Why You Might Be Blowing It On Facebook
Okay so you have a lot to say. You have strong opinions, you like to share them and you like to share them online. Sometimes there’s drama on Facebook but you’re actually okay with some of that - it makes things interesting and you don’t mind mixing it up a little. You like the big text graphic posts, you like memes, you post stuff about people who make you mad without saying whom you are posting about, but they (probably) know it’s directed at them. You can’t stand Trump. Or you love Trump. Your teams are better than the rival teams and you want people to know it.
If all of these or even most of these describe you then we potentially have a little problem.
The problem isn’t just the drama
You are likely making people crazy and you could be using Facebook incorrectly.
Let’s talk about the aspects of the platform itself that back my point for a second.
Do you know what the character limit is for a Facebook post? It’s 63,206 characters. That would actually equate to about 40 double spaced pages. Yes, you can actually write a short BOOK as a Facebook status if you want to.
Keep in mind brands and individuals are competing for visibility in the newsfeed so a LOT of content is being thrown at the feed and not as much will be seen percentage wise as Twitter. By the way if you are used to seeing me write on tips for brands and not individuals here that’s okay, read on because even though this one is targeted at individuals the same advice applies for brands.
End users can ensure they see more (or less) of the brands/friends they want to see, but Facebook’s algorithm is still designed for better content to get better reach because Facebook wants to keep people on their app so that it’s a better experience which makes more money for their advertisers, and of course, for Facebook.
You might be better off with Twitter, or at least adding it as a second outlet…
Twitter is a bit similar in this respect. But think about the inherent difference in content - even with the doubling of the character limit from 140 to 280 in a tweet (and the addition of live streaming & mutliple forms of content) it’s still a fraction of Facebook’s character limit and Facebook still has more forms of content. Therefore the basic difference in the way people consume content on Twitter compared to Facebook hasn’t changed. People are used to scrolling much faster through a lot more tweets than the more varied content on Facebook. It makes sense and the platform is designed for that. If you are providing a running commentary of bite sized posts on Facebook you are not creating for the right feed. You wouldn’t plop one large sandwich on the snack table in between the pretzels and the chips for people to snack on and you wouldn’t serve Doritos and cashews to someone who was expecting a sandwich. So why are you doing that on Facebook? I’m talking about posts - not stories. It doesn’t have to be a three course meal - that’s what blog posts are for. But if you are serving a bunch of snacks constantly you are annoying the crap out of everybody, and Facebook will show your stuff to fewer and fewer people.
Sandwiches vs. Snacks
Think about that when you post. When you post on Facebook think about serving a sandwich. If you’re posting 7 sandwiches in a day you might be better off posting them as Doritos over on Twitter. People don’t want 7 sandwiches (or even 4) in a day. Sometimes less is more - try to make a bigger impact when you post and don’t treat Facebook like it’s Twitter.
If you don’t care, fine I guess. But that’s up to you. I just thought you might want to know…
M10 Social is owned by Doug Cohen in West Bloomfield, MI and provides social media training and digital marketing services from the Frameable Faces Photography studio Doug owns with his wife Ally. He can be reached there at tel:248-790-7317, by mobile at tel:248-346-4121 or via email at mailto:doug@frameablefaces.com.
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