There has been lots of questions about facebook offers, and how they work. This is my gathering of information and opinions.
Recently, facebook made changes (again) to allow page owners the option to post offers to our readers. We post an offer and pay a fee for the offer, which is determined by the number of readers we wish to reach. (Of course there is no guarantee that number of people will see it.) I know some of you are confused by that last statement, so let me explain….
I have 10,700+ followers on facebook. I can pay $5 to reach 2,000 – 3,000 of my followers. Does it mean that all 2K-3K of those followers will see the offer? No. Does it mean the offer is limited to 2K-3K people? No. (Again, really confusing.) If I pay for my offer to “reach” 2K-3K, it doesn’t mean all of those people will actually see it in their news feed. But the potential is there. On the opposite end, it is possible that more then 3K people will see it at that level – because readers can share the offer or post about it on their wall.
Many offers you are seeing currently in your feeds can be misleading. Take a look at this:
The offer I posted today is clear. It explains that while you can get a FREE canvas, you do pay shipping on the offer. The offer on the right was posted by another blogger. While it’s still the same offer, it conveys something different. Take a look at the numbers. Of course EVERYONE wants a free canvas! You click this link and are mislead. You may not have gained anything from clicking (you are never obligated to redeem the offer fully. See * note below.), but the blog owner is getting lots of extra clicks and traffic to their site – with the added possibility that readers will fulfill the offer.
*When you click the offer, you are sent an e-mail with further instructions or a link to the next step on redeeming the coupon or post.
There are lots of offers right now, claiming you can get a “FREE $10 Target Gift Card”. Again, what they don’t tell you is that you have to sign up for Ebates and spend $25 to get that “free” card. I don’t believe in misleading my readers.
Some people like offers, some do not. Is this the new way of getting our posts out to our readers? I have no idea. Right now it’s the new “thing”.
Do you like the offers? Will you take advantage of some of these? Will you dislike someone’s page because they post a bunch of offers? I’d love to hear your feedback! (Click here to see the offer I posted earlier!)
Update: Read this feedback I found on another facebook page’s offer-
I hate, hate these new offers that the Bloggers are now trying out! Please tell us that this is not what we will see on your page, or how we will get to see all of your posts. If this is the way bloggers will choose, I assure you, you will lose fans. Please don’t continue with this type of posting. Don’t fall in to the facebook crap saying that your blog will be seen by more people. It’s one more step for us, because now we have to click on something else in our email, only to see it’s a gimmick because you weren’t clear in the first place. Unfortunately, if I see one more offer on your page, I may have to unlike it. I don’t like this.
