Last episode, Kenton and I discussed my recent trip to Dallas for the Social Media Strategies Summit. It was an amazing conference and I learned a ton. Anyone who is currently working, or who wants to work in social media should attend this conference or something similar. So useful.
One of the things that stood out for me at #SMSSummit was the idea that social media is maturing. Earlier this year, Facebook announced that it would no longer allow pages to reach their “fans” through organic reach (appearing in the feed whenever it is posted). So now when you post to your Facebook page, only about 2% of your fans will see that post naturally. In order to reach more, you have to pay to “boost” the post.
The announcement was met with the usual chorus of “Facebook sucks!” and “I’m shutting down my Facebook, get me on email!” Some brands left Facebook altogether, stating that their money was better spent on traditional advertising such as TV, print and outdoor.
That lasted about a month.
And then, everything went back to normal.
People continued to post on Facebook. Cute cat videos continued to dominate the Internet. The Ice Bucket Challenge happened.
The reason for this is, of course, is that Facebook’s decision to monetize fan page reach doesn’t affect everyday Facebook users. They can continue posting their listicles, “what character are you” quizzes and “bare legs on the beach” vacation photos and the experience is no different for them than it was before the change.
And so Facebook lives on. A billion users can’t be wrong. Everyone is on Facebook, and therefore all brands should be on Facebook. If you don’t like paying for reach, too bad. As my favourite author said in my favourite book: TANSTAAFL (bonus nerd points to anyone who gets that reference without Googling it).
Social media is no longer “free”.
Not that it ever was completely free. But the common thinking out there (at least in the Winnipeg market, and among many attendees at #SMSSummit) is that all a brand has to do is hire someone to manage its social media presence, and that’s it. No money is needed for advertising because the audience can be reached through Facebook and Twitter for free.
That’s still somewhat the case for Twitter, but it’s changing. And this shouldn’t surprise us. These companies allow us to use their amazing social communication tools for free. Just like radio, just like TV (network TV, anyway), just like the Internet. They have to make money somehow.
We must embrace the change, live in the now! Social media is growing up. Because it costs money, it is now on an equal playing field with traditional advertising. Brands should now allocate a portion of their marketing budget to paid Facebook and Twitter ads, Google AdWords, and various forms of online native advertising.
I’m excited about this; it’s a cool time to be a communicator. And I’m very excited to be covering this material and more in my new Social Media and Internet Marketing course next semester at RRC.
