In keeping with the title of this piece, “Using Facebook the Right Way,” implicitly, the other side of the coin would suggest that some people are not using Facebook correctly. However, what is the ultimate consequence of not using it properly? If you use Facebook properly and wisely, you will reap significant benefits. In contrast, if you don’t, the opposite will happen. Therefore, our decision will determine whether Facebook is GOOD or BAD for our business. Find a way for people to use Facebook the right way.
The GOOD and BAD of Using Facebook
Your following or personal reach would have a lot to determine the ultimate result, whether good or bad. But one way or the other, you can get people to like your Facebook page.
- Let your personal following/reach reflects some level of dedication/commitment (Unless you are just friending a bunch of random people that you don’t even know). Most likely, these are acquaintances or friends you know.
- You probably have a certain amount of trust in them, but if you have been a lousy friend over time, this won’t help.
- Be kind to your friends, and never act out or spam them. Unless you do that, you are likely to lose credibility and get a backlash from the people involved.
- Don’t exploit your friends for profit. If you intend to share something with your friend, make sure it adds some value to their social activities.
- Promote your content through your following
- You need to be tasteful when creating recommendations for products and services.
- If you are not adding value to your followers, do not post your recommendation activities.
Your Facebook followers, the foundation of Your Business
Establishing a website allows you to create a “business page” on Facebook. Once your Website and Business Page are up and running, you will be able to establish your brand on Facebook.
A Facebook Page is also a prerequisite for running Facebook and Instagram ads.
If your business has a website, you may benefit from having a Business Page. But, unfortunately, some people “manufacture followers” (sometimes paid or incorrectly built)—the consequence is that they make a post and get little or no reach at all.
Fan pages or business pages with a hundred thousand likes but no posts or status updates will receive very little activity (comments, likes, shares, etc.). But if you do the right thing, you will get people to like your Facebook Page.
You don’t want to imagine how hard they had worked for this following and the time they must have invested in getting this sort of reach. Then look at the benefits; it is nothing to write home about.
When not properly managed, your time spent on Facebook could be ineffective. The Facebook algorithms determine what shows up in a friend’s or follower’s news feed based on “ranking signals.”
Engage People: Get Them Like Your Facebook Page
- What you offer or do depends on how you can attract and hold the audience’s attention
- First, understand the engagement aspect before you consider getting a reaction to your content creation on Facebook.
- Engaging continuously with people will produce anticipation for any post you make
- If you’ve been on Facebook for a while, you probably have hundreds of friends, but only a few will catch your attention (the active ones and likely controversial ones)-they’re the fire starters.
- It is important to engage consistently on Facebook if you are an active user
The engagement pattern applies to anyone who offers ongoing, engaging materials, whether a company or an agency.
Your content on Facebook can receive a response in six ways, including a like, a comment, a share, or an amplification,…
• Images (your own)
• Videos (w/ supporting discussion)
• Controversy
• Current Events
• Negative Posts
• Positive Posts and Be Nice, etc.
Your Facebook activities will benefit you if you become a fire starter because people will look forward to hearing what you have to say.
To accomplish this, you must create a Facebook status that meets the criteria for ONE of the Six Engagement Activities.
By focusing on these engaging criteria, you’ll undoubtedly attract people and have them looking forward to your posts and other activities.
Facebook Ranking Signals
If someone is your “friend” or “likes” your page, that doesn’t mean your followers will get all of your messages in their news feed. Over the years, Facebook has become overloaded with things to share, from news to pictures, status updates, videos, and the list go on. And that doesn’t even include the increasing number of advertisements.
Facebook Optimal Vs. Minimal Exposure
Facebook identifies three significant categories of ranking signals:
- Do you usually engage people?—does a follower consistently interact, view, or react to your content?
- If you comply with the three points above, the likelihood of your content displayed within that user’s feed must be higher.
- This is the power of attaining a good number of followers. If you get one follower every time you post, you will reach more people.
Type of Media in Post
- The Type of Media in Post (e.g., video, link, photo, etc.)
- Different types of content achieve different levels of reach. And this is also determined by each particular user and their interests.
Some engage more in links, text content, videos, or photos. Facebook will share content appropriately—typically, content you have uploaded (such as video or text) or engaging and controversial discussions will attain the most incredible reach. As simply linking to content tends to get the least amount of people reached.
The Popularity of the Content
If your post is gaining traction and people are sharing, reacting, and interacting with your content, it will reach more people.
Facebook determines that if a lot of people like your content, then others probably would do.
The benefits of both and where you need to be careful
The average status update or post that you create will only reach 10-12% of your followers—this means that 88-90% of your friends or followers won’t see your posts.
It can be a little higher than this if you are engaging your audience, and that is why it is crucial to get in Facebook’s ranking signals “good books.”