Why Facebook restrict your post reach

Monday 25 January 2016

Brand. Brand precedes Strategy - it HAS too.

Brace yourselves... Incoming whinge... Well at least to start with... Indulge me.

So, I am seeing more and more messages starting with "We are 1st degree connections....."  or similar, as thats a LinkedIn opener, but I get similar from Facebook and worse still as Twitter Direct Messages's.

Some of you may be ahead of me, but what always follows that opening is a blatant sales pitch, or a veiled sales pitch or a request to help the author with some research often by visiting their new website (which is usually a squeeze page).

Each to their own.  That's me being polite, diplomatic even.  But for me this is wrong in so many ways...

1. Because we are connected, friends, followers whatever - doesn't give you any permission to pitch or sell to me.
2. I know a squeeze page when I see one, and adding a count down clock - is an insult to me.
3. I had a reason to connect with you - abuse that trust and... see 5.
4. We are connected, lets engage, I look forward to your posts, respect this and  keep them on topic or...  see 5.
5. You, me, all of us, can be 'muted' or 'blocked' in one click, just so you know ;)

I have blogged about this before, on a single specific incident, a spectacular example of abusing a new twitter connection with the larger DM's, you can read that blog HERE

Social Media is more than ever about understanding your Brand, which defines your target audience, with which you engage with 1st class and always Relevant Content.  Hence, 2016 is increasingly about 'Relevant Content'.  

What's that !   You don't believe me - well this is what Google, Bing, Facebook, LinkedIn etc are looking out for too - its not just me ;).  They all understand you, they have profiled your online (and offline) world, they know what you like and they are keen to deliver to you the BEST experience from your time on their platform - they want you to stay around (that's where they make their money - in case your thinking 'Awww, shucks, how sweet').  Play the game their way, understand your Brand, Define your Audience Persona, create or curate relevant content - and share it.

This is the philosophy we teach and coach, and our Success Circle shows Brand at the centre of everything, once understood, you can look at Strategy, work out WHAT you want from your Social Media, which makes its easier to determine WHO you need to connect to to make that happen.  Once you know WHO, its easy to work out WHERE they can be reached and WHAT you need to be engaging them with.  At 24-7 we show this with the following diagram - 

 Learn more about 24-7's Success Circle
24-7's Social Media "Success Circle"

So, stop connecting just to instantly pitch me.  Putting that another way, respect me, respect your audience, more importantly respect your brand.  If this blog leaves you thinking "what the..." Can I suggest you read Simon Sinek's "Start with Why" and Seth Godins Tribes.  Don't be cheap - don't be Sheep.

And remember Brand precedes Strategy.