Dodging The Unfollow Button: Staying in Your Followers' News Feeds

For example: As a personal Facebook user, you may be thrilled that when updates you don’t want to see appear in your News Feed, you can now “Hide All” or “Unfollow” content from those people and brands without unfriending them. But as a brand, you may be dismayed to learn that those who have liked your page now have the option to hide all your content in their News Feeds.

Can You Stop Users from Unfollowing?

There is no way to prevent them from doing this; what you can do, however, is encourage them to keep you in their feeds by creating updates they want to see. Let’s talk about what those updates may look like (and not look like).

• If a brand has any kind of news, whether it is a new product, new website or a move to a new location, that is worthy of a status update.
• If a page administrator has a personal viewpoint he wishes to rant about, that is not appropriate for a status update.
• When a brand has a sale on products or services, that is worthy of a status update.
• When a brand publishes its weekly blog post, that is an important status update.
• If a brand is holding a contest or promotion (on the company website, blog, Facebook page or in the store), that is a great status update that has the potential to be shared many times over. Unless your contest is boring or offensive, it isn’t likely to be hidden or unfollowed. The same goes for coupons; if you create new coupons, post a status update to promote them.
• When a brand has an opinion about a competitor, that may be an intriguing status update that could help retain followers – but depending on how the opinion is phrased, it may also be in questionable taste. Post at your own discretion.

Why the Unfollow Button Matters

Remember, users are not sent any kind of notification from Facebook when someone in the audience has unfollowed their posts. While it may be tempting to shrug your shoulders and conclude that what you don’t know won’t hurt you, that position is a somewhat naïve.

If dozens of users hit the Unfollow or Hide All button, you may begin seeing evidence of that in your rankings. While we can’t be sure, it seems safe to say that the social signals Google uses for SEO are likely to pick up on your mass exodus of Facebook followers. Logically, that would affect rankings.

To prevent users from unfollowing you or intentionally hiding your content from their news feeds, focus on creating better Facebook status updates – updates that are relevant to their interests, based on what you know about your customer base. For more help with this, contact the social media agency professionals at Crest Media.