The Facebook Algorithm

 

This isn't one of those moany comments about the Facebook Algorithm. You can't change it, so if something is out of your control, you have to look for things that are. It is more of a warning to musicians and listeners who use the Social Media giant to advertise or get their music fix.

Six months in, I looked at how readers were referred to I Don't Hear A Single and 80% were from Facebook. We are now six years on and obviously the volume of visitors are much higher and so you would expect that percentage to decrease.

At this time last year, Facebook accounted for 35% of the traffic, not insignificant and I made a note to check at the same time this year. During the 12 months, I Don't Hear A Single has grown, but not significantly enough to expect that the Facebook figure would be similar.

It was actually 14%, so the Facebook algorithm has certainly changed.

IDHAS's priorities have always been towards the Indie musician, getting more listeners to listen and hopefully buy music from the artist. A door opener if you like, because we are never going to get them a massive amount of converts, but enough to make a difference. Hopefully more will pick up on them and more interest is created.

The good news is that the change in Facebook referrals hasn't affected IDHAS, so the potential audience grows. But it is certainly a note of concern for artists, labels and venues at how little impact Facebook has now and certainly a warning of how they spend their hard earned dollars on promotion. If you are not paying Facebook for promotion (and that seems to be completely unworthwhile too), you are reaching less and less potential interest.

Remember, the 14% comes from my page, two IDHAS pages and other Facebook groups, so that shows the impact is severe, I don't want to teach people to suck eggs and finding new music could be covered in a different unrelated post.

Targeted Google searches still have the biggest impact, even using a search engine different to Google as an additional source. When you find a Blog or site you like, stick with it and look at the other places they recommend you to follow. Bandcamp has if you like this, you may like that and artist recommendations on their pages. 

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I Don't Hear A Single Facebook Page

Just a quick note that an IDHAS Facebook page has been set up and from the weekend, all Facebook Promo from the Blog will go from there. That will separate my own Facebook Page, which isn't Public, from I Don't Hear A Single.

People have asked for a standalone page for a while and I've always resisted, thinking what's the point. We have the Facebook Group, but that's more of a collective for the community than a stand alone thing. My own Facebook page was constantly hitting the 5,000 limit.

You can follow IDHAS on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/idonthearasingle or by typing @idonthearasingle. At the weekend, I will remove my Facebook page from the Blog Info here and replace it with the group page. You may also get a like request for the new Blog Page.

This will allow Facebook Friends to have IDHAS separated out somewhat and so we can keep up current topics of Hipsters, What Is Power Pop, Is it Boss and Top Tips in the usual hilarious manner. The I Don't Hear A Single Facebook Group continues as it always was.

Last night, I went through the mind numbing process of deleting Deactivated Facebook Friends, so there's now 80 or so spaces for anyone who wants to friend request and join in the fun.

These announcements seem so po faced and up myself that I'll try and hold them off. The next one should be in a month or so to tell you about the new IDHAS label, saw the potential website today and it's ace and the pilots are being recorded for the new talky radio show,

I Don't See It On Facebook

I've been asked about it a fair bit, so I thought I would explain why IDHAS doesn't promote on Facebook as much now. The simple fact is that it doesn't have the reach that it used to, blame algorithms, volume of friends, adverts, whatever you like, but it simply doesn't. I'd noticed that likes and comments had been declining considerably.

I Don't Hear A Single has never been about me, but about the artists who are reviewed. At first, I thought it may be that IDHAS needed refreshing. Three Years in and it has evolved, but everything only lasts so long. So I looked at ways to correct this and talked to lots of Bloggers who were witnessing the same.

Facebook wise, algorithms came up a lot. but although likes and comments weren't massively down, it was always the same people who made the effort. Personally, I was also getting fed up of the Power Pop forums. Firstly because of the But Is It Power Pop rubbish, but also seeing the same promotional posts on a dozen different forums was making me lose interest.

I was also getting well pissed off with Bloggers who post 20 times a day, largely talking about themselves. So I looked at a way to ensure that artists reviews were seen without relying on Facebook. I will still promote a review on Facebook, but one may be on my timeline, another on the IDHAS Facebook Group. I'd also do a tagging on the forums of reviews of the previous week in one post.

Facebook can still be relevant, but the way round growing support for the artist is by fans or friends of the band linking the review in their Facebook posts, that will beat the algorithm and general noise. This is not a promotion attempt, it's a suggestion on behalf of the artists that IDHAS covers.

Without this getting boring, Google Analytics was revealed to me. Now I know that most of you will say yeah right on the benefits of such and I would have too. But having been taught the basics, I've seen the light. I don't recommend all running into Google's arms, it takes some getting used to, but it's free.

Since using Google Analytics, I've seen Blog Readership increase greatly and what is even better, the majority is in reading older reviews. I was always concerned about Readers bothering with Reviews when they drop off the Front Page. That's why the Most Popular Posts section was introduced. So I now have the best of both worlds, people are supporting the artists and finding a greater section of them.

The greatest example of this are the two Supernaturals Posts. Numbers keep going up and up, yet only 15% are from Social Media. So in summary, I'm not trying to promote Google or look that bright. I'm just explaining why I don't promote as much on Social Media. It's also a bonus not continually reading supposed Facebook Artist reviews when most of the content is about the writer.

Slave To The Algorithm

So we've all been inundated with this nonsense over the past few days. If it's so true, then why have I seen it about 500 Times. However, there is something about the new Facebook Feed that is important if you want to support the artists you follow or discover.

I've always been a bit sniffy about Facebook, but it has to be said that I have met people that I would never have come across. The days of searching for a band on Google first are becoming a thing of the past. More and more, people get their information from Social Media.

There's no doubt that when I put an Album Review on Facebook that it drives people to the post and they listen, buy or investigate more. That's what IDHAS is about and long may it continue. I've often been asked why I don't set up a dedicated Facebook page to here. I did test that, but all Facebook wanted was money to promote it, so I felt a group page and my own would be enough.

This is where I get to the point. Facebook's changes that now prioritise individual friends' posts rather than companies may make people think that there timeline will be a much happier place. To some degree it will be, but caught in the middle of this are musicians trying to let you know what they are up to and they are caught in the headlights.

Facebook will prioritise individual account names. If you are a company or more importantly, a musician operating with a Facebook artist page, you will need to pay to promote your posts or people will not see them.

I get most responses from my personal page. It must be a right pain in the arse for people who don't like music seeing the activity. But when I "like" a band on Facebook, I find others do because they get notified that I have. The same happens on Twitter and again it may irritate some, but it is for the general good of music.

I've always been a bit sniffy about Facebook Likes. I saw them as a vanity thing and we know the number of friends does not necessarily equate to the popularity of a person, far from it. It just means you can market yourself.

I also get annoyed by Internet DJs and Bloggers who get cranky about people not following them back. On another point, I get more irritated by supposed tastemakers, a term I hate, who say post links to the songs in the comments. If you knew what you were doing, you'd know, you wouldn't need to be told.

But it has never been more important for you to like a musician's post from your personal account. They know they are reaching people, know they are loved, gives them encouragement in a difficult business and most importantly, others see the post.

As for me, I'm not particularly bothered by likes, it's about the message not the messenger.