More Changes Mean it’s Time to Alter Your Facebook Strategy
Filed Under Social Marketing
If you are like most businesses, you have noticed a significant drop in your Facebook reach over the last few weeks. (And if you haven’t noticed, it might be time to have a look at your metrics!) This is because of some more changes that Facebook has done to its News Feed algorithm and it has a lot of businesses, big and small, feeling very frustrated.
The updated algorithm means that fewer of your fans are going to be able to see the content you are posting every day. The reason behind these changes? Because Facebook has decided that it is time for businesses to “pay to play.”
For years, Facebook has been an amazing, free way for businesses to market their brand. It gives them a platform to reach out and engage with their target audience and grow their business and boost sales. Social media is one of the best ways to help encourage brand loyalty as well.
Over the last year, Facebook has made several changes to its algorithm which made businesses work harder to be seen by their fans. We saw an increase in the amount of advertising options during that time too.
With Facebook becoming a publicly traded company in 2012, it is no surprise that it has been looking for more ways to generate revenue. The way to do that is to offer businesses the opportunity to advertise.
As a business, it might seem unfair that something that was free only a few years ago is now turning into another marketing platform that we have to pay for. But the reality is that Facebook has grown so huge during that time- approximately 1.1 billion users!
That many users mean a whole lot of content being added every single day. That amount of content needs to be organized somehow in order to make it easier for things to be seen in News Feeds. For businesses, paying for advertising is going to be the best way to make sure you are still reaching your audience.
So, what do you do now? It’s simple. You don’t want to abandon your Facebook account just because it’s going to start costing you. After all, there are 1.1 BILLION people on there! It’s not a platform that is going away.
Facebook will continue to be one of the greatest ways to reach out to potential customers and build stronger relationships with the ones you already have following you. In exchange for that benefit, you will have to start paying for it.
So here is what you should be doing. First, always make sure that you are posting high-quality, unique content. The purpose of content is to bring value. If you are not creating original content that people want to see and read, then your reach is already much less than it could be. Ask yourself if your content is entertaining and useful. If it’s not, make changes so that it is.
Next, look at all of the advertising options available through Facebook. There are a lot of different ways that you can reach your audience and you can find something that will work best for your brand and your budget.
If you still haven’t taken a look at how the algorithm changes have affected your reach, look under Insights at your page’s reach. If you notice a drop in the number of people your content has reached over the last month, then it is definitely time to get serious about making changes to your Facebook marketing strategy.
Have you seen a drop in your Facebook reach? What changes do you plan to make to bring that number back up?
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Dawn Pigoni, IVAA Member
