8 Strategies to Stay Out of Facebook Jail

Spinning Your Gold Blog: Words that Open Hearts and Inspire Action

"With 2.07 billion monthly Facebook users, you can't ignore the rules of the biggest social media game on the globe." ~Lore Raymond

If you want to play and successfully stay in this social media game, you must learn and follow the Facebook Game Rules--especially rules about spamming and the community standards. If you don't, be prepared to face Facebook Jail or a Timeout. 

If you do business online, you join the 42% of marketers who report that "Facebook is critical or important to their business. "If you do not consistently follow the rules, the consequences can be jolting frightening, and even financially depleting.

Rewind: This was true in my case. As an online entrepreneur, my wake-up call came after Christmas when my Facebook account was blocked for "suspicious activity." Shocked (This was a first!) I quickly resolved my status by sharing a Driver's License photo. Relieved and now back on Facebook, I immediately learned that "You're restricted from joining and posting to groups for one week."  

What?! Why?! My face flushed red. Tummy twinges followed from the feelings of shame and vulnerability. Most of all, I felt angry for not paying attention. Reflecting, numerous red flags were there--I'd just chosen to ignore them in my busy-ness. It was not a fun week to start my business year despite all my high hopes and the new 2018 mantra, Smooth Saling in Sacred Service. (The Universe does have a funny sense of humor.)

Then, just two days after regaining group access another suspension came--this time for two weeks! I knew the drill and appealed the spam opinion to Facebook. No answer. Silence. More crickets. I had to surrender.
Finally, I felt at peace.

From lessons learned, may these 8 strategies for the Game of Facebook ensure that you never get the card, 

“Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Go to jail.”

Strategy #1: Stay current with Facebook changes. 

Schedule time to read and study Facebook update posts from *trusted sources. Otherwise, you might be notified to go to your Support page to read, “Why your post was removed: We removed this post because it looks like spam to us. If you did post this and don’t believe it’s spam, you can let us know.”

Strategy #2: Pay attention to Facebook notices!

Once you get a spam notice from a post (like me), you are tagged as a spammer. Be hyper-vigilant to avoid more spam notices. (Read Strategy #3 about spam.) If tagged for spamming, you can appeal by explaining why you don't think the post was spam.

The Facebook reply: “You told us that your post wasn’t spam." 
This is followed by: “Thanks for letting us know about this post. We’ll try to check is it goes against our Community Standards and send you a message here in our Support Inbox if we have an update.” Be prepared for cricket sounds from the Facebook Team as the "crackdown" on gaming spammers and small-time offenders like me must be ginormous.

Strategy #3: Know the Facebook Game Rules about spam. 

Strategy #4: Avoid posting engagement bait.

How many of the five engagement baits are you using? These posts seem like harmless fun. Facebook sees them as attempts to artificially increase authentic engagement to bypass their stricter algorithms. The five types of engagement bait include asking friends to comment, react, tag, share, and/or vote. 

Strategy #5: Post original comments and content with intention

Facebook seeks to engage authentic engagement. Read blog posts about how to repurpose your content material. For example, a large blog post can be broken into bite-size properties to share on the Facebook game board with different titles. The key is not to re-post the exact same content to your pages or groups. Authenticity arrives while working smarter, not harder!

Strategy #6: Timing is everything

Allow minutes, days, or even weeks between posts. A scheduler can help like MeetEdgar, Buffer, Post Planner, CoSchedule, Spout Social, SmarterQue, Postcron, or Hootsuite. Consider creating an editorial calendar for your business. Repetition and too much of anything becomes a red flag! Which is why…

Strategy #7: Less is more

Consider these five stats to guide your intentional posting from Zephoria Digital Marketing in a January 2018 report:

* Post only five to six times a day with space in between your posts.

* Highest traffic occurs mid-week between 1-3 pm; posting at 7 pm instead of an hour later will often result in more clicks.

* On Thursday’s and Friday’s, engagement is18% higher.

* Facebook users are 76% female.

* Age 25 to 34, at 29.7% of users, is the most common age demographic

Strategy #8: Keep professional and personal posts separate.

Your business page highlights information to showcase and sell your services and products. Sharing posts from a business page to a personal page is a no-no. Adopt the less is more posting strategy from your business page instead of overposting. Avoid self-promoting on other business pages as likes or comments and, sending private messages to promote your business to an acquaintance. Overposting and any of these activities could result in…well, you know.

After being away from group engagement for three weeks, I am now gratefully out of Facebook Jail! 
What a joy to read these words: 

“You're no longer restricted from joining and posting to groups.”

*Trusted Resources to serve you! Meet these women with great integrity for Facebook and marketing matters. I've worked with all of them as one of their clients. Links go to their personal pages where you can access more information. Also ask to be added to my free, private group, the Writer's VisionQuest--a resource place of giving and sharing information to "take your words somewhere brilliant."

Jeanine Blackwell

Jill Celeste

Caren Taubman Glasser 
Bryna Rene Haynes
Charlyn Shelton Mentor

Dr. Minette Riordan

Karie Price

P.S.  After a not-so-happy start to the New Year, these Facebook Jail experiences inspired me to write a new tell-a-vision for me and my business. I chose to spin gold from a seemingly very negative experience.

I share the journey in a new Master eCourse adventure "Create & Write Your Personal Vision Book in 7 Sacred Steps." It combines my two passions of visioning and writing along with a love for the angels, chakras, feng shui, and numerology to serve my clients and students.