Time to Rethink Facebook

Now that Facebook has eliminated free reach, brands have to rethink and reformulate their Facebook strategies.

Just 24 months ago, brands were wondering what the relationship between branded websites and Facebook should be and where should traffic and interaction be directed. But today they are bracing to be extorted yet again by Zuckerberg & Company and refocusing on owned and controllable properties.

Reducing access to followers and fans has turned Facebook from an owned or earned property into paid media. From January forward anything that looks or smells like branded content will only get through if cash changes hands. This effectively kills carefully constructed editorial and posting strategies since no one will actually see a post unless it’s sponsored. The editorial/advertising one-two punch is over. Staffing teams of content producers and community managers to monitor, post and respond in real time knowing that the content will reach less than 5% of the fan base is now wasteful.

Brands thinking that they would manage customer service issues, engage customers or showcase different facets of their product, service or company are mostly out of luck. Brands hoping to leverage massive traffic and consumer interaction once provided by Facebook, have to decide to either build their own online communities or to ally with other social platforms who have more attractive operating terms.

Brands embraced Facebook because it gave us a window into the hearts, minds and behaviors of our customers. Anxious for any type of interaction, we tested photos, videos, memes, sayings, coupons, promotions and topical observations. That’s why Facebook became a cornerstone of social strategy for so many brands. Desperate to get a response from our followers, some of us developed response benchmarks to beat and tested editorial cadences to drive likes, comments, shares and new followers.

Most of us came to believe that 80 percent of branded posts could be planned with 20 percent left to involve ourselves in ongoing and developing conversations. We stood in awe of infrequent virility, like the Oreo Super Bowl post, which yielded much more in bragging rights for marketers than it did in increments of brand preference or cases of cookies sold.

Since it was cheap, we convinced ourselves, with Facebook’s help, that soft measures like “engagement” would be sufficient to assess the value of the platform and justify the investment of time and dollars. We did this knowing that the research showed that 9 out of 10 posts got zero response. And the vast majority of Facebook subscribers are passive users.

We looked the other way as a billion people adopted Facebook as a cross between Reader’s Digest and a personal CRM system to keep track of friends and family. We didn’t want to believe we were interlopers. We ignored the fact that the average Facebook user really likes those baby pictures, cat videos, check-ins, re-posted news stories, angry responses to current events, vacation videos and news bytes of lifestyle and family activities.

Facebook’s recent changes end this conceit. The more we pay; the more we have to track, measure and justify ROI. Facebook’s greed offers us a reality check and an opportunity to re-think and recalibrate how we use this social platform, especially for brands without unlimited budgets. Consider these six principles:

Focus on Business Goals. What do we need to achieve and how will Facebook help us get there? Is it sales, share, new names, loyalty, contest entries, reviews or UGC? Initially, we used social media to expose hidden facets of the brand, flesh out brand character and personality and find common ground with customers and prospects. This is still theoretically possible but at what CPA? Measuring progress toward business objectives and the cost-per-result is the starting and the ending point.

Plot Facebook in an Ecosystem. If you do eCommerce on the branded website and relationship marketing by email, what role does Facebook play in the grand plan? Is it a device to drive new opt-ins? Is it a mechanism to distribute coupons? Is it a channel for solving customer service issues? Does it play a role in expanding or amplifying a new ad campaign? Being clear about the tasks needed and the outcomes expected should shape your Facebook content and buy.

Pre-Think the Conversation. We know how Facebook works (or doesn’t). Start with the predictable interplay of content and customers. Shape the message to drive the intended action. Leverage what worked in the past. Emphasize images over copy. Include a clear call to action. Splurge for Timeline placement. Measure and negotiate everything.

Pick Your Shots. Nobody can afford daily sponsored posts. So brands have to decide which retail calendar events, which seasonal product promotions, which new product introductions or which competitive moves or marketplace trends are worthy of a reaction and a supplemental investment. As Facebook becomes a marketers’ slot machine, we have to hedge our bets and reduce the number and quantity of posts in search of fewer, more impactful interactions.

Make Videos. Video is becoming the dominant social and mobile medium. Facebook is gearing up to challenge YouTube and to knock out Vimeo and Hulu. Consumers watch more and longer videos than brands produce. Placing your TV spot on Facebook or YouTube yields much less viewing, sharing and interacting than you think. Make how-to, lifestyle and product or service videos part of your updated Facebook strategy.

Demand Data Sharing. Facebook doesn’t share. They’ll match their database with yours and then sell you distribution to the names that match. But they won’t tell you who on your list is a Facebook subscriber. They’ll also use your data for their own purposes. And they get antsy about scraping profile data when consumers log or opt-in using their Facebook sign on to connect with brands. This one-way attitude has to be resisted by brands, especially those spending big bucks. If Facebook really wants to help marketers and brands succeed then sharing is caring.

Many marketers are still thinking about and planning to use the Facebook of two years ago. Their partnership and sales posture has aggressively evolved as has their terms of brand engagement. Brands need to meet them head on, recognize and adapt to the changed landscape, reject the take-it or leave-it mentality and remember that we wield the dollars that fuel their burgeoning empire.