The Facebook Drop in view That Taught Me Everything

byshawn8183

864 followers

1 month ago

You know, I never thought a year ago I’d be here where I am today.
Back then, Wildfoot Explores was still finding its rhythm. I was just posting what I loved: stories, questions, theories, a few morning coffee posts with Bigfoot things that felt real to me.

And then somewhere along the way, the numbers started climbing.
A few thousand views turned into tens of thousands, and then suddenly boom one month I was pulling a million views.

It felt like the page had taken on a life of its own.
Every post had energy. The community was alive, comments flying, shares everywhere. I was just hanging on for the ride.

Then came the post that changed everything.

The Viral Moment I Never Planned

The funny thing about viral posts is, you never plan them.
You just post something from the heart, and somehow, it hits everyone at once.

For me, that was the tribute I made for Dr. Jeff Meldrum.
I made it simple a quiet moment of respect for someone who’d spent his life studying something most people only joke about.

That post went through the roof.
Over 383,000 views.
Almost 10,000 interactions.

And hundreds of people sharing it to honor the man.

I wasn’t trying to go viral. I was just being real.
But that one post launched Wildfoot into the sky. It gave the page momentum for weeks the kind of tailwind most pages dream of.

By the third week, though, I noticed something.
The momentum was starting to fade.

Running on Autopilot

I’ll be honest I got distracted.
I started focusing more on my affiliate marketing brand, working on websites, content funnels, and all the behind-the-scenes systems that keep everything connected.

Meanwhile, Wildfoot was still running but I was posting what I now call filler content.
Posts with no real heartbeat behind them. Just enough to keep the page active.

At the time, I thought I was doing fine.
But I wasn’t feeding the story I was just keeping the lights on.

And then it happened.
The numbers fell hard. all the way down to 417.5k view now That’s a total decrease of 677,692 views,
which equals roughly a 61.9% drop in total view count.

From a million views a month down to a low 400k over a few days .
It was like trying to grab a branch while falling you can see what’s happening, but you can’t stop it fast enough.

That’s when I realized something important:
You can’t put storytelling on autopilot.

Not when it’s built from heart.

The Image That Started the Comeback

So I stopped overthinking.
I sat down, opened my files, and started going through everything image by image. I cut out the ones that didn’t fit, kept only the few that really grabbed the eye, and built one simple post.

No caption tricks. No sales pitch.
Just Bigfoot under a harvest moon, holding a jack-o’-lantern an image from an old post that had done well before. And with Halloween in the air, it just felt right.

It wasn’t meant to do much. I just knew my followers liked those atmospheric shots the quiet, moody ones that make you feel like you’re standing in the woods.

I posted it, closed the app, and went back to work.

A day later boom.
Almost 168,783 views off one image.
With 74 comments. Thousand of shares.

That one post flipped the switch back on.

How It Works (And Why It Matters)

Here’s something I learned along the way Facebook rewards connection.
It’s not about how many times you post; it’s about how alive the conversation is.

When people start commenting, replying, tagging each other that’s when Facebook steps in and says,

“Alright, something’s happening here.”
They start pushing your post further, showing it to new people, and suddenly you’re trending again.

So I started replying.
Every comment. Every conversation.

Not just to boost engagement but because that’s how this whole thing started.
Talking with real people who care about mystery, wilderness, and the stories that still live between them.

That’s when the numbers began to climb again.
And this time, it felt earned.

Climbing Back Up

Now, the Wildfoot page is back up to over 700,000 monthly views.
No ads. No boosts. Just storytelling.

Between Facebook and Pinterest, those two platforms have become the real powerhouses behind my brand and honestly, a big part of my book sales.
The funny thing is, I don’t even “sell” on social. I promote my blogs.
If I’m going to post a new blog, then that day I build around it thoughts, theories, questions, images, sometimes even a poll or a strange question about Bigfoot that ties into the topic.

That’s all it takes when it’s done with heart.
People want to talk, not be talked at.
And when they care about the story, they naturally want to see where it leads.

The Truth About the Drop

That drop the one that cut my views in more then half was the best thing that could’ve happened.
Because it forced me to wake up.
It reminded me that this brand isn’t just numbers on a dashboard. It’s a living thing that grows with the people around it.

The drop showed me what happens when you stop creating and start coasting.
And the comeback proved how fast you can rise again when you get back to doing what you love.

It taught me that every page, every brand, every creator hits a wall eventually.
But that wall isn’t the end it’s the checkpoint that separates the hobbyists from the builders.

The Next Step Taking This Style to My Affiliate Brand

So here’s what I’m doing next.
I’m taking this same style this honest, story-based posting method and using it for my affiliate brand.

Lately, I’ve been testing this exact format with my affiliate content same flow, same tone, same realness and I’ve been getting some decent results.
Not viral yet, but the engagement is solid.

You’ll see all of that soon in my next blog, where I’m going to break down what I’ve been learning from my Facebook ads, what’s working, what’s not, and how storytelling still beats shouting.

Because no matter what niche you’re in Bigfoot, affiliate marketing, or anything else people connect with stories, not sales pitches.

And that’s exactly what I plan to keep building across every brand I run.

The Heart of Wildfoot

Wildfoot Explores isn’t just about Bigfoot anymore.
It’s about connection.
Between people and mystery. Between curiosity and storytelling.

Every image, every post, every book I write is a small spark meant to remind people that the world still holds wonder.
That there are still things worth talking about.
Still trails worth walking.

And the numbers?
They’re just the echo of those conversations.

The Year That Changed Everything Final Reflection

When I look back now, it’s wild to realize how far this page has come.
Since January 2025, Wildfoot Explores has crossed 2.7 million total views, with 2,569,420 of those completely organic no ads, no boosts, just storytelling. and only 105,098 view from a test ad that went no where

I’ve had 73,900 content interactions, over 15 hours of total watch time, and more conversations than I could ever count.

That tells me one thing: people still care about the mystery. About wonder. About connection.

Yeah, the drop hurt a 61.9% fall, from over a million views in a month down to just over 400k. But that fall taught me more than any viral moment ever could.
Because I caught the problem fast. Fixed the content quality. And within weeks, Wildfoot climbed back up to over 700,000 monthly views.

That’s the part nobody talks about the comeback. The learning curve that only shows up when you stop chasing spikes and start building depth.

So if there’s one takeaway, it’s this:
Don’t measure your success by a single month. Measure it by the story you’re still telling a year later.

Because the real growth isn’t in the graph.
It’s in the connection that never stopped.

See you all in the next Blog.

Shawn