Does Facebook Lie?

**Warning – About to climb on a soapbox**

I receive messages and people tag me on Facebook asking questions. Totally cool – I love helping people whenever I can. One of the most common complaints I see on FB is about reach stats.

What do you mean that ALL of my fans don’t see everything I post? They liked my Page, they should be shown everything I post.

No.

There are 300 people in this group, why does it say that only 35 people saw this post? Shouldn’t FB make sure everyone in the group sees it?

No.

Before this turns into an essay, let me make a few things clear.

1. Not everyone who ‘liked’ your Page actually likes you or your work. (Try not to take this too hard. Did you run a mutual like fest at any point? Did you have a post go viral organically? Did you run badly targeted ads? Did you coerce beg family, friends, or coworkers to like your Page ’cause they said they liked your writing’)
2. Not everyone who ‘liked’ your Page wants to see every kind of content you post. (Some people scroll past photos, and others only engage when asked a direct question, etc.)
3. Not everyone who ‘liked’ your Page will engage with every piece of content, even if they did see and enjoy it.
4. Not everyone is on Facebook every day.
5. Not everyone is on Facebook when you post. (Timezones, work schedules, etc.)
6. You’re competing with approx. 200 pieces of content at any given time. It could be that your post was edged out by people with a more engaged audience at that precise moment. There’s no way to tell when this happens – but this is what keeps the playing field level.
7. FB tells you who could have seen it – doesn’t mean they did. Maybe they were distracted, or scrolling, or just not interested at that moment.
8. People can choose what notifications they receive in a group, what content appears in their news feed. The average Canadian has joined close to 200 groups — it would be impossible to have all that content appear in news feeds.
9. Not everyone who joins a group checks in with that group everyday, or even every time they’re on FB. The most recently engaged content pops up to the top, it’s possible your post got lost amid others that were more popular that day.
10. Reach stats are notoriously buggy, so relying on them makes people lose it when they’re off. What do you mean only 5 people saw this post – 7 people liked it. Obviously there’s a bug. Deep breath, the stats will be fixed in a day or so.

I’m also a little tired of people complaining that Facebook ads don’t work. WHAT?! Facebook is a really great way to connect with readers, find new readers, and build your tribe. Facebook is NOT out to get you. They are a publicly traded company, they have to make money. Just like any other business, they’ll let you buy exactly what you want whether that’s what you need or not. Does a cashier pull you aside to let you know that top you’re about to buy really looks awful on you? Does the coffee barrista refuse to sell you that fifth cup of coffee in a day?

Spend some time to learn how to run effective ads, how to engage with people to get great organic reach, how to build a tribe that’s genuinely interested in what you do or write.

**climbs off soapbox**

 

Watch for the upcoming release of 31 Days To A Facebook Platform.

 

 

 

 

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