the post without additional sponsoring of the post (paying money.) Of course, the only ones that might see the post must have “Liked” your Page so, it’s very dependent on growing your Page “Likes.”
Now—since the 24th—when you post on your Page and you “tag” another Page, Facebook … and here’s the disclaimer … MAY … show the post to some of the people who Like or follow the tagged Page.
Let’s break this down a little bit. Normally, if you want a particular person to see a post, you would include their name as a tag in the post and it would show up on their page or News Feed. With the new algorithm, if you tag a “Page” it will show the Page owner the post AND potentially show the post to all the followers of the tagged page.
For example, if I announce the recent LynneQuisition on my Page where Lynne Cantwell interviews Hugh Howey, I would post it like this:
Notice what I’ve done.
First, make sure you are posting from your “Page,” not your personal site.
Then I’ve used the Facebook Page of “Wool” which has over 5,000 Likes and the “Indies Unlimited” Page which has well over 1,000 Likes to bring the story together. In the old days, if I posted this, my fans would see it (small number) and the owner of Wool (one or two people) and the owner of Indies Unlimited (one or two people) would potentially see the post.
With the new update, the post could go to over 6,000 new people, whether they have previously Liked my Page or not.
This doesn’t happen automatically. You need to have a connection between what you are talking about and tagging. If you post about the history of Ken Griffey Jr. and ballet, it is likely that Facebook will not send this through each other’s feeds. There needs to be a connection from the post to the tags. That connection is more than content.
Here’s how it works. If some of the same people that Like my page also Like the tagged Pages (Indies Unlimited and Wool), then the algorithm recognizes the connection. In addition, if the post starts getting some traction with Likes, and those Page Likes are from the same people who Like the other Pages, Facebook will decide to send it to ALL the followers of the other Pages.
The bottom line is … some Page posts that tag other Pages … MAY … end up in the News Feed of a new population of Facebook users. It’s not foolproof, but it’s a step in the right direction. Maybe it’s not time to throw away those Facebook Pages yet! Only time will tell.
Now this is interesting. A technique that can definitely be both used and possibly abused. And I have some ideas to experiment with it already. 🙂
Thanks, Al. Not yet sure what kind of impact it can have. Only time will tell. Let us know if you come across something interesting.
I wil think about how to use this to my advantage. Many of us here have liked each other’s pages so we have the connections Facebook uses. I am at 4898 likes at this moment with 408 people talking about my page. Because I post interesting pictures and commentary related to my interests every day, I get many likes, comments and shares on a daily basis. Because of this interaction, Facebook shows my posts to more people. Several of my recent posts have reached 540, 582, 670 and 741 people without paying for any promotion which is well over 10% of people who have liked my page. Most of my posts reach over 5%. That certainly beats that 3% figure.
If anyone wants to tag my page in their posts, go for it. Let’s all do what we can to leverage this and beat Facebook at the games it plays.
https://www.facebook.com/HillbillySavant
Thanks for sharing your numbers. Looks like you are doing some things the right way. We’ll certainly be “tagging” along.
Hi. I was playing around with you and my pages. Hope that was not too forward 😉 Not sure if I tagged you the right way since I can’t seem to tag from my pages. It’s so darn weird. FB!!! Thanks for playing along.
Thanks, Jim, for the update and explanation. At least it sounds like FB is changing FOR us instead of AGAINST us as before. Glad to hear it.
Yeah, well, let’s not get too excited yet. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Thanks for the great post, Jim! I’m interested to see how this new change pans out.
Thanks, Brian. I always appreciate your input.
Oh dang it! I was enjoying the idea that Facebook didn’t matter anymore.
Yeah, right? I was leaning in that direction too! Thanks, Sandra!
Really. That kind of blows my mind. Where else would you get the kind of free reach to so many people?
Linton, if a really small number of people are seeing your content, does the free reach mean so much? Now, I’m not saying Facebook is dead, and if they keep changing things for the better, I’m still a fan. But if they keep changing the way content is seen by forcing revenue methods, then it’s no better than the yellow pages. Where else can I get that kind of free reach to so many people … Twitter and Google+.
Great — another change at Facebook. Oh, my head…. 😉
Jim, thanks very much for boosting my LynneQuisition, lol. And now that you mention it, I’ve been noticing some posts from other pages in my “others posting about you” box on my page, whereas it used to be only individuals who tried to post to my page timeline who showed up there. Hmm. I’ll have to think about this some more.
My pleasure. Nice to see that you’ve seen the impact. Let’s hope the pattern continues. Thanks, Lynne.
So many things to remember. I have saved this information so that I can come back and figure out how to best use it.
Thanks, Kathryn. Yep, there is way too much info out there.
Great info., Jim! I have pretty much given up on Facebook and maybe post to my page once or twice a day, but I can see this helping IF authors remember that there must be a connection between the tags and not go hog wild with it. If we have some of those that shoot from the hip abuse this, FB will take it away.
Nicole, If you’re posting to your Facebook Page once or twice a day, then you are hitting the sweet spot. Research has shown that once you start posting many multiple times a day, it gets diluted and the “quality content” comes and goes so quickly that it doesn’t have the engagement that makes FB so good.
Thanks for sharing. As for FB taking it away do to abuse, the algorithm does the work, if there is no connection to the tags it will ignore it. It’s looking at the common likes between the two pages to determine if it should share across the pages.
This stuff just really, really makes me nuts.
Just thought I’d mention that.
Yeah, me too. If you didn’t see it, I commented on your reply above as to where else you can get free reach to so many people. Thanks for your input!