Copyblogger’s Split with Facebook – Good or Bad Social Media Marketing?

Copyblogger, a leader in content marketing, surprised the social media marketing world by shutting down their Facebook account.

If the move was meant to grab attention, it worked. At a time when businesses and content marketing solution providers are maximising their social media presence, Copyblogger’s move was seen to upset the status quo.

Does it really? Or is it more a case of “not-working-for-us-but-might-for-you”? .

 A Bold Move and The Reactions

 Among the reasons cited by Copyblogger:

• lack of engagement
• inflated fan numbers due to ‘click-farms’ in developing countries
• and excessive resources directed towards the Facebook account

Experts weighed in with mixed reactions. Jon Loomer, a staunch advocate of using Facebook in advertising scrutinised the move and suggested solutions to overcome some of the issues that Copyblogger raised. Jay Baer of Convince and Convert, on the other hand applauded it as being aligned with the business goals of Copyblogger.

Copyblogger also called out developing countries like India, Pakistan and Egypt for Facebook ‘like-farm’ notoriety that were inflating fan numbers. As expected, digital marketers from these countries were not pleased. Some of them were true fans of Copyblogger, having followed them actively on the social network.

What We Think

We are surprised at Copyblogger’s decision. If organic reach was not working, Copyblogger could have tested out paid methods and custom audiences. Copyblogger rules out paid advertisements. But we fear that the benefits of leaving Facebook could still be outweighed by the losses in the long run. 

Readers have highlighted the lack of emotion in Copyblogger’s posts on Facebook. A number of recent posts only had article headlines and links. Merely posting the article link with a headline does not work for content marketing on Facebook. You could complement the post with copy and a featured image. Adapting the content to the channel of distribution is the name of the game.

At the time of deletion, Copyblogger had over 38,000 fans on Facebook. Yes, there were fake profile and like-farm generated followings. But deleting the account might have been too extreme of a solution.

So Should You Follow Suit?

Consider the following steps before taking a call whether to shutdown your Facebook presence:

1. Test out all possible options including paid advertising and custom audience targeting.
2. Engage your Facebook audience with accompanying text, images and replies to comments.
3. Entertain, inspire, educate your Facebook audience. Post related ‘fun’ content sometimes – comics, galleries etc.
4. Keep an eye out for new feature updates like ‘story bumping“. Facebook is trying to help businesses and you should take advantage of this.
5. Adopt a ‘hub-and-spoke’ model for your social media strategy. Own your content on a hosted website and use Facebook as a syndication channel.

If none of these methods work then you could still keep the account but only employ the bare minimum resources for upkeep. It can exist to direct audiences to your content hub.

What have you got to lose? If an ‘ideal Facebook’ doesn’t exist for your business, don’t discard the page. Divert your resources elsewhere. But what if it Facebook improves to benefit for your business in the future? Then you stand to gain by persisting with it.

Were you surprised by Copyblogger’s decision? What would you have done differently? Do let us know in the comments below.

Read more: interactive social media marketing solutions from GetIT Comms.