In an age of social media engagement it's very easy to hype yourself out of contention in vying for attention. What does this mean? Well with the heavier restrictions on engagement on Facebook (which are all aimed at profiting as they require monetary payment for your post to engage the public) it's harder and harder to reach the people who are interested.
Just because you have X number of likes or followers, doesn't mean everybody is going to see your post/update, but this doesn't mean you have to re-post the same information repeatedly throughout the day, nor does it mean you have to constantly post.
How do you convert posts and updates to views on Facebook? Well, to be honest I don't push either of my pages/groups but let me give you a rundown:
Page - Scapegoat Productions
• Likes: 49
• Last Post: 13 June 2015
• People Reached: 21
• Likes: 1
• Comments: 0
• Active promotion: 0
• Availability: Open to All
• Likes/Members: 80
• Last Post: 29 June 2015
• People Reached: 12
• Likes: 5
• Comments: 1
• Active promotion: 0
• Availability: Closed Group
Let's start with the page, the reached conversion rate is almost half and although there is a lack of interactivity, I have never actively promoted the page to gain more likes. People following that page are either past clients of friends of mine, if I want more coverage, I need to plead with those already subscribed to invite their friends which is paramount to panhandling and is probably going to drive people away. What I appear to be doing correctly however, is limiting the number of posts and updates which appears to convert to views. In fact until the demise of RSS Graffiti the majority of my posts on that group were RSS feeds from this blog. Constant engagement can be detrimental and result in your posts being blocked on timelines (the mentality is - I still want to follow the page, but I don't want the constant updates - I've even done this myself).
Next, the group. Again this group is not regularly posted to, and although the last post was a poor conversion most previous posts reach a quarter or a third of the members, however I did falter on this one. I wasn't on the ball with the changes to notifications and probably should have promoted people to set the notifications to All Posts, the group doesn't spam, so it would have been a reasonable request but realistically it's a closed group and membership requests are filtered.
Next, the group. Again this group is not regularly posted to, and although the last post was a poor conversion most previous posts reach a quarter or a third of the members, however I did falter on this one. I wasn't on the ball with the changes to notifications and probably should have promoted people to set the notifications to All Posts, the group doesn't spam, so it would have been a reasonable request but realistically it's a closed group and membership requests are filtered.
What does this all mean??? Well people don't want to be bugged, the frequency of your posting will result in less people reached as more and more change the notification settings. You've probably done it to a friend, you feel guilty about potentially unfriending that person so instead you block their feed.
Reasons to block notifications:
2. Constant self-absorbed updates (individuals)
3. Constant updates about negative things in your life (Individuals)
4. Repeating updates
5. Sharing Memes, pictures and videos (that don't relate to you, your company or your page/group) CONSTANTLY
6. Regularly posting events or dates for events in another Country (if you have International followers)
At least one of the above items would have caused you to block someone or something at least once.
I work with bands every so often, whether it be for live videos or music videos and often they have no plan for social media, or they simply intend to post a link daily/hourly to something, whether it's a gig or a video or what have you. What I tell them, although specific to being a band, applies to everyone trying to self-promote.
How to post on social media:
1. Resist the urge to post (Think - Is it post worthy?)
2. Post once a week, twice a week very infrequently. You may have exciting things to share, but
share the relevant stuff - Gig this week (Get people through the door), video of your last show,
not so important (but if you have an event page on Facebook, put the video on THAT page!).
3. Never upload your videos to Facebook, always upload them to You Tube or Vimeo and link to
them (this will give you better coverage and better analytics for views, from there you can find
out so much more about who you are actually reaching!)
4. Keep it cheerful and keep it concise (say what you have to say in no more than 2 sentences,
leave out the bad news unless it's something catastrophic)
5. Once your external link has created the preview, REMOVE the link! It looks messy! And yes
your information will still be posted provided the preview is still visible.
6. If you are in a band or an employee of a company, get more views by sharing the post from the
band/company page. Individuals can share the latest update without making the source
page/group the bad guy (for over posting) - This too can generate additional members or likes
from those not already subscribed.
Most of these solutions are pretty stupid proof, so it's more a matter of self-control or thinking strategically about your next comment or post. You might not always get the engagement you're looking for, but you will get the views, which means you are staying relevant in the eyes of subscribers. I know many many other people have posted similar articles or opinions on the mystical world of social media, but realistically, this is from the point of view of a regular blocker, I'm relaying the information that makes me either want to continue subscribing, block or unsubscribe, so it's all pretty obvious stuff really...
Now, what if you don't already have social media covered and you're looking to start? Clearly the first place to start is with a presence on Facebook and if you're going to have video content, it would be wise to start a YouTube Channel or Vimeo Channel.
Do I want a group or a page on Facebook?
Group:
If you're looking for a fully interactive social media site, a group is a good place to start, this will allow members to discuss and or ask questions. You can assign administrators, but there is a further requirement for policing, especially since bots tend to randomly post every so often in open groups.
Page:
If you're a band or a company not looking for full interactivity, a page is a better option. You only need people to like you and you're away, updates will be specifically about you or your "product", but you need people to amend that coveted Notification option!
In most cases, a page will suffice, if you're a film maker and looking to gain traction on an upcoming project, it might be worth trying a group to spark ideas and add to the creative process, but this is seldom done, you would be a pioneer!
Lastly, don't spread yourself too thin, you don't need Tumblr, Blogger, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram etc.. Unless of course you have multiple people to look after these entities. You're not going to convert all your followers into across the board followers. They probably won't follow you on each social media platform, so start with the basics, Facebook and You Tube (again if you're going to have video), or Sound Cloud (that one should be obvious). The more platforms you're looking after, the more frequently you'll be burning time updating and interacting, and less time doing what you are meant to be doing (in said business or band). Just start a couple and go from there, you'll find Facebook may be all you require initially/eventually.
... Now, get NOT posting, and plan that next update carefully.
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