Facebook recently announced that in 2018 the social networking giant plans to help its more than 2 billion users focus on making more meaningful interactions. It sounds warm and fuzzy, right? For brands and publishers, this is going to have a significant impact on the organic reach of your Page’s public content.
In an announcement on January 11, Mark Zuckerberg said, “I’m changing the goal I give our product teams from focusing on helping you find relevant content to helping you have more meaningful social interactions.”
While the specifics are a little vague, Zuckerberg was clear on the impact this change would have for publishers. “As we roll this out, you'll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media,” Zuckerberg stated. “And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard -- it should encourage meaningful interactions between people.”
Simply put, this change to Facebook’s algorithm will further reduce organic reach for Pages, a trend that publishers have seen over the last few years.
What do these changes mean for your business?
You can no longer depend on organic reach. So, now what? It’s time to revisit your social media strategy.
1. Review your content. See which posts receive the best engagement and then do more of that! These high-performing posts are a clear indicator of what content generates meaningful social interactions with your audience.
2. If you haven’t started, it’s time to allocate marketing dollars to Facebook Ads. Developing your Facebook Ads strategy is going to be imperative to reaching new customers and retargeting current customers. You should also boost posts that will add value and yield high engagement with your Facebook community. While you can’t get a massive amount of free attention anymore, Facebook is still the most cost-effective way to reach your audience.
3. Facebook will remain the most high-powered social network and is worth the effort, but you need to start looking strategically at other social media platforms. Consider where you can grab even more of your audience’s attention. Instagram is steadily growing and has 500 million daily active users. Start utilizing Instagram Stories and Live Video to capture your audience’s attention with creative storytelling. Just like Facebook says, find ways to connect on an even more personal level with customers.
The time to strategize is now!
While we don’t yet know the full impact this change will have on your Facebook business page, you need to be proactive in adapting your social media strategy. Over the next few weeks, I will share more specific tips on how you can continue to use Facebook and emerging social media platforms to grow your business and connect with customers.