Over the past few weeks, marketers have been going crazy over Facebook’s newest update – Facebook Zero. This is an update to the 2016 Facebook Algorithm update that limited reach of organic posts to only 30% of your average total following count. Now, with this latest change, Facebook will be prioritizing person-to-person interactions among friends and family over posts from Pages, meaning organic reach will be taking another hit.
In turn, we will see fewer public posts from pages on our newsfeed and we will see fewer videos as well. This is all in hopes to reduce the spread of fake news outlets and bring people closer together. The focus of ranking content will shift content that is shared and talked about among family and friends. Also, links to external pages will receive less visibility on newsfeed (i.e. blog posts.) If you happen to use your personal Facebook page to post on behalf of your business, this update still applies to you.
Types of Content that will receive more distribution on Facebook Newsfeed will include:
- More content from your family and friends – instead of scrolling through your newsfeed and only seeing posts from Thrillist or Tasty videos, you’ll now see more from all those friends and family members you never knew you had on Facebook.
- Posts from your family and friends asking for advice and recommendations>
- News articles or videos that prompt discussion – not just people tagging their friends in these posts.
- Actual posts that spark discussions and bring people from all over the world closer together.
- ontent from Groups – this doesn’t mean to go out and start a new group, but those existing groups with members having meaningful conversations will prosper.
- Content that receives lengthy comments – Facebook comments are more valuable than likes and shares.
- Content that generates many comments
Changes to Make:
- Use more story-telling with videos and content: share your customer’s stories and encourage your current followers to engage. Create content that will get your audience talking amongst each other, not to you or your business.
- Invest in Live Video: According to Facebook, Live Video receives 6x’s the engagement than regular pre-recorded videos and only 28% of marketers are using it.
- Diversify your marketing: use other platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn to help promote your business.
- Take steps to encourage meaningful interactions: create compelling ad copy that will spark conversations among your followers. Content that includes, “like and share our post,” will not be deemed a meaningful interaction.
- Integrate Paid and Organic Strategies: many marketers separate the two, but now more than ever integrating the two mediums will help your brand and keep your messaging consistent. Mastering Facebook Ads will also be great for your business. With Facebook Ads, you can target your potential audience in a variety of different ways, see our Facebook page for more insights on Ads.
Other Areas to Focus on
Influencers will still flourish with this update because they have their own niche and content style that has already resonated well with their audience. If you don’t have or know of an Influencer – activate one that blends your brand or product narrative with their own. Learn about the factors that influence their audience and tap into that with your own content.
We encourage businesses who have relied on Organic reach for their posts to set up Facebook Ads in Business Manager. There are so many more ways to find new potential customers, market to their existing customers, and help their branding.
The Just A Web Company Team will keep you as updated as possible with any new research about Facebook Zero. If you have any questions, give us a call at (800) 974-1142.
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