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When discussing social media for chiropractors a few months ago, I warned doctors about this.
Evidence was already showing that posting status updates to a chiropractic Facebook Page from third-party software (i.e. Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, Twitter, Sendible, etc.) was decreasing engagement with fans.
Now, thanks to a massive study conducted by Edgerank of over 1,000,000 updates and 50,000+ Pages, my early warning has been proven to be dead-on accurate.
“The result of our study was quite conclusive. Using a 3rd party API to update your Facebook Page decreases your engagement per fan (on average) by about 70%.”
Why do updates done via third-party software/apps show a lower engagement with fans?
As shared via the Edgerank blog, one possible answer is that Facebook simply penalizes third-party API’s edgerank. (The higher the edgerank the higher and longer an update will remain in your fans’ newsfeeds, therefore getting more exposure.)
“When an object is created in Facebook, it is assigned a weight. We believe that Facebook strategically reduced the weight of objects created through the API. The reason behind this strategy would be to encourage more content creation within the Facebook Platform. This ultimately increases the value of their platform while increasing ad impressions.”
So, what does this mean for you as a chiropractor?
More importantly, what are the implications of this when it comes to social media for chiropractors, in general?
Well, as I shared months ago, I urge you to make your daily updates to your chiropractic Facebook Page from within the Facebook platform. In other words, whether on your computer or mobile device, log-in to Facebook to post status updates on your page. Don’t make those updates from anywhere else.
Lastly, does this mean third-party software/apps like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck have no value when it comes to social media for chiropractors?
Of course not.
If you’re currently using a third-party social media app, you can continue to do so for updates and interactions on Twitter.
This is the exact piece of advice I shared with our docs months ago. And, it’s backed-up by the study from Edgerank – “In order to maximize your Facebook marketing efforts, we advise that you post directly on Facebook.com or use an Official Facebook App (iPhone, Blackberry, etc). Posting directly will give your posts the greatest chance of engagement (which drives EdgeRank). Don’t immediately abandon 3rd Party APIs, they still have their place in social marketing. We recommend not relying on them day-to-day for Facebook updates.”
Great post. Ever since I started using networked blogs to link my blog to facebook, my fanpage interaction dropped about 60%. This is dead on, and I appreciate you featuring this phenomenon.
I would also wonder if people that use Hootsuite tend to post generic messages that are just timed out and people posting directly are being more “real.”
Another strategy to using 3rd party apps would be to make sure your content is as conversational as possible.
I totally agree that patients want to see real time engagement and not a mass “shout out.” This makes you more real…and the clinic more real when you engage patients directly.
I’m not saying I never do this because I do blast to twitter, which is most likely just as bad.