I am experimenting with text-only posts on Facebook, both with my own pages and my clients’.
You are not supposed to do this with public pages. For one thing, the Facebook algorithm does not like text-only posts on public pages. However, you can get around that by boosting the post a little. The algorithm is happy to be bought off. (Insert your own joke about politicians here.) It is also considered a no-no because people like eye candy. They like photos and videos. And I get that. But it just seems to me that, as people’s attention spans get shorter, they are not spending time on both a photo AND text. They see it is a picture of a guy with a guitar or a woman at a computer and move on. Hell, I know people who see a post with a video and click like without ever watching the video. They support the concept, but they do not want to take the time to watch the thing. So, if there is no photo, maybe they are more apt to at least read a line or two of text. We’ll see. And I am certainly not abandoning photos and videos. I am just wondering if they need their own posts. The third argument against going this route is that photos bring in more likes. But if likes are your main goal, you should really just post photos of puppies and kittens. After the Cambridge Analytica debacle, some people have announced that they are boycotting Facebook. From now on they will only use Instagram.
This is like boycotting Coke… but buying Diet Coke. As a content consumer, I would rather a band or a business focus on quality, even if that means only posting once a day.
Instead many bands and businesses post worthless material several times a day. Content marketing is a marathon. Be persistent, consistent, and patient.
Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest all use algorithms that determine how many people see your posts and which people see your posts. You do not have full organic reach on any of those social networks.
I tend to be cautious. My idea of living on the edge involves pulling into a parking spot without using my turn signal.
Because of my cautious nature, when it comes to content creation and publishing, I like to be over-prepared. I use a database to store and organize the content I stockpile for clients. I also use spreadsheets to track the last time we used a specific: • Bit of text • Photo • Video I still develop new content with my clients, but the database and spreadsheets mean that we always have quality content ready to go and do not have to rely on inspiration. Sometimes inspiration hits. But when it comes to daily work, inspiration is not reliable. Don't go crazy with geo-targeting. If you are doing an event, post about it to all of your followers. If you have genuine fans, people in city A will tag friends in city B with a line like, "You should check this out."
In terms of getting the attention of people who do not already follow you, I have found that hashtags are:
• Effective on Instagram • Occasionally useful on Twitter • Pointless on Facebook Ignore other people's numbers.
From a recent New York Times article - "on average, 16.4 percent of the followers on Instagram’s top 20 accounts were fraudulent." |
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