Why I’m Quitting the Facebook Game (And You Should, Too)
It’s all fun and games…until they change the rules (again) and leave you on the sidelines. Again.
Are you plumb tuckered out trying to promote yourself on Facebook? You should be. Facebook has changed their algorithms yet again (no matter when you read this post, that fact will remain relevant) leaving you and your words hidden to all but a few of the numbers you worked so hard to gather to your page.
It’s like a game where your opponent keeps changing the rules every time you get near the goal.
In this post I aim to convince you to quit fighting Facebook and I will reveal where I’ve chosen to spend my time instead. But before you think I’m calling you to quit Facebook altogether, let me clarify: I’m calling you to quit marketing your site on Facebook, not log out completely. Facebook remains a great place to connect with friends and family, and it’s the preferred hang out for my mastermind group (we use the closed, private group settings). It’s just not the best place to draw people to your site. Here’s why:
Why You Should Quit Facebook
1. This is Facebook’s Game
Facebook makes the rules on their site. This is just and right. They created it, own it, and maintain it. Why are we freaking out when they do what’s best for their company? Here’s the hard truth (and you have to look at the money to get this): Facebook does not make money on your posts. They make money on ads. Facebook’s goal is to have you stay on their site as long as possible, and only leave through a link they make money on (like ads or boosted posts). So, it makes perfect sense that they would arrange for your tantalizing statuses to be seen by as few people as possible.
The fact is, no matter how great your content, headline, photo, or previous engagement, you can’t get ahead. Because it’s not a level playing ground. This is Facebook’s home field, and they are simply doing what they have to to win.
2. Facebook’s Performance is Below Par
If you were a potential buyer of a sports team, you’d want to know their previous scores, right? If you’re looking at which social media site to invest time in, you should look at how it preforms, am I right? So let’s talk statistics.
- Pinterest traffic spends 60% more than Facebook users, and Pinterest traffic converts to a sale 22% more than Facebook traffic. (Great Infographic here)
- Pinterest pins often have a half life of over one week. Compare that to 80 minutes for Facebook and only 5 to 25 minutes on Twitter. (Source)
- Pinterest’s average montly reach is 2.5x that of Facebook because they do not employ any feed curating strategies such as Facebook’s EdgeRank.
- 1 % of people who like a brand’s Facebook page actually interact with that page. (Source)
3. Facebook is not a Marketplace.
It’s true that if you look at performance rates for the top social media sites, Facebook seems to outshine them all with higher click through and referral rates. But that is due, I believe, to the fact that it’s the most familiar site for users, and not that it is the most efficient platform for content marketers. The fact remains that the original purpose of Facebook was not content sharing, but interaction. Compare that to Facebook’s fast-growing competitor Pinterest, which was actually designed as a content discovery and sharing utility and I think you’ll see why I’m encouraging you to put your promotion efforts elsewhere.
Facebook may still be your #2 or #3 traffic source. But if you check your Facebook page analytics, you can see that that traffic probably isn’t coming from your Facebook page. The traffic you’re getting via Facebook is from your readers sharing your posts with their friends, not from you sharing your post links on your page. It’s organic traffic, not promotion, and that’s all the difference.
Let’s Stop Playing Games
IF* you’ve been called to a season of growth on your blog, or have a product or message you’re compelled to spread widely, I think it’s clear that Facebook can be one of the toughest places to do the job. So, what should you use Facebook for? And where should you put all that time you’ve been spending scheduling posts and trying to increase engagement?
- Use Facebook’s closed group settings for brainstorming and support with other bloggers in your niche, or with your mastermind group.
- Use Facebook for connecting with family and friends (although I would assess whether this is the best tool for updates and pictures, or whether a good, old-fashioned family blog would serve you better.)
- Feed your blog’s posts automatically to your public Facebook page to make your posts accessible there without using your precious time.
If Facebook is sucking the life out of your blogging career, it’s time to let it return to a place of conversation, not conversion rates. Once you’ve scaled back and automated your presence there you’ll be free to focus elsewhere. Maybe that’s Pinterest…or maybe it’s not…
I believe the most important strategy for spreading your message is prioritizing the creation of high quality content on your site. When you write the words that only you can write, with a passion and level of skill only possible when you’re not spread way-too-thin on social media, you may be surprised at the impact your words will have, and how far they will go.
*Notice that great big “If” up there? I included that because I really have begun to feel that self promotion is optional and one can still have a successful platform without it. Have you considered ‘going organic’ on your blog (letting all shares and traffic be generated by your readers)? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
I’m sure I’m probably alone in this, but I LOVE Facebook. It’s my #2 source of traffic, after Pinterest. But Pinterest readers grab a snippet and go. Facebook readers develop real community and come back week after week for more. I love the “friends and family” feel of Facebook you just can’t get anywhere else. Yes, it can be a major time suck if you aren’t careful, but I personally LIKE FB algorithms and see them as a challenge.
Brittany, you’re not alone–one of the gals in my mastermind group also feels the same way–she likes the challenge. And I think you’re right, that people do interact more readily on facebook and this can contribute to stronger community. Great points.
I’ve been thinking about this so much lately! I’ve been blogging for almost four years, and had taken a really long, unintentional hiatus. I’m trying to get back into it now, and having so much trouble reaching my readers! Facebook is NOT helpful any more, and even participating in link-up parties is not bringing traffic to my site. As someone else mentioned, I think the blogosphere is soo crowded (or “clogged” I think they said). I think the idea you mentioned about “going organic” is so freeing. I might try it and see what happens. I also may try using Pinterest more.
Thanks for the great post! 🙂
Becky, I’m so blessed by your visit to my site and taking the time to comment. I know it can be hard to keep on blogging when you don’t feel you’re making an impact. But seasons when we just write to be faithful–just do it because we know we were made to–can have a great impact on our hearts and on our future opportunities to minister. Please keep blogging if God has called you to that–ignore the numbers and press in to what He has called you to share. May you find joy in writing for Him, whether He gives you a large audience or small.
Interesting reading. Facebook has died for our Fanpage and some times it gets to me…why has it completely died off and what I am doing wrong? When in actual fact from reading your post it makes sense.
I much prefer Instagram where I can connect with other like minded people, and its easier to keep in touch with our followers.
Twitter is not for me, I use it but only to share our blog posts – don’t use it to connect with others as such.
And Googleplus is linked up for our YouTube channel – only because that’s the way to comment on YouTube videos.
To be really honest I no longer “Promote” my blog to grow it, but to keep it for memories for my family, and to stay connected with friends/family who are around Australia. I think that the blogging industry is too flooded, and that there are changes coming – YouTube is going to be bigger than Blogging.
Yeah for letting go of ‘promotion’ and embracing the freedom of just blogging! Thanks for sharing, Lisa! Oh, and I LOVE your bus!!! We would love to go on the road with ours in the future instead of just the occasional trip. Great to see a homeschooling family thriving with bus life. 😉
One other thing too Trina – the brutal truth is I’m afraid to not promote my posts – because deep down I have no confidence that people really want to read my work, no matter how good it is, how much I put into it, and how powerful it is. Deep down I guess I believe I could write the best piece of non-fiction ever written and if I didn’t promote it, no one would bother to read it.
Maybe one day I should experiment with posting a blog post and not promoting at all..and seeing what happens. I have to say, the feeling of not having to promote would be so liberating….
I appreciate your ‘brutal honesty’ because you being the first person to say it allows us all to come out of the shadows and admit that we fear the same thing. We fear that our work will not be accepted. Here’s a question…if a piece of writing is your best, and no one reads it, is it still good? (like the tree falling in the forest with noone to hear it…) I’m guessing yes, James.
I hope you’ll find the liberty the Lord has for you in this area, because awesome things happen when we live free.
Trina, thanks for replying to my comment and for your kind words, I appreciate it.
In response to your point, I definitely agree that if a piece of writing is my best, it doesn’t matter how many read it, it’s still good.
This sabbatical has been so liberating in so many ways already, and I’m still figuring out what my writing looks like in future, and trying to be more intentional about how I go about it. I hope I also find the liberation you speak of – will keep you informed.
Thanks again.
Wow Trina, this really does challenge me. I’m currently in a blogging sabbatical – I’m still writing a private blog but sharing with no one, and not doing anything on my public platform. I’ve always seemed to get most of my traffic from Facebook, and a fair amount from Twitter (Pinterest I’ve probably not used as much as I should).
I would love to not play the Facebook game – literally put the link on my blog page and my profile, and not go around sharing it in literally every group I’m in (takes forever!!). I’m definitely open to using Pinterest more (bit phobic as not quite sure how to use it – I mean you have to share the pin on Facebook or Twitter don’t you?).
What I truly love about this post though, is the whole concept of it freeing you to create great work, and great work being enough to grow your readership. The cynic in me feels like this is just over-romanticising writing, and that it doesn’t matter how good the content, if it’s not promoted well it won’t get out there – but the idealist in me (this is an ongoing battle in me Trina – I’m an idealist by nature but I’ve been burned too), says this is how it should be and how I’d love it to be.
It would so awesome to create such great work it promotes itself, that you don’t need to play the Facebook game. That’s how it should be. I’m a writer and write because I love writing, and want to create great work. The promo stuff is a necessary evil for me, and I don’t enjoy it.
There’s just a part of me that has doubts – becuase even on Pinterest, you need to share the link on Facebook, don’t you? Or am I just misunderstanding Pinterest here (and I may well be, as I said, don’t know it too well, totally open to being corrected)?
James, have you seen this post by my friend, Gretchen? 10 Tips for making your post promote itself…https://gretchenlouise.com/shareable-blog-posts/
the thing about Pinterest is that it’s image driven–so creating a quality image for each post is your best strategy for Pinterest. You don’t have to be good at Pinterest…just make your posts contain an image and your readers will take your post to Pinterest. 😉
Thanks Trina, will take a look at this post, and appreciate the advice about Pinterest. I’ve used Pinwords to create pictures with quotes from my blog posts before (which was actually quite fun), just never quite got my head around Pinterest as a whole. But I’m open to learn.
Thanks for commenting and for your help, appreciate it.
What a breath of fresh air today for me, I have been feeling this way for a while. I want to blog and write to communicate, not spend my time trying to trick FB into sharing stuff with people who like my page. You helped me refocus my thoughts onto writing well, the reason I am doing it in the first place. Joy and encouragement
Trina, this is just what I needed to read today! Thank you! Thank you for giving me the permission that I needed to give myself to let go of what Facebook. I had decided to give it one more month to see if I could get some traction, and 20 days into it, it’s clear that it just isn’t worth the effort and stress it’s causing. That was such a great point about your facebook traffic (it’s still my #2 referrer) coming from other people sharing rather than from my page. Your post made it all so clear!
Trina, I want to thank you for writing this post. I am a new blogger and have struggled with the idea of self promoting and trying to keep up with all the elements of social media. It’s just simply overwhelming. In fact, being so focused on promoting my site has caused me to begin think of my blog as a burden, in turn sucking all the joy out of something I was so excited about. Thank you for helping me get back to the basics. I’ve also appreciated the insights given by Gretchen Louise in her comments so thanks to you both!
I miss Trina!! 🙁 I keep checking back for more blog posts! Hope everything is going well and that you are getting settled down south!
Thanks, Steph! I miss me, too. LOL Hope to be back to blogging this week…
This post speaks deep to my soul. I have loathed Facebook for over a year now. I hate so much about it. I hate the way people speak to each other and the way that their computer screen gives them the ability to bash each other anonymously. This year I have decided to focus on real life relationships.
I feel like trying to get it to work for me is like bashing my head against the wall.
I like your stance on organic reach and forgetting about self promotion. I am going to talk to Barry about this. I have already stepped WAY back from social media, even removing my icons from the top to the bottom of my blog.
I have been afraid to give up Facebook because “everyone is doing it.” But you’ve given me courage. And really, most of my posts see around 600 people. And they aren’t getting shares or comments. I would rather spend my time doing something fruitful like making tortillas or threading bobbins.
Stacy, if anyone can afford to go organic, it’s you! You consistently deliver quality posts with your delightful writing voice–that kind of content shares itself!
Amen on the threading bobbins, making tortillas, and real life relationships!
Trina, I think this is great advice. I love putting words down and writing out my heart, but the FB thing and other platforms drain me. I’m dibble dabbling in some areas to keep a presence and connect with readers where they are, but I can’t get caught up in the idea of numbers because then writing loses it’s joy for me. I’m letting go a lot more and trusting God to give my content to those who need it….even if it’s just 1 person.
Are you heading to G+ instead? What are you replacing it with?
Hey, Nicole! Great question. Actually, I’m not transferring my efforts to another social media site at all. Instead, I’m experimenting with ‘going organic’ and not spending any time self-promoting. Currently my posts feed automatically to my Facebook page once upon publishing, but that’s it. I don’t post to Twitter, and Google plus is still a bit unknown to me. Instead, I have been finally buckling down to studying and implementing wise SEO strategies, I’ve asked my site designer to install plug ins that make for easy sharing, and I’m trying to make sure that what I publish is the best I have to offer. So, atypical approach, but it’s working for me. 😉
Trina, you are such a good writer! This post doesn’t apply to me at unfortunately as I haven’t had time to get into blogging, but I still read the whole thing. You rock! That is all. Hugs from Florida
Jennifer, your comment made my day. I worked for 2 months on this post and edited it more than almost anything else I’ve written–it’s sweet reward to know you enjoyed reading it even though it didn’t apply to you! 😉
I’m not quite sure how to promote on Pinterest. I had always thought that Pinterest was just like a giant corkboard to use instead of clogging up your bookmarks.
On your last question, I had never heard it called “going organic”, but I think it really depends on the purpose of your blog. If you are trying to make money, then self-promotion is a good thing, I think. If you are writing because God has called you to write, then I’m not so sure. Not ruling it out, just not so sure.
My own blog is the latter kind, and I have always felt uncomfortable with the idea of posting ads, using affiliate links, etc. It seemed like it would take away from the words, the message. I never knew I was doing a “thing”, though! I’m going organic. Hee hee! I like it.
I love this! It gets so frustrating to have FB change constantly. And I am not paying to promote posts. The few times I have, it doesn’t seem to really do a whole lot for me and they blow through my budget FAST without any real evidence that it was worth it. Pinterest brings a lot of traffic. FB is good for conversations on good days. I’ve never really been into twitter but I may have to start working on that. I enjoyed this honest post. Thank you for saying what so many of us are feeling and giving solid advice.
What would you say to someone whose top referrer is Facebook? Here’s my current numbers.
FB Traffic: 184,521
Search Engines: 16,932
Pinterest: 7,290
I know some of that FB traffic is from a post that went viral on Facebook, but even before that, Facebook was my TOP referrer – by a lot. Seems like suicide to quit. I’m still doing all the right things on Pinterest, working on my G+ skills, and established an email subscriber list through a weekly digest and monthly newsletter, but I’m still in the Facebook fight!
Aprille–you bring up a valid point of discussion, and I guess I should have made it more clear in my post…I’m not saying you have to completely be off Facebook! I’m just saying that if you’re wearing yourself thin and not seeing very good results, then there are other options that may be better for you.
I currently have my blog posts fed automatically to my Facebook page. Facebook is my #1 referral, as well, well out ranking pinterest or search engines. But the majority of that traffic is from other people sharing my post on Facebook, and not from my own efforts there. See the difference? I’ve found such freedom in focusing most of my effort on quality content, and letting my readers share my posts (wherever they want–I don’t care!) if it resonates with them. And it’s giving me more joy and productivity as a blogger. 😉
Thanks for opening up an interesting discussion! I blog for family & friends mostly, so this doesn’t apply to me from a standpoint of growing my business, but I wanted to chime in as a reader. 🙂
I think it would be very challenging to blog for income and find the balance between being authentic and promoting yourself. I agree with another commenter that the ‘tweet this’ in the middle of posts is annoying. I definitely think good blog content is what keeps me coming back to a blog more than anything. It can start to feel kind of forced when I feel like I am reading for the promotion of the blogger, their products, or their sponsors. Not sure if that makes sense, and I hope I didn’t offend anyone.
This does show me how it is helpful to link to good blog posts on my blog or Facebook, and that I need to do more of that to show support for the bloggers I enjoy!
The truth and nothing but the truth it is.
I made a facebook page and my dear husband magic-ed it up so that my blog posts automatically come up there. It’s to much work and time I don’t have. The only way facebook is useful for my blog is when I post a link on my personal profile. Which I’ve done once..I don’t like bugging friends with it unasked 😉 I’ll reserve it for rare posts that are also more about my personl life, or the ones I consider to be ‘extra good’.
I do want to get better at the pinterest thing though. I am practicing making pinterest-worthy photos for my posts right now, and taking it slow 🙂
Hey girl! I love this! I do have some decent interaction on my FB page when I ask questions, etc. but Pinterest is BY FAR my best referral source. I’m basically non-existent on Twitter and my page views are higher than they were when I was active there. {Though I think that’s because I just manage my time better when I’m not tweeting.} Great article and lots to consider.
Thanks for stopping by and for your encouragement, Teri! So, what do you think about the whole idea of not self promoting at all? I respect your opinion and would love to hear your thoughts.
I’ve backed away from self-promotion though I can’t claim any particularly noble reason … mostly because our life is really full and busy and I just don’t have time to jump through all the hoops. But, I can say this, since last fall when I started writing less and promoting even less than that, my page views have remained steady and even had a slight increase. Also, I’ve had more speaking opportunities {which is really what I love to do} and have seen slightly more interaction on both my Facebook page and in the comments on my blog. My subscriber level has been steady also.
I don’t know if that really proves anything scientifically since I didn’t set out to stop or slow down the self-promotion. But, I know I haven’t “lost” any momentum or connection. I rarely tweet a post and typically only share on my FB page and pin an image on one board.
What I think is this, it really depends on your goal. If you are trying to build numbers to get a book contract, you probably need to invest some serious time in promotion. If you {like me} are less concerned about that and more committed to building a long-term ministry offline rather than online, invest your time in writing quality content and building relationships. I don’t know that either approach is better or worse, it just depends on where you God is leading you.
I suppose that didn’t help clear the muddy waters much, did it?? LOL
Actually, it made some things very clear for me, Teri–thank you!
I think your experience proves that when we back off of doing everything we think we ‘have’ to do (online or in real life) and focus on our areas of gifting and passion, we will have more of an impact than when we’re spread too thin.
You also bring up a good example of a time when promotion may be necessary–as in a book deal.
“It just depends on where God is leading you.” Amen!
Funny I linked her from Facebook but I agree with your post. I am doing a blog update next month. I am not sure why? I am not technical but I want it to look nice. It is also a mystery to me about advertising and Facebook. I am probably not an average user but I NEVER click to advertising on Facebook. I liked the old Pinterest when the only feeds came from pinners I accepted into my feed. Is it just me? The little “tweet this” command in the middle of a blog posts rubs me the wrong way. I wish it didn’t, but it’s true.
I have REFUSED to create a facebook account from day one. I’ve had many friends tell me I should, then in the next breath say I shouldn’t because they spend so much time on the site. Yes, I’ve missed out on some news of friends, but with phone calls, emails, and texts, I am able to keep in touch. Like you said, Facebook makes and changes the rules and once you post any information (text or photos) they own it.
Crystal Paine just wrote in her new book about her lack of a Facebook presence, and how her friends make a point to call or email her personally because they know she won’t ‘see it on Facebook’. I think that’s cool, don’t you?
Excellent, excellent job, Trina. And though I won’t be quitting Facebook entirely, I will definitely be giving myself more grace when it doesn’t work the way I’d like it too!
hooray for more grace! thanks for your help when this post was in the editing phase!
I so totally agree. It’s not just the irritation I feel over the constantly changing rules and the less than one percent of your audience who sees your posts, but the statistics that you shared that show that facebook just isn’t the place for marketing. It’s the place for community with friends. (I don’t even use it for that, I’d rather actually talk to my friends. But I digress.)
I decided when I launched my new site not to even have a facebook page. I’m so happy with that decision. No more feeding the facebook monster with pithy tidbits all day long. Now I can focus on actually creating quality content, and getting to know Pinterest (a much less demanding tool for sure).
“No more feeding the facebook monster with pithy tidbits all day long” Beth! loved this description! lol
You know I love this post, friend. (As evidenced by the fact that I just took over your entire comment section. 😉 ) Thanks for bringing clarity to The Great Facebook Debate.
Hey, thanks for bringing so much to the conversation! (especially since I had to be away from the computer all morning running errands)
But what if you don’t have readers yet? If you don’t self promote – I’m of the mind that you’ll never get organic traffic.
As for Facebook – I love it. It is absolutely frustrating how few of my fans see my posts, but I still have good interaction with the ones that do and since my online business (aka blog) crosses over into my real-life cake business – it’s a good place to connect with customers, gain new customers, etc. when they see my cakes.
Rose, it sounds like you’ve found a sweet spot for you and your business–I’m glad!
If you don’t have readers yet, I think making your friends aware of your blog occasionally is great, and they’d probably appreciate it! But as I said in a comment up at the top somewhere–it’s never too early to focus your efforts on learning to use good SEO strategies and post titles that make your posts easy to find and easy to share.
Rose, I think local businesses are one of the exceptions to the rule as far as Facebook pages are concerned. While I’ve seen interaction drop somewhat on the local business FB page I maintain, it definitely still has a lot more interaction than anything blog-related I do on other FB pages.
good points! Thank you for the food for thought 🙂 I have many times considered going “organic” with my blog, because in the background I keep hearing “He brings the increase”. Simplistic, yes, but foundational to remember.
Amen, Katie!
preach it, sistah!
I’ve given up on Facebook! It literally brings a few people to my blog each month where Pinterest brings me thousands. I’m not wasting my time anymore. SEO, Pinterest and Networking have proven to work best for us!
yes, yes! to the networking and catering to Pinterest with quality post graphics. Thanks for sharing what works for you, Christen!
About time people started fingering this out. Never would go on any social networking sites. I don’t understand why the younger generation wants to share every time they sneeze.
My thoughts exactly. I’ve been really leaning this way for a while now, since I started writing for and doing website admin for a nonprofit, whose director has spent untold HOURS each day on Facebook. She’s hooked, and I’m working on retraining her to do her updates on their site’s blog. She sees the “# people saw this” and thinks it’s a GOOD thing when in fact it’s consistently 3-30% of her followers who actually see her updates. As I’ve grown frustrated with using her FB page it has come back around to my own FB page too, and I’ve almost stopped posting anything there. My site traffic comes from Pinterst and Google, and the occaisional person who shares a link on FB.
ALSO Did you know that the newest Facebook app update requires access to all the text messages stored on your phone? I deleted my FB app over it because they have no business in my text messages, and I wrote a post about it.
oh yelp. I think I accepted that update? lol I will just hand my phone to my man and ask him to fix it. 😉 thanks for the heads up, Dawn!
Knew you’d love this post, Dawn. 😉
Thanks for this evenhanded, helpful, statistical post. I so appreciate it. I’ve long felt that my efforts on Facebook have been fairly fruitless (in terms of directing blog traffic). When I instead see it as a place to connect, I don’t get as frustrated.
Amen! I love Facebook for the connection it brings. I only get frustrated when I try to promote posts via Facebook.
Thank you for your kind words, Mary! I’ve learned a lot from watching you rock Pinterest. 😉
Great point, Mary. I think remembering that connection is the impetus behind our using Facebook (and writing at all) is the key. I get a little muddled in my mindset and need to refocus on my entire purpose as a communicator. Then, the frustration is eased and a little joy returns.
Oh, I’m definitely here. I’ve been searching my heart on the “going organic” issue because it’s true… this is the only way the word, the message and the heart will go forth. It’s really time for us to pick up the mantle and stop trying to use the world’s methods and shortcuts. But I’ll still have some connection with Facebook because some folks do find and share that way.. but it’s minimal at best.
I think organic Facebook shares will continue to be the way that many posts get found and even “go viral”. But the days seem to be numbered of our own promotion of our posts on Facebook being the way they’re found. That being said, if you want to go “nearly organic” you could automate posts to your Facebook page or profile (via various plugins or apps). I think it’s going to be one way to enable us to keep our posts showing up somewhere on Facebook without throwing effort after almost nothing.
Hi! Yes, you’ve put down concisely what we’re all facing. My husband, who regularly clicks from facebook to read my blog, hasn’t received the past two blog post links into his feed. So, I’m not sure of the details of the algorithms (and I’m a word-girl and algorithm is practically speaking klingon) so I get lost in that concept.
I do know that I have been called to focus on what’s in front of me, build relationships close-up in the writing and ministry community, so I’ve been open to ideas and God’s leading nearby.
I’ve selfishly not wanted to utilize Pinterest because it’s like flipping through a magazine and relaxing for me, and I kind of don’t want to make it “work”. Who’s to say Pinterest won’t start changing things up…? Anyone else feel this way?
This is interesting:
http://stuffchristianslike.net/2014/01/22/many-photos-many-laughs/
Jon Acuff is promoting a pinterest-party thing encouraging engagement. So this is a way to utilize pinterest…? (I notice, too, that he has someone from his team managing it)
Group boards are definitely the new “thing” on Pinterest! It’s a way to share your own Pinterest followers with others, or to expand your pins to a new audience. Here’s a Pinterest group board “welcome letter” that might help explain them.
I think I’ve always used Pinterest more as an organizational method of the posts I want to keep track of, rather than as a fun magazine. But Pinterest is experimenting with promoted pins, so we definitely don’t want to put all our eggs in that basket, either!
My husband frequently gets frustrated by not seeing specific posts on Facebook that I have. A lot seems to have to do with whether he’s using his iPad or the laptop, but still, the algorithms Facebook don’t always make sense!
Oh, I’m sure pinterest will not always be the wonder it is right now. That’s why our priority must be focused on quality, evergreen content over self-promotion.
You don’t have to promote yourself on pinterest, dear! But it’s not a bad idea to include a pinnable image in your posts so others can share you there! 😉
Alyssa does a great job with pinnable images–I know, I’ve been pinning her posts. 😉
Alyssa, another thought: I’ve heard that creating a “Best Of My Blog” board is one way to have just one board where you pin your own blog posts to, so that people can follow or unfollow it as they like. That might be a way to pin your own posts without feeling like you were promoting yourself too much?
Aw, thanks Gretchen. And I could begin with a board like that. You always have so much good stuff to share, Gretchen. (I’m such a right-brained person, I forget to use things like Pinterest to organize.) I love the discussion on this as much as the original post! Thanks, Trina!
I’m already on the anti-Facebook bandwagon, so you didn’t need to do much to convince me. BUT, this post is very smart and I wanted to take a second to applaud you for it.
Also? I found it through a friend who shared it on Facebook. Organically. 😉
Organic Facebook shares are the best!
Sarah–thank you. 😉 your comment was encouraging and proves my point decisively.
Amen! I have to keep reminding myself that facebook is not the end all-be all. I keep having minor “panic attacks” when I realize I haven’t posted or shared anything to FB in almost a week 🙂
deep breaths, friend, deep breaths! 😉
Man… this is so true. Facebook feels like a sand-in-the-sieve trap all the time. The only reason I still post my blog stuff on there is because I’ve had a couple people specifically ask me to. Like you said though, their house-their rules!
Love your word picture here, Jessiqua! There are automatic methods for posting your blog posts there, if that would make it easier for you. (Networked Blogs will work no matter your blogging platform.)
Good post!
Hi!
I’ve been following your blog for a while and I love it! I’m new to blogging, though, and don’t really know much about sharing on social media, so this was really helpful. I have been sharing on Pinterest, but I’ve gotten maybe one click from there. I don’t have a Facebook or a Twitter. I know you don’t recommend them, but I’m wondering if either would be beneficial for a new blogger. The thing is, I have very few followers and I feel like I need to share in order to be noticed. Would your recommendation be different for a new blogger?
Thanks so much for your insight!
Megan
Megan, it’s tough trying to get noticed as a new blogger, and it’s even tougher to try to build up Facebook fans and get noticed on Facebook in these days of Facebook algorithms and paid promotion. Do you have a personal Facebook account? I’d recommend selectively sharing your latest blog post link there. Not every day (if you post every day), but once a week or so. Not in a way that will spam your friends, but in a way that will let them know you are blogging and give them the opportunity to see your post. Links that are shared via a personal Facebook timeline are much more likely to be seen on Facebook than links that are posted to a page.
Megan,
I agree with Gretchen that occasionally sharing posts to your facebook friends can be helpful. I do this myself occasionally if it’s a post that I know a specific friend would appreciate (I post it publicly, but take the time to tag them in the comments so they’re sure to see it!)
My recommendation to new bloggers would be this: I think it’s never too early to take yourself seriously as a blogger and study and grow in your skills. Studying the art of writing a good post title, learning basic SEO, and making sure your content is easily shareable for your readers are all things you can do now that will have long-term benefits on your blog.
I noticed you’re doing a great job creating custom graphics for your posts–that’s excellent! Here’s some resources I recommend for you…
https://gretchenlouise.com/seo-strategies-yoast-plugin/
http://boostblogtraffic.com/headline-hacks/
Thanks so much for the advice, Gretchen and Trina! I really appreciate the input.