On January 11, 2018, Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a major coming change to the Facebook News Feed, one that will likely have far-reaching impacts on brands and businesses who use the site to interact with and reach new customers.
Below are ways you can adapt to survive and thrive on Facebook in 2018.
1. Grow a Real Community of Fans
In another line from Zuckerberg’s message, he wrote:
“The public content you see more will be held to the same standard [as that from individuals] — it should encourage meaningful interactions between people.” If we take this as meaning that Facebook will prioritise feel good, personal and local stories, then it seems wise that brands will need to shift their marketing to fit within these confines – the type of stuff that generates conversation amongst groups and peers, rather than simple, throwaway pieces of content.
Some brands will find this easier to do than others – but the rewards for those that do will likely be worth the effort.
2. Provide Value-Filled Content
For businesses, social media has provided the opportunity to reach a large audience like never before, and plenty of us are guilty of chasing numbers rather than providing what people really want – meaningful content, filled with value.
As businesses, we need to re-focus on the audience, the customer, the user and deliver what they really want.
If you’re caught in the trap of chasing reach, think about switching your metrics to focus on relevance – content that drives some of the values that I mentioned in point 1 above genuine interactions, community, and a stronger bond between you and your customers.
3. Create More Video Content (Especially Live Video)
The rise of video on Facebook has been astronomic, and it’s no secret that Facebook prioritizes video content in the News Feed.
Whether it’s pre-recorded or – even better – live, Pages should consider making video content a feature in their Facebook marketing strategy. In addition, if this video content is posted regularly, and drives community engagement, you’ll be doing just what the algorithm wants.
Consider this line from Zuckerberg’s message:
“We’ve seen people interact way more around live videos than regular ones. Some news helps start conversations on important issues. But too often today, watching video, reading news or getting a page update is just a passive experience.”
In a non-direct way, he’s saying “create video, especially live, and get people talking about it.”
4. Experiment with Messenger
One of the biggest trends predicted for social media marketing in 2018 is the rise of one-to-one interaction, particularly through chat apps like Messenger.
If Facebook’s News Feed algorithm change means you’re not going to be able to reach as many potential customers as before, for those that you do reach, it’s even more important to provide a stellar customer service experience.
Messenger is perfect for this, given its immediacy and how personal the interaction is.
Think about the ways you can serve customers through Messenger, and how you can drive them to use it. As well as a button at the top of your Page, for example, Facebook introduced click-to-Messenger Facebook ads in November 2016, and click-to-Messenger ads debuted on Instagram in May 2017.
5. Implement a Paid Strategy
This is another one that me, and every other social media marketing consultant, has been shouting about for years.
Very rarely can businesses rely on the organic reach to connect with their desired audience on Facebook – at least not to their full potential. There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence out that which shows that Facebook is continuing to throttle organic reach in the News Feed, and this latest announcement probably won’t help matters.
No business will have been able to ignore Facebook’s prompts to boost a post or promote a Page, and the evidence shows – for those that are savvy, patient, and willing to experiment – Facebook advertising can be extremely lucrative.
Over to you
For brands that rely on Facebook to generate business, life is about to get harder. However, with less noise from other brands, finding the key to unlock the interest of those Facebook users also just got a lot more valuable.
SOURCE – SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY
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