How will your business handle the Facebook newsfeed changes?
How Businesses Can Navigate the Facebook Newsfeed Changes
Facebook is determined to make users’ experiences on the social network more meaningful. Over the past week, we’ve learned this equates to seeing more posts from friends and family, and less posts from businesses and brands. In other words, some major Facebook newsfeed changes.
Naturally, some businesses are wondering if it’s time to abandon ship – that is, move away from the network altogether. After all, the reach for organic posts has been steadily decreasing over time, and this only makes it more difficult to stay in front of your audience.
Personally, I don’t think it’s time to give up. For one, you've likely spent a lot of resources building your Facebook community. Two, this community is still valuable. And, if you’re up for the challenge, I recommend trying some or all of these approaches to navigate the Facebook newsfeed changes.
Encourage “See First”
Do you know users can choose to see your brands’ posts first in their newsfeed? That’s right, and it still holds true even with Facebook’s latest newsfeed modifications.
If I were managing a business page on Facebook, I would definitely take the opportunity to create a post right now that reminds users to select the “See First” feature from my page. Here’s what it looks like (located directly under the cover photo):
Facebook newsfeed changes make the “See First” option incredibly attractive for businesses.
Rethink Your Posts
In its quest to create a more meaningful experience for users, Facebook has established that posts that “spark conversation and meaningful interactions” will be shown higher in the newsfeed. More specifically, they are going to show you “posts you might want to interact with your friends about,” according to the announcement.
Video also takes precedence in the updated newsfeed algorithm, especially live video. According to the same announcement, “live videos on average get six times as many interactions as regular video.”
I recommend testing out some new posts on your page, taking these changes into consideration. For example, you might share a piece of newsworthy content that affects your audience, and incite them to participate in a discussion around it. You might ask them to help you decide between two new logo designs or titles for a new book. If you haven’t dipped your toes into the video pool yet, now might be the time to shoot a quick live video and see how it performs.
Of course, every business experiences different results on Facebook; so what works for one page might not work for another page. Your audience is unique, and by trying out different types of posts you can get a feel for the ones that resonate.
The social network is clearly moving to serve users the content they care about most. Thankfully, brands still have the opportunity to be a part of the conversation.
