Are you frustrated with your facebook posts reaching only a small percentage of your friends or fans?

Are you familiar with the term organic reach? … Do you know what it is?

It seems you’re not the only ones that are frustrated…apparently plenty have been asking Facebook what’s going on.

In this post we are going to summarize their answers to the inquiries, taken from their blog earlier this summer.

So let’s start with a definition of Organic Reach according to Facebook: Organic reach refers to how many people you can reach for free on Facebook by posting to your Page. They go on to say that they know the severe drop in reach is a pain point for many businesses, and that they are committed to helping you understand what’s driving the change.

Why is organic reach declining?

There are two main reasons.

1. More and more content is being created and shared every day … far more content than there is time to absorb or read. As a result, competition in News Feed is increasing, and it’s becoming harder for any story to gain exposure. In addition people are also liking more pages…50% more than last year, increasing the competition even more.

2. This involves how News Feed works. It’s designed to show people content that is relevent to them. They choose by looking at thousands of factors relative to each person.

According to them they have made some key changes to improve how News Feed chooses content. They say they’ve gotten better at showing high-quality content and that they’ve cleaned up the spam. The result: News Feed is becoming more engaging even as the amount of content being shared continues to grow.

Why not just show everything — every piece of content from every friend and Page — and let people decide what they want to see?

There are issues with this that create unwanted limitations. People are busy and only have so much time. They will miss content that is not near the top but that they would find most valuable to them. Facebook claims that through their testing they have determined that the News Feed ranking system offers a better more engaging experience for users.

Is organic reach dropping because Facebook is trying to make more money?

They say no, but that’s debatable for many I’m sure. They claim their goal is simply to provide the best experience possible. They also say it’s better for businesses. The more active and engaged they are in their News Feed, then the more active and engaged they will be with business content.

Is Facebook the only marketing platform that’s seen declines in organic reach?

The internet is trendy, as are marketing platforms. Search engines provided way more traffic to businesses then they do now. As the competition to rank high got more fierce the engines had to work harder to provide the most relevent and useful content, and as a result organic reach diminished. Any marketing platform that grows at a fast rate and gets saturated will cause challenges for the platform to continue to provide relevent and valuable content to the users.

Ok, there’s more content now. But what’s the value of having more people like my Page? I paid good money for my fans on Facebook, and now I can’t reach as many of them.

Fans absolutely have value.

– Your ads drive on average 50% more recall when a person sees that their friend likes your business… The more fans that you have, the more of their friends will pay attention.

– Fans give your business credibility

– The more engagement you get, the further your reach.

– Fans also make the ads you run on Facebook more efficient in our ads auction.

So, how should I use Facebook for my business?

Organic reach has diminished, yes, but organic content still has value, and Pages that publish great content — content that teaches people something, entertains them, makes them think, or in some other way adds value to their lives — can still reach people in News Feed.

Having said that, Facebook is far more effective for business when you add paid advertising to the equation. You will reach a broader audience, with leads to greater returns.

How do I know things won’t keep changing?

Things will keep changing… hopefully more often for the better. Facebook says they will continue to innovate on our behalf, and that they will be more transparent and helpful to the businesses that market on facebook. It’s yet to be seen exactly what that means

by Brett Gurney

Striving for Excellence

P.S. Stay tuned for more Internet Marketing Tips & Techniques and guides to building the brand of YOU.

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Linkedin is becoming more popular every day… it’s the business persons social media site and I know many of you have profiles over there… but do you really know how to use Linkedin for business…properly and with good etiquette?

In this post we are going to list in a very simple and structured way, the top 7 Do’s and the top 7 Don’ts of how to use Linkedin the right way, to benefit your exposure and your business.

LinkedIn Marketing & Etiquette : 7 Things You Must Do…

1. Personalize your connection requests – Default messages are impersonal and can be a tad annoying to some people. Get personal with your requests for better results. LinkedIn marketing only works if you do it right.

2. Have a profile picture – this is common sense right? I personally won’t connect with anyone who doesn’t have a profile picture. I want to connect with other professionals. A slew of images come to my mind in regards to those who don’t bother to show themselves … I won’t mention them.

3. Personalize your recommendation requests – for the same reasons. If you want recommendations back then get up close and personal. Show others you mean business and that you are not playing.

4. Keep it professional at all time – there are other social media sites more tolerant of games and romance…keep it professional on Linkedin if you want to benefit from it.

5. Turn off notifications when updating your profile – this applies more to multiple updates in a day. Let’s not make it annoying for people. If you find yourself making a lot of changes then turn off the notifications you don’t want to blast people.

6. Send a welcome message – one that provides value. You will get their attention and you will brand yourself as a serious person that is professional and courteous.

7. Nurture relationships – regularly. Creating and maintaining relationships is the name of the game. That’s what it’s all about. Continual communication is what sticks in people’s minds. Brand yourself through repitition…but always keep it business, professional, and valuable!

7 Things You Must NOT Do…

1. Don’t send spammy messages to your contacts – It’s the worst thing you can do in any Social Media platform. No “here’s my link buy my stuff” or any variation of… that’s cause for instant removal…and you will get removed. Your LinkedIN marketing should not be abusive or intrusive. Leave that for the amateurs.

2. Don’t over-post – multiple posts daily may not be the best way. Any more than one you better make sure it’s some darn good content.

3. Don’t ask people you don’t know for recommendations – it’s just lame and looks desperate. Instead concentrate on posting high value content and you’ll get the recommendations.

4. Don’t comment negatively in groups – or anywhere for that matter… it’s whiny and pathetic and no one likes whiny.

5. Do not post self-serving content in groups – groups are not for spamming your business…groups are for conversation, ideas, thoughts, input, asking questions, and providing answers. The goal of the content is to provide value and help. Are you seeing a pattern yet… value, value, value.

6. Don’t ask people to like your facebook page – again… lame! You shouldn’t even do that on Facebook… post your content and if it’s good content with value people will like the page simply because they like the page.

7. Don’t ask new connections or people you don’t know to endorse you – they don’t know you why would they endorse you. Introduce yourself instead and provide some good content… you’ll get your endorsements. Endorse others and they will endorse you back.

So …there you have it. LinkedIn marketing can be hugely beneficial if you treat it and your connections as you would want to be treated. With respect. Use common sense, be polite, provide good content and solutions to problems that people in your target niche may have, and you’ll be just fine. You’ll learn and fine tune as you go. These are general tips and techniques but if you follow them you’ll be looked at as a responsible and a professional marketer.

by Brett Gurney

Striving for Excellence

P.S. Stay tuned for more Internet Marketing Tips & Techniques and guides to building the brand of YOU.

P.P.S. If you find this information valuable please subscribe to get future posts delivered to your email, and please leave us a comment…thanks!

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Are you spreading your message far and wide on multiple Social Media channels?

Are you aware of the many ways to do this?

Social Media Diversification can help you grow your business and in this post we are going to share with you how you can benefit.

This will be a series. Today we will touch on Instagram and LinkedIn

As you know Facebook has been the Social Media king for years… the almighty… but is their dominance starting to crack? They remain popular because everyone’s friends and family hang out there, but the marketers are getting frustrated over all the changes of the rules of engagement and content layout.

And so although according to a recent study they continue to be the favorite, trends towards multiple platforms are taking hold. 42% of online adults now use two or more social networks. Some are beginning  to feel diversification is the answer, and other sites are quickly developing a unique user base (teenagers on Snapchat, women on Pinterest, business executives on LinkedIn, etc.).

Social media diversification cannot hurt, and some say it’s the answer to a better more thorough use of time and resources. Getting the message out to a wider audience is the name of the game.

Instagram – Big Time Loyalty

Instragram is becoming a player. Stats show an incredibly high user engagement rate, especially when compared to facebook. More than half use it on a daily basis, while close to 35% do so multiple times daily. That’s huge for a smaller site and the usage is growing. So because of this high user engagement rate, they are being noticed by brand marketers. Marketers need images that wow consumers, and they need to create a strong relationship with a loyal following. Here’s some Instagram tips for seeing that happens.

• Choose photos that bring out the “feel and lifestyle” of your brand.

• Choose hashtags that are unique, simple and relevant to your brand. Avoid blending too many words into one hashtag (Instagram users love simplicity).

• Add captions that lend humor, wit and context to your photos.

• Link photos to your product pages to encourage consumers to go directly to your store or site.

• Reward your followers for viewing and sharing your pictures with a discount or a promotional code.

LinkedIn – Still Dominates The Higher Income Crowd

LinkedIn usage continues to be dominated by the higher income earners and college graduates, and has a high percentage of 50-64 year-olds. But smaller time marketers are now finding their way to the site. It’s well known as a place for business people to network, show off their expertise, and secure new business.

LinkedIn is a place to be taken seriously… here are some good tips:

• Start using LinkedIn’s sponsored updates. They are useful because they appear directly in a user’s news feed rather than on the sidebar, making for better interaction.

• Sponsored updates also have the same options as regular updates, such as like, share and comment. This will also create more engagement.

• Consider a company page and targeted updates. Targeted updates go out to a targeted LinkedIn audience, not to all of your followers like a regular update will do. You can tailor to the audience that is relevent to the message.

Women Spend More Time on Social Media—but not on Facebook

Women’s participation on social media is becoming more popular but surprisingly not on Facebook. They trend more towards blogs, Pinterest, and Instagram. It seems that although women are big on friends and family, they may be even bigger on coupons, promotions, and shopping deals. They tend to mix those things together into one feed. The best way to interact might be to humanize your brand along with a social presence.

Social channels feed off of each other and  social media diversification can expand your message reach with big potential to get more clients and sales. With some playing around and some practice you can leverage your activities into a well received brand across the board.

by Brett Gurney

Striving for Excellence

P.S. Stay tuned for more Internet Marketing Tips & Techniques and guides to building the brand of YOU.

P.P.S. If you find this information valuable please subscribe to get future posts delivered to your email, and please leave us a comment…thanks!

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Have you ever wondered if social networking sites were important to your business building efforts?

Do you think they are a waste of your time?

In this post we are going to give you the real facts…

Times are changing fast in the online and internet marketing world. What worked last year or last month may not work so well today. This puts everyone on a level playing field, and those who learn the new techniques will fare the best. So if you are thinking that because you once knew how to get ranked then there is nothing more to learn, or if you believe social media sites are a waste of time, think again because Google’s new indexing system says different.

Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin, Pinterest, and all the others now have a place in the “what matters” category. If you have been saying “it’s a waste of time”, or “who wants to sit around and chat all day”, or i just don’t get it” ….then it’s time to get it. No business owner or marketer wants to sit around and chat all day, but if you want to be where the action is…where there are more prospects for any biz than you know what to do with…then you need to “get it”

Social media content – videos, images, stories, ads and as well blogs, are now all being indexed by google. Those who are not utilizing these platforms are missing out on tons of free promotion for their businesses by being ranked higher at search engines. The more good quality content you have the better indexed you will be and it should not be overlooked or downplayed. The better indexed you are the easier it will be for your potential customers and prospects to find you. The more links TO your site (called backlinks), the more popular your site is viewed by search engines, especially if those links come from what are deemed as high-profile (authority ) sites. So you see we simply tie it all together.

So here is what you need to do immediately if you have not yet.

– Get a Google account and get it set up. Don’t skip things on your profile make sure all your important links are there.

– Start making as many connections as possible on the most popular social networking sites. You don’t have to become an expert at all of them right away, that can all come later…just get started.

– Participate – Don’t just scan and read … like and comment instead. Join in on conversations and engage with others. Become a participant and get yourself out there. Create a page for your business and start inviting your connections.

– If you have customers encourage them to follow you via your social networks. They will appreciate the quality content you’re putting out.

– Get business cards and include your main social networking information on your cards. Give as many away as your can…. get the word out you are expanding your network.

– Include your social networking information and links on as many promotions as you can, online or off. Make it a habit so it becomes part of your routine to always leave your social footprints everywhere you go.

– Everywhere you network include a link BACK to your website – this is CRITICAL.

When doing searches, social results will always be clearly marked as such on Google’s SERPs (Search Engine Results Page). The returns will be accompanied by a heading “results from your social circle”. For traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO), it is just one more thing to compete with as far as website property. That’s why social networking is a much more of an important part of search than ever. Get on board now, Google will be announcing more changes to their new indexing system, so make the most of this information now.

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