Part of Facebook’s new year’s resolution for 2018 is to make time spent on the social media platform more meaningful. Therefore, Mark Zuckerberg has made a huge announcement on his Facebook page to downgrade Facebook posts from media outlets and businesses. He further explains that Facebook will be returning to a ‘personal service’ by placing greater emphasis on content from friends, family, and groups, instead of public content from businesses and brands.
While this move raises alarm bells for many businesses that rely heavily on Facebook marketing, this does not mark the end of the world! Here are some things you can do to make the best out of the situation:
1. Encourage comments and debates
Facebook’s new algorithm is now stricter against ‘engagement bait’, which refers to tactics to goad people into liking, reacting, sharing, or commenting with specific answers on posts to artificially boost post engagement. Some examples of engagement bait captions include “Like this post if you are ___!”, “Comment ___ to win!” or “Share this with 10 other people to win!”. The new algorithm now favours posts that showcase more meaningful engagement, such as unique comments and debates with friends in the comment section. Therefore, instead of focusing on the number of likes or shares, you can start focusing on encouraging discussion on your posts.
2. Focus on Facebook live videos
Reach, video watch time and referral traffic will decrease for video ads, as these are considered passive experiences that are not very meaningful. Instead, live videos will be popping up more often, whether they are from personal accounts or business pages. This is because live videos were found to have almost 6 times more engagement and drives more discussion than regular videos. So if you haven’t started already, get familiar with Facebook live videos!
3. Use other online marketing platforms
The most obvious thing to do is to search for other options and diversify your strategy. If you do not want to alienate your Facebook followers, you can combine Facebook with other marketing platforms by creating content outside of Facebook, then providing a space on Facebook to discuss the content. Here are some options that you can consider:
(a) Instagram Marketing
Did you know that Instagram has 50 times the engagement rate of Facebook? Instagram is a great alternative to grow your brand’s online presence. Almost 47% of users choose Instagram as one of the top 10 places for brand discovery!
(b) Google Adwords
Get your business found on the most powerful paid advertising platform! Google Adwords is renowned for generating high quality leads that convert, as you have the option to reach audiences with the intent of purchasing with Google’s search network. On the other hand, you can advertise to customers on Google’s display network to improve your business branding. Google Adwords is also a highly sophisticated and user-friendly platform that allows you to analyse your results with ease.
(c) Linkedin Marketing
If your target audience mostly consists of working professionals, why not try Linkedin Marketing? Linkedin has the world’s largest professional network of over 550 million professionals, and offers unique, super sharp targeting strategies that can filter your audience based on the job industry, job title, company name, and more!
It’s not the end of the world!
Ultimately, Facebook wants to create a sense of community and a space for meaningful engagement. Focus more on content that starts a conversation and does not just ask for likes or shares.
If all else fails, get someone else to do the work for you! Our digital marketing services have been highly praised by our portfolio of happy customers!