You probably know I’m a big social media fan. I’ve given talks about Twitter and all the other sites. Brandi Hamrick was my guest last week talking about Facebook ads. I was most excited about what Facebook could do for wedding businesses, however, Zuckerman has lost my trust with his latest move.
Facebook Hates on Small Business
Yeah, in a completely unexplainable move, Facebook decided to stop letting fan page owners customize their pages. …without paying, that is. Here’s an article that explains it all. Seems that if you don’t already have 10K fans or pay $25K, you can’t create a custom landing page for your new or old visitors to land on anymore. Rats!
This was exactly what I was worried about with Facebook. They encouraged businesses to grow there, but I always thought there’d be a catch. A fee. I imagined that they would start to charge fan page owners for access to their fans. You know, it’d be like ejunkie that charges you $.05 to send emails to your purchasers. This manuever by FB seems worse. And, I’m not the only one complaining. In the face of enormous public outcry, Facebook lifted the restrictions. You are free to customize at will ( and I’ll have something to help you do that very soon) ,however, I think there’s still reason to be concerned.
What can you do now that you’ve positioned your wedding business on Facebook?
First, I’d say re-think your Facebook strategy. It’s still a pretty good lead generator, especially using Facebook ads. However, I’d think twice about having a large part of my tribe living on FB. You just don’t know when they’ll pull the next stunt. Second, I’d start building up my other social media outlets. Really. Are you a regular at one of the article banks like EzineArticles.com? Do you have a Squidoo page, which I hear pulls incredible traffic? If not, why not? Have you tried getting articles on the first page of Digg or Stumbleupon yet? They’re social media tools too that got overlooked in the rush to get on Twitter and Facebook.
Best lesson here- don’t get complacent with your social media marketing strategy. Be ready to shift at a moment’s notice because you just don’t know how long any particular tool will work for you.
Did you know about the new Facebook rule and what are you doing about it?
PS Quick reminders!
Next Tuesday is the 7 Conversations call. It’s the first time I’m offering a coaching option so I hope you’ll sign up.
And, I’m giving you a heads up about GlamaShoot this fall! Honestly, how old is your headshot? GlamaShoot! is my luxurious mashup of networking, a mini-makeover and a headshot photoshoot all wrapped up in glamor! Still searching for a makeup studio around Boston to host us; let me know if you know someone or would like to participate. Watch for the launch of the website soon!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Are you sure this is true? If you go to http://www.facebook.com/embracelifephoto it lands you on a customized slideshow page that I created. Am I misunderstanding your article somehow?
I definitely agree that it’s not a good idea to put all your “eggs” in the Facebook “basket”, or any other single source for that matter.
Hey Adam, thanks for piping up. Sadly, I’m sure. I read the original notice of the change to fan pages myself. The new rule, which has since been rescinded (who says people aren’t powerful?!), applied to new pages, not current ones.
I’m soured on FB now. Using the FB ads is still one of the best ways to generate qualified leads (you can grab details in the store), but I’m moving my tribe off as soon as I can. Just saying and glad you agree.
Warmly d