Facebook is once again changing it’s algorithm. This shouldn’t come as such a shock to you. Facebook is always changing things around to make the experience on Facebook as addictive and engaging as possible. Okay, that might be the optimistic way of looking at things. Others might argue that they change the algorithm to encourage fan page owners to pay to play. It’s probably a mixture of both. And after all Facebook is a business and like all businesses they need to make money to stay alive.
Enough debating the behind the scenes reasons and let’s cut to the chase. Here’s what this newest update means to you and your business. Basically Facebook is putting a ban on overly promotional page posts.
This is the type of content they are targeting.
1. Posts that solely push people to buy a product or install an app
2. Posts that push people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real context
3. Posts that reuse the exact same content from ads
What does this mean for your business?
Not much.
Facebook has been decreasing your organic reach for a long time now. It’s estimated that only 1-5% of your fans see one of your posts anyway. We’re already working with pretty bleak numbers, how much worse could it possibly get.
If you have already been stung by the decreased reach or read my posts, then you have already adjusted your strategy. If that’s the case you are in good hands. 🙂 If not, don’t worry, there is still time to stop what you are currently doing and mix it up a bit.
How To Get Around Facebook’s Promotional Post Ban
Well, the first thing you can do is read my post on ways to increase Facebook reach without paying for advertising.
Then let’s adjust your strategy together. Here’s the best way to do that.
1. Blog More Often
Blogging is great because it gives you a reason to send people back to your site without telling them about a special or a deal. Plus, you have control of your own website which means when they get to your site you can give them a pop-up for a special, deal or contest. That’s up to you. But the blogging really helps you increase your social media shares from your side and from others.
2. Encourage Others To Share Your Content & Deals
I truly believe that the value of Facebook for small businesses lies in what your real organic fans are posting and sharing and not so much of what you are sharing. Because personal profile page reach isn’t as limited as fan page reach, more people will see it and engage with it. Plus it’s word of mouth and it’s very powerful. This means you need to have great content on your site for them to share.
Should You Quit Facebook?
It really depends on your audience and customers. It works for some and doesn’t for others. What you need to do is stop putting all your eggs in the Facebook basket. I have found that so many businesses are obsessed with Facebook because it is the network they understand best and the network they are on. The truth of the matter is that if it doesn’t bring you leads or sales, it’s really not worth it.
Plus, you can’t only rely on one network to do all the work for you. Instagram is a great network, Twitter works wonders and G+ is better than you probably think. Experiment with other sites and you’ll be able to hedge your bets.
What are your thoughts on Facebook’s new algorithm change?
