Will Interests Lists Kill Engagement?

I’m sure we’ve all seen the viral post by now. If not, let me refresh your memory:

Hi Friends,

Facebook now requires page admins to pay to promote their updates if we want our content to be seen by folks who have already liked our page. If we do not pay to promote our posts, you will only see a portion of our posts on your news feed

To keep RECEIVING ALL POSTS FROM US go to the “Like” button near our name and hover your mouse over the like thumb. In the drop-down menu select “ADD TO INTEREST LISTS”. Then create an interest list (and make a name for your favorite sites). When you select that interest list you will again get all of our posts and not 10% of them.

We recommend that you follow the above instructions for ANY Facebook page you care about, so you can continue seeing all the posts from the pages you already like.

Before I go any farther, let me say this is my opinion.

My opinion.

That means you can disagree with me … or not. It’s up to you. It’s just my perspective.

Let me tell you a little story.

Picture this: Texas. It was yesterday.

A Social Media Manager was trying to get all of the new pages she had ‘liked’ into interest lists.

She also talks to herself – it’s okay; she only answers the voices in her head.

“Oh, look!” she says. “Here’s a good one!”:

“That’s a really nice one”, she says.

See where she hovered over the ‘Like’ button? ”

Oh, yummy! There’s a link to add it to an interest list! I wonder why there is a checkmark next to the ‘Show in News Feed’ link? Oh, well! Let me just get this done!”

Our erstwhile Social Media Manager clicks the link to add to an interest list and gets this:

“Since this is fairly local and I want to see ALL their posts, I’ll put them in my interest list for Local Business!”, she exclaims, feeling rather proud of herself.

“Wow, that’s a bunch of lists I already have!”, she thinks out loud to herself.

Hey, I warned ya.

She chooses her list and clicks the ‘go back’ link.

All is fine in the world.

Now she’s back at the very same place she started and she notices that checkmark again.

“Hmmm….”

“What’s the point of having the posts I *will* get cluttering up that news feed? How nice of Facebook to give me the choice! Awesome!” And she clicks the link and downs another Red Bull.

And now she has this:

Liking what she sees and feeling pretty proud of herself she goes about her day. She reads. She writes. She drools over Shep Smith.

Little does she realize that her news feed page now looks like this:

“Wow, there’s a lot there on that left side.”

And, on top of that, she needs to scroll down some more!

“Look at that!”, she blurts. “I would need to take THREE shots to get that whole favorites list in!”

That isn’t even all of them!!

Now she realizes that, if she wants to see the lists she has created, she’ll need to scroll down to ‘interests’ and hover, then click ‘more’ to get to the page that show all of her lists.

“This is crazy”, she says to absolutely nobody. She decides to continue on course and hover over ‘interests’ and click on ‘more’, just to see what she’s dealing with EVERY SINGLE TIME SHE WANTS TO CHECK HER LISTS.

Do you think she’ll remember to do that every time?

I don’t. Red Bull gave her wings but she needs some Gingko to clear that brain.

Her next page looks like this:

And that’s just s FEW of those lists. OY.

“I’m trying to make it EASIER, not more time consuming!”, she wails.

Let’s help her out, shall we?

Suddenly her brain clears and inspiration hits.

“Hmmmm… let’s check out that little pencil to the left of those lists….”, she thinks, as she clicks the pencil.

“Oh, my goodness!”, she squeals. “If I click on ‘Add to Favorites’ I can keep it ALWAYS on the left side of my feed! I can tame my news feed and STILL see more posts from my favorite pages!”

And that’s the end of THAT story. However, we need to think about a few other things.

Think about this:

That viral post only goes so far in telling them what they need to do. It takes them right to the point where they can make a choice to click that ‘show in news fee’ link or not – doesn’t mention it or give them any direction for it.

Do you really want to leave it to chance? If you feel like you MUST share that viral post, add to it! If nothing else, tell them to check out this blog post before they set up the lists.

On my personal profile I have asked my friends about interest lists. Most have no clue what I’m talking about because they are here to play games and check out what their buds are up to.

Who really sees my stuff anyway?

If you have a fan base of 1000, you’re reaching anywhere from 100 to 200 fans with a normal post. Facebook’s algorithm only shows your posts to that many organically (unpaid). If the fan doesn’t interact with your page they will see it less frequently until they see no more at all.

Did you catch that?

If a fan does not interact with your page – and that means clicking ‘like’ or ‘share’ or commenting on a post – they are already dead to you.

And, of course, if they aren’t seeing your regular posts THEY WON’T SEE THE ONE YOU POST ABOUT INTEREST LISTS EITHER!

Even the 10-20% that DO see your post DON’T SEE THEM ALL! There is no guarantee they’ll even see this one.

What can I do?

You can always choose to do a promoted post (if you have over 400 fans) and target JUST current fans if you want to be sure that MOST will see it. There is no way they will ALL see it because of that pesky little ‘show in news feed’ link. It’s a guarantee that a few of your fans will remove that checkmark without choosing an interest list for your page. It just happens.

Or you can let those fans go bye-bye without a fight and just beat the bushes to find more. Wasn’t that fun the first time? Goody! I can hardly wait!

Yeah, I know the viral post says Facebook ‘requires’ you to pay so your fans see your posts. Facebook doesn’t require you to pay jackspit. You can pay a little (have you compared it to print, radio and TV lately?) and target fans … or not. It’s always up to you.

Your choices:

ante up and pay the fee

grow more fans and do it right.

What would you do, Beck?

Well, since you asked nicely and I can tell you’re concerned, here is what I would do:

post something that most people cannot bear to see without commenting, liking or sharing

And then promote it to fans and friends of fans. And then THANK THEM for their interaction so you get some engagement going.

And keep talking to them!

And by the way …

… if all you are posting is promotional or selling (like your daily specials) — they’ve already tuned you out. Mix it up – you need a STRATEGY. But we can talk about that when we get together. Call me.

As for me, I’m going to post something that will make engagement go through the roof AND promote it! Go check it out on my Page