Social networks have become a critical part of the communication strategy of companies but also in a part that creates certain problems. Facebook was a sort of juju at first, a space in which brands had a potential audience of millions of people and which reached massive amounts of them. Companies only had to open a page to quickly connect with the audience and start posting messages on a regular basis to achieve ratios of engagement. Use certain resources could make had more success and that the algorithm Facebook the valorous more and better.
What has happened in recent times and how has the situation changed for brands?
In recent months and years, companies have seen the success of their updates on Facebook was decreasing, at least organically. In fact, some experts now say that if you want to succeed in the social network no choice but to checkout and pay to convert sponsored post updates. Why did this happen? The algorithm Facebook has begun to increasingly important updates brand pages and has begun to prevail content coming from the hands of a person and therefore are generated by the circle of friends of the user.
Some people want to see in this a sort of Black Hand (Facebook and makes companies not left them no choice but to pay for position), but the network has explained on numerous occasions that the situation is marked rather than growth users and content. As more users on Facebook and as more content is published, it is much more difficult to be content finally reaches the feed. To this they add that the algorithm tries to match what consumers want and they prefer the personal contact information before updates marks.
As it descends what can be achieved organically and as new social networks that are showing situations contrary, companies are abandoning Facebook? Are they throwing in the towel before the change of situation and looking for greener pastures? The truth is that the numbers show no and, perhaps even more curious result, are publishing more and more content.
According to a study of Quintly, the volume of daily updates of brands on Facebook has risen by 36% in 2015 (the last year for which full data are available). Twitter remains the social network in which more content is published volume (keep in mind that is the one that has a lower median life span for those content) but Facebook is showing an upward trend.
Quintly analysts see it as a sign of the survival of this social network. “In Facebook, the sharp increase is a symptom of Facebook is far from dead. It shows that companies still rely heavily on this network” aims to Warc Alfroza Irin a social media analyst at Quintly. Is a move also to cover what was lost? In the study did not reach any conclusion related, so in reality at this point one can only speculate. Will brands covering the fall of overall results of the content posted on Facebook by simply publishing more and more content to try to reach the same results?
What it is happening in other social networks?
Facebook is not the only social network that is published more and more. Faced with Twitter, that despite the fact of being in which more content is published has entered into reverse (the number of updates on Twitter fell 2%), Instagram is positioned upward. The number of updates, according to data from Quintly, rose by 14%.
To this must be added that this network has also been shown that growth rates faster followers. Instagram is the social network in which more followers faster you get, which makes sense if you consider that it is the youngest and therefore it is even greener. Instagram still has not reached saturation and therefore there is room for growth for brands.
But brands should not be left simply with this information when making your social networking strategy, because the truth is that the issue is likely to change. The study itself shows that Instagram had a moment of peak growth of followers in February 2015 and, since then, the trend has been moderating (i.e. continue to earn faster followers than other social networks, but not so fast like in the past). Other studies have been showing throughout the year Instagram faces just that problem: the social network is no longer the Dorado was once for brands.
Less fans rife more
The study also points to an issue that will end once and for all with an obsession among brands to achieve millionaire follower’s lists. The study shows that large numbers of fans do not imply greater engagement or greater activity among the fan base. The highest ratios of interactions occur among those with lower numbers of followers, possibly because smaller profiles are much more interactive and more focused. “These results support the idea that large numbers on social networks do not involve a lot of activity,” says the analyst.