If you’re a Digital Marketer or business owner, you’ll know how much social media can keep you on your toes. It’s a dynamic, fast paced environment that calls for creating and re-working strategies to make the ultimate impact for your business. Making sure you don’t sleep on the job, Facebook recently announced upcoming changes to their news feed and subsequently the impact it will have on business pages.

 

According to Facebook, the upcoming news feed will focus more on engagement between family and friends and include less posts from business pages. This means, that organic reach for your posts will start to decline. However, posts that do generate authentic engagement and conversation will rank higher on the news feed. Facebook has assured that posts from pages are not leaving the news feed altogether but rather the frequency of these posts will be diminished. Why is Facebook doing this? In Mark Zuckerberg’s post above he stated that “We feel a responsibility to make sure our services aren’t just fun to use, but also good for people’s well-being.” An article from CBS News – What Facebook’s News Feed Changes Means For Users and Businesses –  mentioned studies that have shown the ways in which social media can impact a persons psyche and enhance depression in some people. Studies have also shown that strengthening relationships also helps to improve happiness and well-being. Hence Zuckerberg’s aim is to ensure that Facebook is contributing to a person’s happiness rather that taking away from it.

 

I know you’re wondering how to tackle this news from Facebook and whether or not you should remain on the platform. My advice – stay put. If you’ve been using Facebook to market your business, continue doing so as we don’t know for sure what kind of impact the news feed decline will have. In Jon Loomer’s article – Facebook News Feed Update: Now What? he recommends that we don’t freak out as Facebook has made similar changes in the past that didn’t result in apocalyptic declines.

 

So how can you ensure that all of your efforst won’t fall on deaf ears? Or in this case, blind eyes?

 

If you’ve been following me on Instagram over the last year, you’ll know that there was one thing I was constantly preaching. If you haven’t been following me, then why not? :). Re-thinking social media is where it starts. There are many, many ways to  market a business and social media is just one of those ways. It should not be the end-all be-all of your marketing strategy but part of an ecosystem that works together harmoniously with the rest of your plan. Since you don’t know what the Facebook future holds, here are some ways to safeguard your social media strategies and give your business options that support your overall marketing goals.

 

#1 – Grow Your Email List

Remember when I asked if you were following me on Instagram? That’s because all last year, I preached about using social media to build your email list because we have no control over what the social media platforms do or change. We don’t own the likes on our pages, Facebook does. We don’t own the followers on our Instagram profiles, Instagram does. All of the profiles created inherently belong to them. Creating an email list should be your number one marketing goal. It’s the way to create your own community, nuture them, develop strong relationships and trust that ultimately lead to your business’ success. One of the best ways to create a list is by offering a free valuable resource that you make available to your target audience in exchange for their email information. Take a moment and think about what your audience would appreciate most. It could be a checklist, an ebook, audio guide, video guide, contest or a giveaway. Whatever you are providing, it should solve a problem that audience currently faces.

 

#2 – See First Option

This option comes specifically from Facebook itself. If you’re concerned that your audience will no longer see your posts, Facebook advises that people can ensure they never miss a post by choosing the “See First” option on your page. This ensures that posts from your page will be seen at the top of that person’s feed. Be sure to encourage your audience to choose this option, however, be very careful how you say it as Facebook has stated they will be punishing posts that purposely use engagement baiting to force their audience to participate. Therefore words like “click here” and ‘like” are a big no-nos. You can find this option by hovering your mouse over the “Following” button on any Facebook page.

 

 

#3 – Create Meaningful Content

While this news feed announcement is a huge change, all is not lost. Creating meaningful and high quality content is still king. Facebook has stated that posts that generate conversation between people will continue to rank higher on the news feed. So if you’ve been creating high quality content, continue to shine. If not, take some time to see what your audience really wants to know and create content that offers a solution to their problems.

 

#4 – Cross Promote On Other Social Platforms

Even though Facebook may be King in the social media domain, there are other platforms you can utilise once your audience is using them. Be sure to cross promote your content on those other platforms and maximize your reach – be it Instagram (also owned by Facebook), Twitter, or Snapchat. If you’re a publisher and need to increase the reach of your articles, Pinterest is a very good tool to use. It’s considered to be the 2nd largest driver of traffic next to Facebook and I can also attest to that as it has worked wonders for my blog posts as well.

 

#5 – Use Live Video

If you’re camera shy like I am, the thought of using live video terrifies you. I’m trying to get over the fear, so when Facebook released this news, I addressed it on my Instagram stories. Yes, I know it’s not live video but it’s a start. If you’re bold and it fits your business, consider giving live video a shot. Facebook stated in their release that live video is one of the tools that generates a lot of discussion and conversation and could possible help with ranking higher on the news feed. So go for it! Fortune favours the brave, right?

 

While Facebook’s announcement may make you doubtful about your future success on the platform, have no fear! This is just an opportunity, as always, to challenge yourself to create even better content than you have before – making sure that quality trumps quantity every single time.

 

With love from Barbados,

 

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