Yeah, the headline was clickbait, but there’s a good reason. Read on…

I read an article on Forbes called, Facebook Killed Organic Reach — Thanks For The Favor, in which Ziv Koren, CMO of Camilyo gives some advice on how to operate now that Facebook has functionally killed off organic reach.

I don’t know Ziv, and this isn’t a shot at Ziv.  He’s probably a very smart dude.

I’m going to paraphrase Ziv’s article for you here so you don’t need to go read it.

  1. Focus on providing value.
  2. Focus on business objectives (instead of likes or followers).
  3. Use social to build your email list to engage your customers in order to build deeper relationships.
  4. Focus time and energy on people that are already your fans and customers.
  5. Use remarketing to target people who have already expressed some interest.
  6. Use lookalike audiences to find people similar to your current audience and customers.
  7. Cross promote your other channels.
  8. Create exclusive, login-required, members-only content…but use FB connect for the login.
  9. Gather information about your customer to better you know their interests so you can better sell to them.
  10. Don’t ignore your pages. Interact with people so they feel heard.

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This was on Forbes, people…Forbes!

Most of these tips (new technologies aside) are the same things we’ve been saying for years now!!

None of it is bad advice.  But David Ogilvy could’ve offered most of this advice in the 50’s and 60’s, and anyone worth a damn in Social Media and/or Marketing has been saying these things since 2006-2010.

And nevermind the fact that Facebook killing off organic reach did virtually nothing to increase the value of any of these recommendations.  You could have 100% reach and these tactics would still be good ideas, albeit obvious ones.

I almost scrapped this entire post

I wrote the first part of this post and set it aside.  I needed to cool off.  I almost didn’t publish it.

But then…

I came upon this gem: 9 Networking Tips to Make Money on Facebook.

Let me paraphrase it:

  • Facebook has over a billion users.
  • Facebook BIG.
  • Facebook good.
  • Use all of the tools Facebook gives you like Messenger, Groups and the Profile.
  • Have good conversations based on what the other people talk about, and remember to be a human being.

you-dont-say

The article claims to have tips to increase revenues by 800%.

These aren’t tips.

This article should be called: “9 things you need to know about Facebook if you have been living under a rock.”

Better yet, here is “the definitive guide to social media” in just a few words:

“Look at all of the available options on each network, and be good at them.  Talk to people like a human being and be nice.”

And this was on Inc.com, people…Inc.com!

Competing and Shouting…but saying the same thing.

We’ve filled the web with blog posts about blogging.

We’ve cluttered the newsfeed with articles about newsfeed optimization.

And we’ve engaged people in conversations about engaging people in conversations.

I’m sorry, but I can’t go another 5-10 years reading the same advice over and over.

#StopDoingThat

  • No one should have to tell you to engage your customers anymore.
  • No one should have to encourage you to focus on providing value for your customers anymore.
  • No one should have to tell you that likes and followers are typically meaningless relative to your business objectives.
  • It’s not rocket science to cross-promote your other channels.
  • Every smart business from the beginning of time knows that it’s important to learn about their customers; it shouldn’t have to be said.

I, personally, can’t bring myself to read or write many more posts with the same advice that’s been given since the inception of social media…or even more accurately, since the beginning of business!

Where do we go from here?

I honestly don’t know where we go from here because clicks make the web go ’round and obviously people are clicking these articles, myself included.  Heck, you probably clicked on this article because of the headline.

But I need more from my peers.  I need all of us to hold our content to higher standard. Especially the content that gets top notch visibility in well respected publications like Forbes, Inc, the New York Times, etc.

We (True Voice Media) are constantly trying to explore new ground, or at least provide a different perspective.

We will continue working with our clients and showing them where to dedicate their time, attention, and budget.  Not every network is appropriate for every client, and not every tactic is going to work for every company in every industry.  The nuances still count.

We will stay up-to-date on the newest techniques and best practices, but we will go deeper than general statements about success with our clients, and instead show exactly HOW to do something.

Finally, I’d love to see the end to front page visibility for obvious advice.  If Inc.com or Forbes.com would like to start exploring some new territory, I’d be glad to make myself available.

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