If you’re a business owner, chances are good that you’ve promoted your business on Facebook, the most popular social media platforms. But if you haven’t heard the news, Facebook has just announced that they’re cutting down how often your business posts get seen on Facebook. If you’ve taken advantage of this social platform for free exposure, you may be extremely worried that this free ride has screeched to a halt.
Facebook Changes: Less is More
So what do these changes mean for your business? In short, less free marketing. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook explained the reason for these changes: “We’ve gotten feedback from our community that public content is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other… Since there’s more public content than posts from your friends and family, the balance of what’s in News Feed has shifted away from the most important thing Facebook can do — help us connect with each other.”
For individuals, these changes may be very welcome. For them, it means less annoying ads clogging up their newsfeed and more pictures from their friends vacationing on that tropical island. (Wait… that can still be annoying.) Either way you look at it, the new changes are not going to please everyone. But what you probably want to know is this: if you’re running a business, how can you roll with this change without doing damage to your company? Where do you go from here?
Continue to Utilize Facebook
We all love free things, and we can all agree that free marketing that brings us business is a beautiful thing. You can (and should) continue to take advantage of Facebook’s free space, but you should also be willing to utilize paid ads. But don’t just reach for the first way to spend your money on Facebook; that’s basically throwing your money around – and you want your dollars to be used in a way that will most likely bring you business. Make it a goal to promote posts that are likely to have high engagement. To do this, analyze your old posts and see what your followers are interested in, what they liked most, and which posts had the most comments. Create similar posts and target your ads toward your ideal customers and clients.
You should also utilize live video streams. Videos universally have very high engagement, especially live video. They are also free to post. And don’t forget about Facebook Video Ads.
Get on Other Social Media Channels
Facebook isn’t the only game in town, and your business can take advantage of other social media platforms. Which ones? Start with Instagram: it’s free, easy to use, and extremely popular. Your ideal clients might also be on Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and LinkedIn. In fact, they likely are. If you aren’t already active on these other platforms, valuable time is ticking. Get moving!
Think Outside the Box
The only thing we can count on is change – so hang onto your seat, the digital marketing world is moving fast. The moment you settle into what works, it’s already changing again. This means that you need to keep up with current trends and follow where your ideal clients are online. You can’t afford to fade into the background or only post on one social media channel a week – this is not going to cut it if you’re looking for results. You need your business to stand out.
Staying on top of your social media game isn’t easy, and it can be quite time-consuming! If you need help with your social media management, why not contact us? We know what will work for your business and are ready to help. Fill out the contact form below and we’ll be in touch.
