As you all probably know by now, the new Facebook algorithm has resulted in a big drop in the organic reach of your content (for more on this, read my previous blog on Facebook Zero.
Mark Zuckerberg, said this about the planned updates to the news feed “As we roll this out, you’ll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media. And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard – it should encourage meaningful interactions between people.”
So these changes mean there will be more personal content and less space for branded posts. But don’t despair, there are a lot of things you can do to drive more interactions and shares so people read your content.
1. Facebook Ads
The average user spends between 27 and 41 minutes each day on Facebook but there’s a good chance those people are not seeing your posts.
A recent study of 770 million organic posts found that reach has dropped across all business pages (BuzzSumo).
Another study found that FB post engagement has dropped 50% over the last year, mostly due to businesses battling the algorithm by increasing the quantity of their organic posts (Buffer).
So if you want your message to get in front of people on Facebook, using ads are one of the best options. Facebook advertising is one of the most targeted forms of advertising you can use. A major benefit of Facebook advertising is your ability to reach your exact audience – by age, interests, behavior, and location. If you really know your customers, you can use Facebook advertising to engage them.
2. Facebook Messenger Bots
One of the best ways to get your content seen on Facebook is via Facebook Messenger Bots.
“Bot” is a generalised term used to describe any software that automates a task. Chatbots, which anyone can now build into Facebook Messenger, automates conversations – at least the beginning stages of it, which is really handy when you are not online.
Emails often go straight to junk, people just delete them or they go to an old email address.
If you post something on Facebook, you don’t know whether someone actually sees it or not
However if you send that same post straight into someone’s Messenger Inbox – chances are they will definitely check it.
So if you want to get ahead of the game – start using Facebook Messenger BOTS!
3. Post quality content often
Don’t worry about the old rule of only posting once or twice a day. Post as often as you can get engagement!
Posts lose steam within 3 hours and are no longer seen in the newsfeed. Spread your content throughout the day.
The likelihood that someone sees all your posts is slim… so post often.
4. Share Amazing content
Facebook wrote that Pages and brands that make posts that people don’t comment on or react to will see lower distribution. On the other hand, Pages whose posts spark conversations between friends won’t see that decrease.
So keep reactions and comments coming by creating quality content that resonates with fans.
When it comes to posts, trustworthy is the opposite of salesy, so make sure your posts give value to your audience and the content is meaningful, relevant, and authentic. That could mean sharing relevant articles, behind-the-scenes videos, throwback photos and asking questions.
5. Pay Attention to Insights
It’s important to look at your Facebook Insights from time to time to see what’s working. You’ll see what posts got the most engagement and can adjust accordingly.
You can also see when your fans are online which could help in deciding when to schedule your posts.
So use Insights to leverage the Facebook newsfeed algorithm to your advantage.
6. Get serious about live video
If you haven’t already started using Facebook live, make doing so a top priority. Why? Because according to Facebook, live videos get an average of six times as many interactions as non-live videos.
7. Facebook Groups
As fitness owners struggle to reach their audience with Facebook page content, many are turning to Facebook groups to deliver their brand’s message and connect with fans.
Many marketers compare Facebook pages to a monologue and groups to a dialogue; while a brand is in control of its page content, group content is typically more user-driven, and that’s a good thing. This makes groups a great option for busy fitness business owners with limited time to develop social media content. In a group, members do a lot of the work for you.
This also means that users are more invested in the content, spurring meaningful engagement and interaction among group members. As fans connect with one another around your content, you’ll score points with Facebook’s algorithm, as well as potential customers. For more on the benefits of Facebook group, read my blog on the top 10 reasons to use Facebook groups.
8. Use your Personal Page
There are many ways you can leverage the activities in your personal profile to benefit your business and build relationships with current and past customers.
- You can invite follows to your personal profile.
- You can share about your business or company without talking about it in an annoying way by celebrating special moments – such as a fun Friday afternoon BBQ, a promotion for someone on the team or the anniversary of your business.
- Include a small number of posts about your company. It’s a great opportunity to tell the story of what it feels like to love what you do or where you work!
- While you can’t tag people in a photo on your company Facebook business page, you can tag people you’re personally friends with. When you tag someone, they receive a notification, it goes onto their timeline and, depending on their settings, it may also get into their news feed. This widens the number of people who see the post, thereby increasing likes and engagement for your page.
8. Facebook Stories
With business pages’ organic reach continuing to decrease on Facebook, it’s now more important than ever to experiment with different ways to get your posts in front of as many eyeballs as you possibly can.
Facebook recently rolled out Stories to business pages, which provides another opportunity to showcase your brand and increase your Facebook engagement.
While many brands are using disappearing Instagram and Snapchat stories to reach their audience, Facebook Stories has previously been limited to personal profiles, with very little uptick in usage.
The lack of people using Stories on Facebook presents an opportunity for brands to fill that void. Currently only a few businesses are using this feature despite its prime real estate: Stories appear at the top of users’ Facebook News Feed on both desktop and the mobile app.
Much like Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories are visual rather than text-based. They can contain multiple photos and videos to communicate a message and will disappear in 24 hours. Currently, business pages can only post Stories using the mobile app, not from desktop.
10. Drive Engagement
So engagement is the secret sauce to gaming the newsfeed? So what is the best way to get engagement?
You have to post content that gets people to Like, comment & share such as:
- Awesome photos
- Quality links
- Ask questions
- Post fill-in-the-blank updates
- Run Facebook contests
- Each and every post should be accompanied by some sort of visual, be it an infographic, .gif or an otherwise eye-popping image
- Run contests