I "Liked" Your Facebook Page, so Why Don't I Hear From You?
By Gina Cuclis
When looking at my Facebook profile today I noticed I have "Liked" 209 Facebook pages. I was surprised. Not because of the number. But because I never hear from the vast majority of these pages. Political candidates often appear in my news feed and they send frequent updates. (An update is a message a Facebook page sends to all its fans.)
Post Frequent Status Updates
I saw that some of the pages I have "Liked" haven't posted an update in weeks. Other pages I "Liked" post status updates about once or twice a week. Because the odds are that only a small percentage of your fans will be watching their news feeds at the right time to see your status update, you need to post more often to be noticed. Post a status update at least once a day. Three times is not too many.
The Best Time to Post Status Updates
This is an ongoing conversation and research topic among social media marketeers. As with analyzing the effectiveness of any marketing channel, the best days and times to post can depend on who you want to reach. However, from research I've read, it seems evenings and weekends are best. Consumers are more likely to be on Facebook then.
Use the Updates Message Feature
While Facebook pages can't send individual messages to their fans, you can send a message to all of your fans or a a group of your fans. These messages are called Updates and appear in individuals' Facebook profiles under the "Message" tab.
Junipero & Co in Sonoma is one of the few businesses I'm a Facebook fan of which uses this feature effectively.
I recommend using this feature if you have information that would be of high value to your fans. You don't want to simply leave it to chance that they'll see important information in their news feed. For example, I happened to stumble upon this status update from the Sonoma County Library. I think this announcement should be sent to us fans via an Update.
If your business has a Facebook page, how often to you post your status or send an Update? If you are a fan of certain Facebook pages, do you wish you heard more from them? Are there pages which post too often? I look forward to your comments.
When looking at my Facebook profile today I noticed I have "Liked" 209 Facebook pages. I was surprised. Not because of the number. But because I never hear from the vast majority of these pages. Political candidates often appear in my news feed and they send frequent updates. (An update is a message a Facebook page sends to all its fans.)
Post Frequent Status Updates
I saw that some of the pages I have "Liked" haven't posted an update in weeks. Other pages I "Liked" post status updates about once or twice a week. Because the odds are that only a small percentage of your fans will be watching their news feeds at the right time to see your status update, you need to post more often to be noticed. Post a status update at least once a day. Three times is not too many.
The Best Time to Post Status Updates
This is an ongoing conversation and research topic among social media marketeers. As with analyzing the effectiveness of any marketing channel, the best days and times to post can depend on who you want to reach. However, from research I've read, it seems evenings and weekends are best. Consumers are more likely to be on Facebook then.
Use the Updates Message Feature
While Facebook pages can't send individual messages to their fans, you can send a message to all of your fans or a a group of your fans. These messages are called Updates and appear in individuals' Facebook profiles under the "Message" tab.
Junipero & Co in Sonoma is one of the few businesses I'm a Facebook fan of which uses this feature effectively.
I recommend using this feature if you have information that would be of high value to your fans. You don't want to simply leave it to chance that they'll see important information in their news feed. For example, I happened to stumble upon this status update from the Sonoma County Library. I think this announcement should be sent to us fans via an Update.
If your business has a Facebook page, how often to you post your status or send an Update? If you are a fan of certain Facebook pages, do you wish you heard more from them? Are there pages which post too often? I look forward to your comments.
Posted by Gina Cuclis at 10/29/2010 1:15 PM 
Categories: Facebook, Social Media
Tags: Junipero and Co Sonoma County Library Gina Cuclis Facebook
Categories: Facebook, Social Media
Tags: Junipero and Co Sonoma County Library Gina Cuclis Facebook
This is a great reminder that we need to nurture our online relationships just as we do with friends, family, colleagues and customers in real life. If we're not heard from or seen we're invisible!
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Yes, my point exactly. Thanks for your thoughtful description. For most companies, social media is still very new. We're all trying to figure out how to incorporate it into our busy schedules.
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Nice piece, thanks for the reminder (I don't update frequently enough myself). And thanks for including a screenshot of MY update!
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You're welcome. Give yourself a pat on the back Eris. You are one of the few FB page owners, excluding political candidates, who sends me message updates.
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