Facebook fan/business pages are dead unless you pay to advertise

Zero people saw this Facebook post!

Facebook Business Pages are Dead

or this one, 3.8.16

Screenshot 2016-03-08 20.57.57

That’s it. I’m calling it.  I’ve been saying this ever since Facebook changed it’s algorithm after going public. And now the results of posting on a fan page have dropped to a point I didn’t think was possible. Here’s more proof. If you have the time and money to advertise on your fan page you may get more engagement/sales/attention/etc. But for the time being, organic reach has disappeared. These pages are great as yellow pages ads, though.

If you’ve got a great following – you’re getting tons of natural engagement because you have a fun following – for example, Keep Portland Weird has a page that regularly gets their posts shared like crazy. They are probably a perfect fit for Facebook. But for small businesses, I think it’s now a waste of time to post on your page.

This is why I’m continuing to place more and more of my time and effort into email marketing. I wrote about this decision a little while ago, here.

Though I’m down on business pages, I still think Facebook is good for a few things. It’s an excellent networking tool. Here are 5 Facebook Surprises.