Making Connections with Social Media
If you don’t use or know what social media is, you are probably living in a cave somewhere. Truth be told, Social media is where most people today get their news, gossip, and so much more. However, Everyone’s main focus with Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and the others is to get followers. We all want our posts on these networks to get all the likes and shares a person desires, Right?
This use to be the case, but Social media platforms like Facebook have changed their Algorithm. It has changed so much that it is nearly impossible to build that huge following one might desire through an organic reach.
What is Organic Reach? And, Where did it go?
Organic Reach is where your posts are seen by friends, family, and like-minded people that your social media posts are meant for without ever spending a dime. It used to be if you had a Facebook fan page with 3000 likes, your posts would be put into most of those peoples news feeds. However, Facebook has changed their algorithm some much this is not the case anymore. This is also true for Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and many other Social media networks. Their social organic reach is dead! They killed it on purpose so people would have to pay to play.
It seems today even if you have a few hundred subscribers or followers you will not get new people to follow you without paying for it. That’s Right, paying for Social media ads seems to be the only way today to reach more people. Guess What? All of the Social Networks offer paid ads that one can use to increase their exposure and build a following. The only problem now is you will have to continue to pay for that social interaction with places like one’s Facebook Fan Page.
Paying for Social Media Ads
Social media platforms today almost outright require you to pay for ads on their network to build a large following. However, once you build that following you will still have to pay to get your message out to them. If you are a business owner it would behoove you to consult an expert or hire one to manage social media ads for your business. These social media advertising platforms can be quite advanced for a layman. For instance, Facebook ads require you to target your audience through geographical location, interests, buyers, homeowners, and so much more. This can become quite a daunting task. To truly run a social media ads campaign one must assign a person to do this work on a full-time basis to actually see the results one desires form the ads. If a business or individual wants to see success from social media ads they must have the ads monitored at all times.
How does GDPR Affect us?
Do you remember when Facebook had political polls or one could see posts about someone’s criminal mishaps? Well, Those days are all gone. This is because of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Now, as it is right now this is just a European Union Regulation that took effect on May 25, 2018. There are rumors that the United States will be adopting the same policy real soon. However, if you’re a business located in the United States and you do business via the internet across the Atlantic you must comply with GDPR. The European Union is giving everyone one year to comply with the new GDPR. If anyone is caught not abiding by this new regulation on their websites and/or social media they will be fined. All one has to do is Google GDPR to see what is entailed within the regulation.
Connecting on Social Media Has Changed
As mentioned above, one use to be able to post on their Facebook Fan page and get massive amounts of organic reach for more likes and followers. Now, Organic reach is nearly gone for almost on every social media platform. They have all changed their algorithms much like Facebook has done recently. The reasons why they changed their algorithm to almost eliminate organic reach is a mystery. However, I speculate that it has much to do with GDPR and of course good old capitalism. Therefore, if you want to make connections with social media platforms one must be ready to pay for it. It would be almost to impossible today to build a business through social media without paying for social media ads. Give us a call today if we can be of service to you.
