I’ve been talking to a lot of business owners lately (both here and outside of the Clubs) and it seems like there is a wide range of sentiment towards Facebook.
Some are irritated and/or confused about the changes Facebook has been making recently and others still have a positive feeling about how Facebook is going for their business.  I thought I’d just take an informal poll as to what your thoughts were and what you thought about the future of Facebook.  Let me know!

I am brand new to facebook but quite honestly I do not see why people want to know what I am doing every minute of the day. The time line concept makes no sense to me at all and the page layout I find confusing. I have attached my facebook to my blog , so when I post to blog it updates facebook, I am going to try and create some pages (similar to my website so people can actually search for homes)- but I think I am missing the whole picture , it actually makes no sense at all to me- but I am hoping I am wrong and can generate some business from facebook

I have the feeling that for businesses, it’s getting more and more difficult to reach your audience. FB adverts are getting more and more expensive, people have too many pages they like – there’s simply too much noise and competition going on now.

I personally think that people will turn away from Facebook the more the company (FB) implements new advertising opportunities. It’s a natural thing. Wo likes to be bombarded by ad messages all the time (on your computer, on your mobile, whereever you are or go)?

Nothing big will happen in a few weeks or months or even years. But there will simply be something new popping up – more or less suddenly - that people will jump on. And lose interest in Facebook.

By coincidence I fell over this article today, which also talks about ‘death of Facebook’ – for reasons of being unable to ‘go mobile’.

@claudiapoeckl  It’s true that there is a LOT of clutter out there. But if Facebook doesn’t find a way to monitze their interface they will definitely fade away.

Facebook seems to have peoples attention, I just think it’s up to businesses whether they have the time and inclination to leverage it to their advantage. For some tips on how you can break through the “clutter” check out @nelsonta ‘s Omnibeat’s  interview with  Frank J. Kenny 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LwOV2JsjWz0

I think that a lot of businesses for instance – @findnjhouse, don’t get the whole picture because Facebook is not intended to be a sales tool.  The purpose of it is not to rake in earnings.  It is there for socializing and engaging fans.

People are fans of lots of pages and they will interact with the ones that are interesting.  The ones I interact with the most are local businesses & some entertainment ones.  So if you are confused about Facebook then you might be using it the wrong way. 

Either way – I spend waaaaaaaay too much time on it!!

I don’t like the new Timeline! I prefer the newsfeed which is much easier to follow, especially with the “most current” option for everything. I don’t want Facebook trying to show me what it thinks I want to see as a “Favorite”.

I don’t like Facebook limiting who sees my posts, especially for business pages. If I “Like” a page, I want to see all the posts, and I want my fans to be able to see all my posts.

I’ve been a FB evangelist for a long time. I’ve been on since 2007 for personal use, and for about 2 years for business. I’m always touting the wonders of FB to clients and prospective clients. Typically, I’m the one defending FB and Zuckerberg for their changes and corporate decisions. Until lately…

For the past year or so, it’s gotten harder and harder to garner engagement with fans – not because of lack of content or interest, but because posts don’t show up in their news feeds. FB would have us believe that they’re doing users a favor by not cluttering news feeds with posts from Pages that users don’t engage with. My contention is, and always has been, that a fan can’t very well engage with a Page’s posts if they’re never seen in the first place.

I recently re-branded my company and started a new Page when the new company launched. I spent quite a bit of money on FB ads and grew the Page exponentially in just a couple of weeks. Awesome!! However, what I’ve realized is that no matter how much the Page grows, only a very small percentage of those fans will ever see my posts. Many of my new fans have even messaged me to ask why they aren’t seeing posts. So, why am I spending money to grow the Page with targeted fans, if they won’t see the content? I’m now questioning whether FB ads are a wise investment for my clients as well.

When FB rolled out Promoted Posts, that just about put me over the edge! I was running my ad campaign at the time, already frustrated that most of these new folks weren’t seeing my posts…then they roll out this new feature where I can spend MORE money so that a larger percentage of the folks I just paid to get to the Page will see my content? Yeah, thanks. It doesn’t make sense to me.

As I said, I’ve always been an evangelist for FB, but I’m suddenly questioning my loyalty. I realize they need to monetize the site – and quickly, but if they expect businesses – especially small businesses – to spend their money on ads, sponsored stories, promoted posts, etc, they’re going to have to go back to the days when a Page like meant that Page’s posts will be placed in the fans’ news feeds. My other contention has always been that when a person likes a Page, they do so because the WANT to see the Page’s content. If the Page delivers substandard content, posts too often, etc, users are quite capable of unliking the Page on their own. FB shouldn’t decide which Pages I, or my Page’s fans,  want to see.

I’ve been in the midst of quite a conundrum lately regarding how to advise my clients about FB ads and FB, in general. I still believe it is a powerful business tool (not for selling, but for attracting and engaging a targeted audience, for customer service, etc), and I believe they’ll eventually figure it out…I just hope it’s sooner rather than later. 

@annfurnivall No, that’s not what I meant. Promoted posts won’t help you connect with fans/get likes. I suppose you could get a few likes here and there from friends of fans who see the post in the ticker (due to an interaction from an existing fan), but the “point” of Promoted Posts is that they ensure that more of your existing fans will see your posts. That’s what disturbs me. My point is that existing fans should see my posts whether I promote them or not; especially if I’m already paying to get those fans to the Page via ads. Why am I paying to get them there via ads if they’ll never see my content – unless I promote a post? Even when we’re not advertising, by selling Promoted Posts to us, FB is basically saying that we have to pay to reach more of the fans who’ve already liked the Page.

If you’re getting 20-30% average reach, consider yourself lucky! Facebook says the average is 16%. Most of us have been seeing much lower percentages lately.

@carole thanks for taking the time to write out your thoughts. Definitely some valid insights.

The rub that I repeatedly hear is that users that like a page aren’t seeing those posts in their newsfeed.

FB uses an algorithm to discern what posts to load. If I start interacting more with a friend or business then I see their posts more in my newsfeed. I just don’t see this as a negative. I’m glad I don’t get presented with posts from friends and business I haven’t really engaged with. 

As a business this presents a bigger challenge since now I can’t just leave it at getting people to like me, I also have to keep working to get them to engage with me.  

FB is a tool and you need to continue to “work it” to get results. This really just sound like everything else in life…

PS
personally, I love the new timeline layout.  

@robinkruk I totally agree. The cover photo is excellent real estate. We use that space to show off our app and our team…well in an animated way…but none the less they are there.

Great topic @andrea-vahl

I love Facebook, it has been very good for me.  But now…..  They are have changed the rules.  On the average, maybe 16% of our fans see our posts.  Yes, we can pay for ads or Promoted Posts, but Facebook has always said it would be FREE.  Now, we are becoming invisible. 

This is sad for me as so many of my fans are business owners.  They do not want to pay for more exposure, and frankly I would rather not either. Since no one is seeing what they share, (even with the interest lists) they are becoming more discouraged each week.  Now, I am see more and more people talking about Google+ .

I am now experimenting (The Great Experiment) on my business page with adding more posts of different types.  That seems to be making a difference.  This will help my fans, but not unless we can get the Scheduled Posts to work right.  So many business people are unable to be at their computer all day to post, and since most people do not read the posts from the auto posting systems, this new Scheduled Posts seems like the answer for them.  Today, I was only able to make one.  The others have gone into my Timeline newsfeeds.  However, I have found (we are on day two…) that by increasing my posts (double the amount) that the reach has gone further and I am attracting more fans!  

I

 @andrea-vahl I love Facebook! especially in the early days when it use to be all about story telling. Moving forward in time to today . A whole different picture one perfect example is the IPO Facebook shares are declining. As Facebook now has shareholders it looks like it has started to implement more money making products onto the platform. It use to be posting great content at the right times would maximise your reach now Facebook are offering you the chance to extend your reach and to be seen in the news feed by promoting your posts. Think this selling tactic has caused allot of users to loose confidence in its future. It will be interesting to see how the other social networks perform alongside Facebook but personally feel like they wont stay the number 1 Social network for very long if their selling strategies keep pushing through. 

@randithompson  @mgoes  @carole @melissaholmes Fully Agree

@andrea-vahl i like  your point  about   the problems   of  seeing  your  facebook  reach….i like seeing the numbers  because im  trying to  raise  them,  but  it is  a big  notice that  everyone wasnt thrilled with my offerings…lol…isnt it  really  just  a reality  check ?..  i think its kind of  helpful….if  my posts  dont hit  30 i  know they were a C not an B+…and  once in a while i  come up with an A post  …over  40…..i just  cant  come up  with the  A  posts  every day…dang!!!  i wonder if anyone  gets  50 or  60%   ? i havent  , yet…  that would be a neat  number to know….

i   advertize in  lots of places with a lower  engagement   than  facebook,,  ….as in….  many  dont  respond to my snail mail, or  paper ads   and the  return on  my  beloved  blog  effort  was about   nothing …  ….and i did a  huge effort  targeted mailer this   spring and  got under 5%….  so  when i  get  30% on  facebook, and its about  free,  im  a happpy  camper…and   my  in store  customers  are   on it…they tell me  everyday…

but  a small return, if its a  huge sale, like i hope from my   targeted mailing is ok  too…the end  judgement  on any of  this is  about  cash money….for me anyway…on my  snail mail/email combo…if i  get   30 %  to  respond, meaning  come to the store, im  thrilled…

Hi, andrea-vahl

I was gone early this am, but am back now.  These are the statistics for Day 2 of “The Great Experiment”   I knew I would not be here this am, so I used the Scheduled Post Feature on Facebook, so I could keep on my new routine.  I am posting every 3 hours from 8 am EST to 11.   The new stats seem to show up at about 8 am so I did not see them until I returned.  The results so far.  For How to Market Your Horse Business (HTMYHB) I had been posting M-Thursday 3 times a day.  I am now doing 6.  On the second day the “people talking about this went up 84.  6 new fans.  Third day.  People talking about stayed the same.  6 more new fans (total of 12 in two days) 

Horse and Rider Awareness, my second page, has not been active like it should have been. I was focused on HTMYHB and might have posted, at the most, twice a week until this past week.  In two days, with 3 posts a day (in a very small niche)  I have added 5 new fans and increase the “people talking about this by 132. 

I thought fans would start dropping me by droves.  Instead, more of them seem to be seeing the posts on the newsfeeds.

I will keep you up to date on “The Great Experiment. 

@scottprock Wow, that’s some great feedback. Thanks for taking the time to share, and thank your wife for keeping track! Like you I kind of figured that people were engaging less than they realized. (I’ll eat some crow pie later tonight

I agree that FB needs to keep things balanced in it’s approach to monetization or they will loose out. Hopfully they’ll make some adjustments before this occurs.

@scottprock  thanks  for  sharing  ,,, good  info, it  sure sounds  convincing……….but  sorry   to hear…

. i was   believing  what the  faceboook  spokesman  said on the help  page…. 

the  taki  conversation was  interesting..and  fb   was  saying  nothing  had really changed….maybe  meaning  recently? i really havent  noticed  any  recent  changes….  its  pretty murky..

.. p.s. i still get   40%  organic   engagement  once in a while….so ????   

I will all come to an end many people are closing their Facebook now and they either have no interest anymore in the engine, or they are disgusted with its features or simply going with the Facebook flow without knowing how their data is being used to transmitted and so on.

As a marketer I am using Facebook; But Wisely!

Hello everyone! Thanks for taking the time to express your view Points. I appreciate your comments.what I understand From all the contributions so far made is that Facebook Is a place where one can just chat with friends but not really Ideal for revenue generation,then what’s the way out for Businesses!