New Facebook changes: how to stay on top of your Social Media

19 Jan New Facebook changes: how to stay on top of your Social Media

You may have heard Facebook’s major news from their founder, Mark Zuckerburg, on their HUGE changes to the way we see newsfeeds.

What’s the buzz? We also know that Facebook’s main purpose is to encourage people to be social and keep in touch with friends and family. It’s also been a great tool to connect with customers and reach potential leads through business pages, community pages and groups. But let’s face it, the newsfeed has been getting clogged up with ‘sponsored’ content. Adverts that we aren’t always interested in… we want to share what’s going on in our world, ask recommendations and comment on posts that we like. Mark Zuckerburg has recognised this change in how Facebook is being used and after gaining lots of feedback, Facebook will be completely overhauling the newsfeed and changing the type of content it delivers to users. He wants to take the platform back to being ‘social’ with less marketing and sales messages being pushed in our faces. In essence, the algorithm that Facebook uses will prioritise posts that are seen as engaging and have lots of comments and shares from users. So what does this mean for millions of businesses throughout the world, including yours?

What does it mean? If you already post content that gets people liking, sharing and more importantly commenting, the changes won’t mean much. Facebook will recognise that your content is valued and encouraging users to interact with each other – creating a community conversations if you will.

If you post heavily with sales messages that don’t gain much interaction, you’ll likely see a drop in your reach. The emphasis is more on sharing news, photos and videos that your followers find interesting, relevant, even funny – it compels them to more than just ‘like’ your post. Be creative – think of content that you’d enjoy seeing. What would get you commenting or tagging friends?

What can you do? Deliver more ‘meaningful content’. This is what Facebook ultimately wants. Here are some helpful tips to keep connected with your customers.

• Share inspirational, funny and interesting photos and videos.
• Go Live – Give an insight into what’s going on with your business – ‘a day in the life of’… Do you have some great advice or tips to share? Are you in a location that looks amazing – show people this! Do you have big news coming up? The Facebook Live feature is also a great Q&A tool. Use this to ask people for their feedback and opinions on what you do or test the market for an upcoming new product or service. Live videos on average get six times as many interactions as normal videos*.
• Facebook Groups – Join local groups and use these a bit like Twitter to share ideas and news. Got lots of followers? Why not create your own Facebook Group – this is easy to do and can be linked under your Business Page.
• Use your Insights – Use this data to see what kind of posts are performing better. Which had the highest reach and engagement? Was it because you included a photo, or what you said?
• Facebook Adverts – This has always been a great way of reaching new audiences and building page likes. You can spend as much or as little as you like. Set your goal, your budget and make your audience specific. The more targeted your ad is, the further your budget will go. Facebook’s Ad Manager is great at offering tips if you’re not sure what you’re doing!
• Don’t put your all your eggs in one basket – Use other social media platforms to connect with customers and other businesses. Instagram‘s user figures are continually growing. This is THE place to share your photos, and don’t forget to tag relevant businesses/bloggers/vloggers and use plenty of hashtags (the right ones, relevant to your business) to get a good reach. Twitter has always had a sense of community about it. Build your profile, share short but sweet messages, tag in other users and don’t forget to include hashtags and links to your website. You can also include emojis as well as photos to make your tweet more visually attractive. Follow lots of businesses to build your follower base and participate in hashtag hours. Other mediums can be used such as YouTube (perfect base from which to share your videos) and LinkedIn. You don’t have to be on every social media channel, but it doesn’t hurt to be on a few – it’ll do wonders for your online presence. One tip to remember is to promote the fact that you’re on social media. People may well search for you initially, but not always. Add links on your website, newsletters, business cards, adverts. Shout, loud and proud that you use these fantastic platforms. (you’ll be surprised at how many businesses forget to do this!)

Facebook’s changes will take a few months to fully implement, so there’s no need to panic about your business page’s performance. Implement changes NOW to get ahead of the game. An initial lower reach may be inevitable, but if you invest time in posting ‘meaningful content’ that people will want to talk about, you’ll find that Facebook will continue to be an invaluable marketing tool for you.

Got any questions? Email us if you need any advice or would like to arrange a free consultation.

*Source: www.socialmediatoday.com