Social media has become a more and more integral part of the way in which we conduct business. It helps bring folks to your brand, together by means of your brand, and achieves much more! Of all of the popular social media platforms available today, one seems to trump all as being the catch-all for every additional platform. What we’re talking here about is Facebook.
Facebook has managed to be a major umbrella platform for sake of social and commercial outreach for countless businesses, and quite frankly, to be a business without a business Facebook page in this day in age will be anything but beneficial. However, the year 2018 brought some major algorithmic changes for the way that people use the site. For that reason, today we’re going to talk over some of the changes that have taken place and how YOU can account for said changes to ensure that your Facebook game is still on top!
New Algorithm
The first thing you will need to know about these changes with Facebook, is essentially Facebook saying, “we don’t care how much you’re posting, things have changed around here”. So, your old ways of posting frequently and attempting to get more attention that way, it is not going to work anymore. People have tried that method and things have become pretty saturated on the Facebook feeds, so a change had to be made. This wasn’t part of any attempt to mess with businesses utilizing the service, this was more so a measure to create a new type of engagement.
As the important of post density decreases in the eyes of the Facebook algorithm, what is it, exactly, that will take its place? Facebook wants to see people talking, that’s what it wants! With this update to Facebook, posts are now gaining visibility in the feeds based on the conversations generated by them. What this essentially means is that comments, shares, and likes are what you are going to want to go after, namely comments however.
What Facebook was essentially bearing in mind was this. Anyone can simply post something online, do that a million times a day in hopes of scoring some cheap likes. But it takes actual tact and strategy to SINCERELY engage your audience. So from here on out, THAT form of engagement will take the cake.
How to Adapt
Now that things are a little different on the most powerful social media platform in the history of social media platforms, you need to think about what YOU are going to do to adapt to this change.
It’s a simple notion at its core. What you will want to do is reshape the way you post and think about posting so as to produce more conversation, more chatting, that is what you want! Think about the important, hot button matters within your industry, and pose those talking points to your audience. While it may be a simplistic notion, it can take some time, effort, and testing to come up with the presentation of information that most effectively drives people to participate. Take the time to experiment and see what methods work for you in terms of audience engagement.
Ask questions in your posts. Don’t merely post something with the expectation that someone may have a response to it. Craft your posting to make it response-friendly. Consider questions that someone within your audience may already be asking themselves, and ask that. In that case, you’re killing two birds with one stone, relating closely with your audience and creating more action on your posts.
What else boosts engagement and people talking? Live video updates! Your audience will love seeing you speak out openly and in real time on topics that they, as your audience, find important. Give live video updates a go and see what kind of new engagement you can come across.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Facebook is a massively useful tool for your e-commerce efforts, but it has thrown just a tiny bit of a curveball our way. To continue to find success using Facebook, some adapting is in order. Take the ideas expressed today and see what other ways you can come up with the combat the unfamiliarity of the new Facebook algorithm. And as always, for all of your digital marketing and e-commerce needs and inquiries, contact the pros at Rave Retailer today!