If we asked you how many new social media platforms/developments have 'taken off' or been launched since the beginning of this year, most people would be able to name one or two at least (think Pinterest and Facebook Timelines). If we were to ask how many had been developed since then, the answer is probably hundreds, although everyone would be guessing! Although we have no clue on the actual stats, we're pretty sure there are plenty of new software developments launching every day designed to help us 'build relationships' and 'connect' with people or brands online. All the techies are clearly hoping they'll start the 'next big thing', yet very few actually become established as a 'must-have' for brands and consumers alike.
When they do take off though, they take off big and you cannot escape from (at least in my inbox) updates, articles and suggestions on 'how to make it work for your brand'. If you gave us a pound for everytime we hear someone say 'I'm setting up a profile on...' we'd be millionaires, yet ask them 'why' they're doing it and the answer is most likely 'because everyone else is'.
So to go against the flow, we're here to tell you about our company Facebook profile and why we'll be closing it down.
The history of our Facebook profile...
In 2009, we set up a Facebook profile to update our clients, potential clients, friends and general followers on what we were up to, the work we were doing and the projects we found most interesting in our industry - in fact, the real reason that most companies set one up! By 2011, Facebook had moved the goalposts and declared that brands should have 'pages' not 'profiles' and so we closed down the old one and set up the new one. Since then, we've had no less than 5 major platform changes (the latest being Timelines) and despite the fact that our original 2009 profile had 'connections' with over 300 people, after switching to the new one in 2011, it's been difficult to get those numbers back up (we've tried not to take this personally).
Closing down our profile...
As a full-service agency, social media management is just one string to our bow and we never advocate going it alone... By that, we don't mean you can't do it yourself, but that if you are a B2B company, social media should be just one part of your overall business marketing/pr strategy and then only if it's right for you. As part of our own 2012 strategy, we've looked at our biggest drivers of new business, our most time-consuming activities, our favourite platforms to use, our desired business direction and much more! What came out of that analysis? Facebook doesn't work for us but that is not a crime! This means, as of Friday 4th May 2012, we will be closing down our Facebook profile and venturing into the big-wide-world without it!
Why, we hear you ask?
- We've tried it and committed to it, but actually we've found it doesn't work for us. Short of 'buying' our followers with competition incentives, or special offers for a product we don't have, we're just not reaching a big enough audience for the time investment. Our business contacts as a B2B service do not want to 'like' a potential agency on their personal account and have it clogging up their news feed! Instead, they want to pick up the phone, pop in for coffee, or actually build an offline relationship at networking events. It's the personal touch that's missing!
- The only difference between the content on our Facebook page and the other platforms we use is photos. Facebook doesn't provide us with a unique service that we can't get elsewhere for our brand and quite frankly, we can find a photo-sharing option elsewhere. In fact for this, we've picked Flickr which is a whole heap less messy for keeping track of albums!
- Our other platforms simply work better for us. We've found that whilst Facebook works for B2C brands very well, for B2B, blogging, Twitter and LinkedIn are much more comprehensive and tailored for supporting our content.
- We're tired of the constant updates. Facebook keep changing the goalposts and revamping the platform, without actually refining the service or making it work better for brands. Yes they're adding cool new functionality like milestones and post pinning, but they still haven't addressed the issue of updating a page from an external platform. This is somewhat understandable because Facebook was developed for personal communication, not for brand promotion, so should we be conforming and trying to make it fit?
- You can find everything you need about us elsewhere; as mentioned, our blog, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles are all there, we're thinking about Google+ (maybe if we decide it's right) and actually, with these, you can dip in and out of who we are and what we do, at your convenience. Our blog is getting a lovely mix of new and returning visitors each month and our Twitter account is growing steadily (up nearly 1000 followers in the last 12 months).
- Unfortunately of all the API links, Facebooks is the most difficult; it is compatible with less platforms, it's more difficult to format and it's overall more fiddly. That means to get it right, we have to physically log on and repost other content onto here.
- It just hasn't been a success for us - there, we've said it and we're not ashamed about it! Good business is about trying new things and when necessary, admitting that sometimes things just don't work out!
So, after all that... whilst we've enjoyed interacting with our fans and we'll be sad not to be able to support them on Facebook, most of them follow us on Twitter and hey, sometimes you just have to let go!
So where will you find us from now on?
Although we won't be hosting our business page anymore, that doesn't mean we don't see the value of Facebook. We manage and even ghost write a number of client accounts and Facebook was carefully selected to suit their needs. They've each had much greater success than we ever have and their cover photos and Timelines look fab! You might even have seen our previous how-to guide post for Facebook Timelines which can give plenty of benefits for the right business.
Ultimately, for us, what it comes down to is that we’re not here to jump on the bandwagon of every popular platform; we believe it's more important to find the best platform for your needs and ensure you’re concentrating your efforts on those where you’re guaranteed the best result. In fact, that's the same reason you won't find us on Pinterest...
So to all our lovely fans on Facebook, it's time to sign-off and sorry if it makes you sad to see us go! You can still keep in touch via email, phone or of course pop by and we're on Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr and this blog if you'd like to join us here! To everyone else, we hope you've enjoyed reading all about our opinions and we hope to see you back soon!
Kind regards
The team at apt!