Facebook – It’s a Love/Hate Kinda Thing

Facebook loves me…
Facebook love me not…
Facebook loves me…
Facebook loves me not?

Let’s all admit it. We all have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. With over 1 billion users, we love to use it to connect with friends, family and businesses we want to support. However we hate it because it never shows us all we want to see (or not see).

In the world of social media marketing, the day has come for businesses to realize they cannot put all of their efforts into using just Facebook.

Everyone knows Facebook’s organic reach is quickly plummeting. Businesses are having to pay in order to have their content seen. For large corporations, it’s not really an issue because they can and will pay for it. Smaller businesses, however, may not have the funds to dedicate to Facebook. They are now having to take a long, hard look at their social media marketing strategy and adapt.

For some small businesses, their audience is on Facebook, leaving them to think they have no other alternative. Trust me, most people are using more than one form of social media leaving the door open to new possibilities. Just be prepared to leave your comfort zone and try something new.

So why the love/hate thing?

We love Facebook because it allows us to do so much. We can really engage with our communities (provided they see the post first), hold fun contests or share fabulous graphics. If you do choose to advertise, you can target the exact person you want to reach out to. Facebook has opened the door for a lot of businesses to be successful both online and offline. No one can deny the power Facebook has. All we have to do is just think back to 8 or 9 years ago when there was nothing except a little platform called MySpace. Look at it now.

On the flip side, we hate Facebook because of the direction it is going (which is just one of many reasons I could write about, i.e. roll-out schedules?). About a year ago, you could post something and get a lot of likes and comments and now, well, you’re lucky if 5% of your fans see it. Facebook is a publicly traded company. They have shareholders to answer to and revenue goals to make. I get it. Facebook is a business. Right now their main revenue stream is advertising. So why not do something to make businesses advertise more?  [**Disclaimer – this is just my personal theory – I have zero proof to back it up although this article hints I may be right.**.] Regardless of the theories out there, Facebook reach is not going up and it’s time to switch gears in our strategies.

I guess the next question would be, if you we love & hate it so much, why are we still using it?  Well, it’s Facebook. The majority of humans on this Earth are using it. It would be wrong to completely ignore this social networking giant. However it’s not wrong to branch out and try something new.

What is your relationship like with Facebook? Love it? Hate it? Just ‘meh’? Now is your time to rejoice or vent 🙂