H. Hutson & B. Kearley
You Think Facebook Is Irrelevant.
We know, we know. You think Facebook is dying. But don’t count it out just yet! While younger generations are moving away from Facebook, the bulk of the population still checks their Facebook news feed almost daily. “In fact, Facebook is used to share content more than email or any other online social platform”, (Do People Share More on Facebook or Twitter/Bullas).
Additionally, with the intention of reaching the masses, Facebook specifically is designed as a “sharing” platform vs other platforms. Coming in at the largest social platform currently available; Facebook gives you access to a community upwards of two billion people, (Business Insider/Dunn ). And let’s not forget about their ad center. As with most social platforms now, Facebook is “pay to play” when trying to reach high numbers of followers. However their ad platform is unlike any other in that it allows you to target specific and useful audiences, rather than waste your advertising money on people who aren’t potential fans or customers.
Your Followers Don’t See Your Posts.
The reality is that most Facebook/Twitter/Instagram posts are only seen by 10% (or less!) of the people “following” you. Your posts aren’t getting as much exposure as you think.
Reaching “Other” Fans.
Don’t limit yourself to providing content to only your followers. Your posts and updates should reach beyond your social feed and attempt to find new fans/followers. As important as it is to get your content into your followers’ feeds and keep them engaged, you must also get it into your followers’ friends’ feeds as well.
One of the ways to reach “other” potential followers is by using hashtags and tagging businesses, pages and individuals. People scroll through their news feeds at an alarming rate. Take advantage of any technique that will set your content apart from others . . . it. emojis, ellipses, line spacing . . . all are useful..
Don’t Forget The “Social” In Social Media.
Stop using your social media platforms to distribute only your content. It is more important to connect with your followers and fans. That’s what social media was created for . . . to connect people with each other. While the number of followers certainly matters to “the powers that be,” who are looking to book you, it doesn’t help you grow/increase your followers. People share and follow things that they feel connected to. Avoid blasting them with show flyers, and give them a reason to engage with you. The entire world is at your fingertips. They’re all looking for the same thing –someone to interact with them.
Through social media, you have the ability to connect with people on a personal level. Consumers want to interact and work with real people. They are moving farther and farther away from their televisions every day. Don’t make the mistake of turning your feed into the same thing.
Repurpose Your Content.
Chances are, you are spending valuable time creating content for your social media, but only 10% of the people you’re targeting are seeing it. Repurpose your content . . . not repeat . . . REPURPOSE. Take some of the guessing out of it. Catalog your favorite content, include videos, images, text and then improve upon them before sharing again, making them new again. Turn your favorite videos or images into a boomerang or gif. Add a filter and flip the image. You can use free services like canva.com or remove.bg to help. When resharing old images, give shout-outs to venues/performers/bookers that you have worked with before. Take this chance to remain fresh in people’s minds, beyond your followers. A simple tag on facebook at the right time could result in a booking.
Repurposing posts/content will help your content reach wider audiences. Your followers are not likely to notice it is happening, especially if youchange up the text or image slightly. Repurposing, while continuing to produce quality content, is a key to successful social media platforms.
Not All Shared Content Is Good Content.
People don’t share content because it’s “good”. People share things that they connect with. Content that makes them laugh or that makes them feel strongly (one way or another) will motivate them to follow/share. This doesn’t mean that you should be putting out garbage content. Think about how many things you see each day on social media that make you laugh or smile, and you scroll right by them without a thought or a click. Following something or liking is personal. Your followers/consumers are essentially giving you their stamp of approval. Don’t take that lightly.
Let’s Talk About YouTube.
Stop uploading videos to only YouTube. Yes, of course use YouTube. YouTube the largest hub of video content to date, but more importantly, it is the second largest search engine. YouTube allows you to take advantage of video monetization like no other platform, but if you’re not putting your videos on YouTube, you are missing an entirely separate potential audience.
In addition to YouTube, you should be uploading your videos directly to Facebook’s native player. People are lazy. By sharing a YouTube link on your Facebook page, you are asking them to take an extra step. Most of them are not engaging with your content already, so asking them to make the effort of clicking before they even see the content is outrageous. They don’t have the time. They have already moved on. Beyond that, one trick to the Facebook algorithms is they like to promote their own content. So a video uploaded natively is going to automatically be placed in more feeds than a link that sends consumers somewhere else. They want to keep people on Facebook.
Do Clubs And Bookers Really Care About Your Followers?
Yes! In today’s comedy climate, bookers and club owners definitely look at these numbers (at a minimum). If you are funny, and a well-known name, they may not affect whether you get a booking or not … but if your follower count is high, it certainly doesn’t hurt.