I asked my Twitter followers what they thought of the a notional theory that working to drive continual engagement on Facebook was less effective than simply paying to promote key messages to fans as required. Here’s the responses and discussions…
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OK – so I’m gonna play devil’s advocate here, but let me put a theory to you as I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Ready? -
I shouldn’t bother engaging fans in an ongoing capacity on Facebook; I should just pay to promote key announcements to guarantee reach.
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After all, why waste time & money on engaging fans on day-to-day stuff when you can just put down £100 to blast your message to them all?
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@mr_trick can you guarantee to reach fans? -
@timdifford Facebook says it can, yes. Admittedly, this concept falls over slightly when you don’t have an established fanbase to start with
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@mr_trick is there an argument that if you engage with them every day etc etc, they’re more likely to DO whatever you’re blasting to them? -
.@stuartdredge Maybe but there’s a counter-argument that you’re just trying to sell a release, and they’d discover and make mind up anyway.
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@mr_trick did you just read this too? (Twitter beats the shit out of FB for “media engagement”) http://www.socialbakers.com/blog/891-the-perfect-diet-for-your-brand-is-facebook-or-twitter-engagement-better -
.@jamesmart_in No, but I’ll go take a look.
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@mr_trick Won’t you lose likes if all you do is pump salesy messages at fans, rather than engage them & build a community? -
.@Annikakaka Yes if you do it to overkill, but I’m talking more about merely pushing key calls to action (single out, album out, tour etc)
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@mr_trick engaging with fans is relatively easy (and very worthwhile) but is ultimately a ringed fence. expansion costs money. always has. -
.@buzzin_fly It is, but it doesn’t come easily to some artists. Some are very social, some really aren’t.
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@mr_trick When I paid for the promotion for my industrial metal band, I had old ladies, rnb hoochy mamams and old guys “liking” my page. -
.@Idene Sounds to me like you targeted it wrongly. I’m only ever paying to reach fans and possible friends of fans.
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@mr_trick I used the promote a post feature. Completely ripped and unable to get a refund due to their “policy” – #Zuckerberg is killing FB
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.@Idene Something sounds very up there… though it does raise a very valid concern as to WHO it promotes to.
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.@Idene After all there’s a world of difference between a fan’s 18 yr old mate and a fan’s auntie, for example
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@mr_trick Oh I’d definitely pay to promote then, especially as the alternative is repeating yourself which will become tedious for everyone.
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.@Annikakaka Yes and no. Point is more that you should be continually, socially engaging. Not just posting sales messages. But take yr point
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@mr_trick I don’t think artists should be forced to be social. No one would’ve expected or wanted Philip Larkin on Twitter.
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.@buzzin_fly Well no, which kinda goes back to my point: if artist doesn’t want to be social, do you just focus on driving key msgs? Maybe.
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@mr_trick reach is one thing, but even if you reach more people you’re not necessarily guaranteed a better response/take-up on your CTA -
.@lucyeblair Very true – but by same token, to maintain “natural” reach you must be consistently engaging, which is a lot of effort (and £!)
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@mr_trick @buzzin_fly maybe those not so social artists should go the traditional route – exposure through blogs/mags etc. -
@mr_trick Yes. Of course. Sometimes we want certain artists to only be ONE thing. They don’t have to be fully rounded and witty on Twitter.
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.@buzzin_fly Indeed – which could lead you back to the conclusion that social media can be avoided and trad. methods (ie ads) can do as well
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@mr_trick have tried a couple of promoted posts to little effect so far, I’m still in the engagement camp even though it’s getting harder
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.@lucyeblair Opposite for me: have seen excellent engagement on promoted posts where key announcement is made.
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.@lucyeblair See that’s the issue: if you are on e.g. 2nd LP, engagement has dropped naturally, you need to deliver reach to fans, and that>
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.@lucyeblair > won’t happen via a normal post (arguably). Paying to promote ensures it hits ALL fans, not just currently engaging ones.
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@mr_trick from SMW – http://Play.com can attribute £2m of sales to FB directly. They have spent nothing. Purely engagement. -
.@robowenmac But engagement doesn’t cost nothing; it takes staff & that takes money etc etc. To say is free b/c they didn’t run ads is wrong
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@mr_trick of course, but isn’t social media just a more personal customer service system, so it’s a worthwhile investment.
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.@robowenmac Yes & no – totally depends on the business. Service businesses, yes. Fashion, for example? No.
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@mr_trick yep engagement costs more than you think… it’s a luxury item for SMEs
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.@timdifford Which brings me back to my point really, ie that it might be cheaper to eschew engagement in favour of promoted posts.
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@timdifford @mr_trick sorry to butt in on your conversation but engagement is not really a luxury for SMEs its about resources / strategy -
@WeAreAmplified @timdifford Yes & no: it requires spend – and cumulatively that might exceed what you’d spend purely on promoted posts.
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@WeAreAmplified @timdifford I’ve seen artists run excellent DIY social campaigns, so it doesn’t HAVE to cost £££, but often it does.
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@mr_trick @timdifford fair. but there are other ways to engagement other than paid. also SMEs have to be realistic on what they can achieve
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@WeAreAmplified @timdifford Heh – that’s a whole other wormhole of discussion right there (ie expectation vs reality)…
