Mention the word Facebook to a group of small businesses and it unleashes a lot of frustrations. A form of reminiscing starts when the golden years of Facebook are exalted. A time when you could post on your Facebook Page and your fans would actually see it in their feeds.
A similar thing happened at our recent South London Social Meet Up. Everyone around the table had experienced the same problem – disappearing organic reach*
After spending time crafting the best post and posting it at the right time, finding that it has only reached 1% of the audience.
Why is this happening?
Facebook tells us that the number of Facebook users is booming and the amount of content being shared is skyrocketing. They are also prioritising content that is of interest to individuals so it follows that businesses are struggling to get their content in front of their fans.
Whatever the reasons, this is the new normal for Facebook marketing so we must change our strategies to maximise the opportunities that are now on offer.
How?
Review Your Content
Now is the time to review what content you are posting on Facebook. Is it emotive, interesting and based on human stories? You are competing with pictures and videos of babies, cats, holidays and more. Our businesses need to be sharing content that is as interesting, sharable or useful as all the other content out there.
Video
Secondly, explore how you can use video to bring your company to life. Anecdotally, businesses are finding video is getting much higher organic reach than images or text-based content.
Use Your Facebook Page As A Shop Window
Post your best content on your Facebook page, make sure it is as interesting and beautiful as possible.
Facebook Advertising
At a recent event, I spoke to a member of the Facebook team. They admitted that Facebook’s strategy is to become an advertising platform. Now is the time to test Facebook adverts for your business, find out what works and then roll them at scale.
Sadly, we all must accept that Facebook has changed forever. There will be no return to a time when every post on a Facebook page could be seen by thousands of people and communities were built in weeks.
However, there are opportunities for finding new customers on Facebook and the sooner we do so, the better.
Ruth Thomson is a Freelance Social Media Manager and Co-Founder of South London Social.
southlondonsocial.com 