For years, companies have been using Facebook to expand their reach and their audience, but now that platform is changing.
Facebook’s news feed, which is seen by more than 1.65 billion users every month, is adjusting its algorithm to favor and promote content posted by the friends and family of its users, potentially leaving publishers out in the cold.
By making this change, Facebook has made it clear that friends and family come first on their list of priorities and news feed values, with publishers ranking far lower.
What does this mean for my company’s Facebook page?
This means that content posted by your company will show up less prominently in users’ news feeds, resulting in significantly less traffic to sites that rely on Facebook.
The news feed changes will affect all types of content posted by publishers, including links, videos, live videos and photos.
Facebook has already announced that they expect a drop in reach (that is already low) and referral traffic for publishers whose audience comes primarily to content posted by that publisher’s official Facebook page.
But, Facebook has also said that this change will have less of an impact on publishers who gain most of their traffic from users sharing and commenting on stories and videos.
How can I get users to share my content?
To make sure your content stays at the top of everyone’s news feed, follow these tips on how to create an engaging Facebook page with posts that will be shared, liked and commented on by all.
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Post frequently: You want to post as frequently as you think is necessary depending on your fan base and followers. Doing so on your company’s Facebook Page drives more referrals and gets your page more fans. This may mean posting every single day, posting every other day or posting once every few days. Don’t be overbearing! If you don’t think your followers would enjoy seeing a post from you every day on their news feed, then think of a different strategy. |
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Share links, photos and a variety of content: Don’t post the same, boring thing over and over again, but post using different formats. This could mean posting fun or interesting links to articles or other websites, or it could mean posting videos and photos that will interest your audience. Don’t be afraid to post other content, too, like calls-to-action, questions, polls or text prompts to inspire engagement between you and your fanbase. |
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Create content with social context in mind: Think about what would make someone more likely share your content. Does a funny quote or a more thoughtful quote reflect the values of your company? What type of image do you think more people are likely to share with their friends? |
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Tag other pages in your Facebook posts: This makes your post eligible to appear in the news feed of people who are fans of the pages you’ve tagged in your post, which could potentially increase your distribution. Find another page that fits with your company, or find another page that you think may also interest your audience. |
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Host a Q&A: You can host live Q&As on Facebook to engage your audience on a more personal and one-on-one level. This is where you would let your followers know that someone from your company will be online to take any questions or comments on a specific topic or just about your company in general. This will generate a ton of comments on your posts and hopefully some shares to bring your post that much higher on news feeds. |
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Don’t rely on one single page: Leverage all of your assets — employees, other accounts, other pages — and create an ecosystem on Facebook to drive more traffic. Don’t simply post from one company account. Use every page and every account to communicate with as wide of a reach as possible. |
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Use trending topics/hashtags: By using a hashtag — especially one that appears on the trending topics list — you’re allowing that post to be seen by anyone looking for posts that have anything to do with that specific topic. This allows engagement from users who may not have ever crossed paths with your specific company or website. |
Facebook is encouraging publishers to post content that their audience is more likely to share on their friends. Think of what your followers like to see on your Facebook page — look at what they like, comment and share most often — and work on expanding your reach and driving your posts to the top of the news feed where they belong.
If you have questions about how this might impact your company’s social media strategy, or perhaps more importantly budget, give the ducks a call!
