Brands on Facebook really have to work hard to engage their fans. After creating posts with content and images that are both engaging and meet business goals, it can be frustrating to find out that Facebook is only showing that content to a very small percentage of fans. But, a report from Kentico Software says that out of those fans who actually do see social media posts from brands, 68% "never" or "hardly ever" pay attention!
So, what is a brand to do? Kentico had this to say:
"While our latest Digital Experience Survey may be bad news to some, it only reinforces our notion that the social media efforts of a company need to be measured by community engagement rather than Likes or follows,” said Kentico CEO and Founder Petr Palas. “Equally critical is content that is compelling and personalized whenever possible to maintain the interest of people who may have become somewhat impervious to the constant bombardment of various marketing messages today." - Petr Palas, Kentico Founder and CEO.
Petr hits the nail right on the head - brands need to treat social media as a data-driven funnel. Start with analyzing who makes up the audience and develop personas to help determine motivates, tone and language for content. Then relentlessly measure the performance of that content, tweak it and test again.
The survey did have some good news. While 72% have never or hardly ever have purchased after seeing a post on social networks, 35% will buy based on product recommendations from prior searches or purchases. So, make sure to create content that incorporates users stories and recommendations as part of your marketing mix - these can have a big effect on other users.
(Source: AllFacebook, Kentico)