Lorraine Ball
by Lorraine Ball
I know what you are thinking. I just got used to Facebook and now they are changing the rules. Sorry, but that is the truth.
On Thursday, January 10, Facebook announced changes to its algorithm to increase engagement by showing more content from friends and family members and less from publishers and businesses.
So what does that mean to you? Expect to see a fall-off in your Facebook interaction. If you are already only reaching about 10% of your fans it is hard to imagine it could fall much further, but it will unless you take aggressive steps to prevent that.
Here’s what you can do:
- You and members of your staff must share company posts on personal timelines. If you are not active on Facebook, now is the time to start. The more people like and share your content, the more likely Facebook
- will be to share it with others.
- Your post must have “meaningful dialogue” in the comments. Don’t just post a picture and assume you are done. You will need to have someone from your team post a question in the comments, and ask others to
- respond. Facebook is trying to increase engagement so that is where you need to put your attention.
- Increase human interest stories. Share photos and stories about employees, clients, and vendors. Tag individuals or encourage them to tag themselves. Treat Facebook like a company scrapbook with funny
- stories and pictures of life inside your business. .
- Embrace video. It is time to stop being camera shy and try out Facebook live. Live videos, don’t need to be perfect, they simply need to be genuine. So take the camera to a job site, or around the shop. Let people
- know you will be broadcasting live, and then save it to your newsfeed so they can watch it when you are done.
- Pictures, pictures, pictures. Basically, posts without images will not be shown to followers. While original photography is best, invest in a few great stock images to add life to every post.
- Boost posts. It is time to face facts. The days of huge organic reach are over. Facebook is an advertising platform. You need to be prepared to advertise.
- Drive customers to your email newsletter. At the end of the day, you need to own your community. Facebook is a great way to reach new prospects, but then you need to drive them to your website and your email list so you can define the terms of your communication going forward.
The issue is Facebook is going to change their rules again and again. You need to stay informed and be ready to flex your marketing program to meet your objectives, not theirs.
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