The Good and Bad of Facebook Business Pages
By: Elaine Fogel
So you have a Facebook business page and you use it to stay in the social media game, engage your prospects and customers, and respond to inquiries and/or complaints. With 80 million business pages, including 41% of all small businesses worldwide, is it worth your efforts?
Well… yes and no. According to a study of 43 million posts from the top 20,000 brands on Facebook by Buffer and BuzzSumo, there’s good and bad news.
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- Facebook page engagement has dropped by more than 50% over the last 18 months and the average engagement per post has dropped by over 65%! Ouch.
- If you invested in video because the “gurus” told you it was hot, forget it! Videos and links dropped like stones, as did images. However, images still performed better than the other two.
- For the most engagement, the magic number of Facebook posts daily is 5 times! But, (and there’s a but) engagement fell by over 50% over the last 18 months regardless of posting frequency.
And, don’t even think of posting more than 10 times a day. Those who did saw the biggest engagement drop of nearly 66%!
So, which business pages experienced the worst engagement drops?
Take a look:
So, what to do now?
I wouldn’t abandon your business page just yet. But, let’s be realistic. Facebook keeps changing its algorithms to improve people’s experiences and generate revenue for the company.
- With Facebook organic reach dropping, consider a paid marketing campaign with a clear strategy and measurable tactics.
- Check your Facebook business page insights to see which content is working and post more of that type. Ensure the quality is top-notch and is entertaining or educational for your target audiences.
- Evaluate your other social media sites. Some may now be better overall for engagement.
- Lastly, explore some of the less costly traditional media channels where you can build brand awareness with your ideal audiences. Local radio spots, outdoor advertising, and direct mail may prove fruitful.
What will you change now that you’re aware of this research?