My Facebook Page Reach Has Declined! Guess What? It Doesn't Matter!

So your Facebook Page's reach has dropped... not as many of your fans (and even less non-fans) are seeing your posts! It’s not the end of the world, I promise!

Lately I have seen many Facebook Page owners (mostly bloggers and small businesses) complaining or posting about the decline in the reach of their posts. Although this may have an initial significant impact in your growth, it doesn't impact the way your fans interact with your page.

Here are five things you can try, or remember, when it comes to your Facebook Page:

When is the best time to use Social Media?

So you've got the Facebook Page and the Twitter Account, but you are still having trouble managing your Social Media? We've covered the Why you should use it, and the How you should use it, but what about the When? Is there an optimal time to be utilizing your social media? 

It seems that there is.

Most social media sites seem like they never slow down. It's true that because they're global sites and people around the world use them consistently throughout a 24-hour day it would seem that there's no wrong time, but depending on your target market there might just be one for you. If you're a local business aiming at individuals who operate on roughly the same schedule as you, then tweeting Monday to Friday after work hours will most likely be ideal. 

But did you know that weekdays actually aren't the ideal time to tweet? That's right, because Twitter and Facebook marketing engagements increase over 17% on weekends! That means that there is a whole group of people who are trying to keep their day-to-day lives social-media-free. 

Many offices don't allow access to social media sites or use of private phones during work hours. Others are bound by strict technology rules and are only allowed to utilize social media for work-related purposes. Furthermore, many people find social media altogether too time consuming or regular use makes it too difficult for them to focus on their task at hand. 

8AM - 7PM Sunday through Saturday sees a 30% increase in engagement vs. outside hours. So although there are many people tuning themselves out during work hours, throughout the week there is still an opportunity to engage, it should just be within standard operating hours. 

Also, Did you know that shorter tweets and content on facebook often see higher engagement? Even YouTube videos all have a click-off rate based on when people stop watching. If you don't catch people's attention within the first 100 ch. or 30 secs you're not likely to at all. 

So what do we know then? 

• Tweeting / Facebooking on Weekends is ideal to Weekdays

• Overall the best hours to Tweet/FB are 8AM - 7PM daily

• Using 1 or 2 #hashtags in your tweet increases your overall engagement by 12

• Using MORE than 2 #hashtags DECREASES your engagement #overkill

The key to accurate and efficient content marketing in social media is first knowing how to do it, but secondarily knowing when to action it! Good luck!

Social Forum: Q&A Mondays

You've found yourself at my newest feature! Social Forum is a way for followers and businesses to ask questions related to Social Media and Social Media Marketing... each week I will feature a few questions (and my answers) regarding things like Facebook Pages, Increasing Likes & Brand Visibility! Hopefully you can learn something, too!

Want to ask a question? Post one here on my Facebook Page or Tweet me at @christellasays with hashtag #thesocialmom and you might just find your answer here!

Our first question comes from Jen P. over at Finding Momtopia ...

Jen asks: "Where to draw the line on how often to post on our FB business page? What's too little and what's going to cause our followers to hit the remove button?"

That's a great question! Just like anything the idea of "too much of a good thing is a bad thing" is totally relevant when it comes to social media and marketing, especially for business purposes! Creating brand visibility and consistent engagement is vital to a new or growing brand, however over-using your social feeds can deter people who had previously liked your page from engaging with you in the future.

Avoid "Spamming" When creating post content it's important to steer clear of solely "advertising" to people. One of the reasons people like social media is because they don't feel like it's a complete money grab. Most services are free and although brands do use many of them to highlight products that are for sale, they do it in a way that says "If you like this come and get it" and not "Come buy this now!" -- As I always say it's better to initiate conversations around your products than to just straight up advertise them. Also, to break things up ask questions, generate ideas and share other people's ideas, products and giveaways, too!

In terms of "how much is too much?" it can be a bit relative, but posting every hour or every couple of hours if you don't have a large audience to engage with is probably overkill. There's no rule of thumb, but I like to let my posts linger, give the followers a chance to see them and engage with them before moving onto something else. I'd say if you're not generating a lot of response keep your posts limited to two per day and try to find your "voice" that gets people engaging!

If you've got a lot to say, use the "scheduling" option and post in the future so that you have less to do in the long run!

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Diane D. from  Little Prints Design   asks: "Question on blogging ... should you stick to a particular topic or is it okay to have random topics that don't always go together?"

This is a great question, Diane! It really depends on what your blog is about. If you're writing a lifestyle blog or it's considered "personal" then by all means, it's sort of a free-range type of writing. You have to know your audience and know how they'll take your blog posts, but if you're just starting out the best way to improve your writing is to challenge yourself by writing in many different ways and styles. It's also a great way to see what clicks and when.

If you're writing a blog pertaining to a business or a brand, sometimes steering too far off course may be a bad idea. In most cases companies want to be aware of what their brand entails and not stepping on anybody's toes but  that being said, occasionally writing about something that ties into your brand or blog's personality can work. An example of this would be a Design company who has a blog writing about an interesting concept in design or a new product in the market. It may not pertain directly to what your brand or blog is about, but if you can tie it in, no harm no foul!




Have a question about Social Media or Web Marketing? Tweet it to @christellasays with hashtag #socialmom OR visit my Facebook Page at http://facebook.com/thesocialmom to ask now and you might be featured in next week's column!