Not so long ago, VKontakte was closed for Ukrainian users, including those who used this social network for business purposes to promote a brand or even sell there. Most entrepreneurs moved to Facebook and Instagram. And right after they moved their business pages one of the most strategically important platforms Facebook announces that it intends to change the ranking algorithm and get rid of the content by business pages of media and brands to give more space for posts from friends and relatives in the news feed. Does this mean that updates from brands will disappear from the Facebook news feed?
Facebook marketing won’t work anymore?
First of all, let’s not panic. This Facebook’s decision is not so unexpected. It definitely doesn’t mean that brand promotion on Facebook will stop working. In fact, the social network has started to implement this algorithm reform a long time ago. Are you surprised? You don’t have to be. You should have noticed how Facebook has been motivating the owners of the fan pages to use paid advertising to promote a brand. And that’s the point. The statement by the administration of the social networks doesn’t say that they are going to abandon groups and business pages. On the contrary, they support and expand marketing opportunities for this type of users. All that they are going to do is to reduce organic not paid reach. And it’s done for how you might have guessed to increase the amount of paid advertising content which has been always important for marketing through the social networks.
In our marketing strategies for fan pages promotion, we have long advised our customers to reduce the number of posts (1-2 posts per day are just enough to keep your content in the timelines) and to invest more money in the targeted advertising which, in our opinion, and on Facebook’s opinion really helps reach a potential customer.
Considering these and other circumstances, we have made a list of recommendations that will help brands develop an effective social media marketing strategy of business pages promotion on Facebook, stay in the news feed, and sell even better after the algorithm reform.
Paid Facebook ads
Free page promotion is no more than a marketing dream. It has always been so… If you need an effective promotion of the website or brand through the social networks be ready to pay money. This is the main rule for those who plan to continue brand marketing on Facebook. Not paid posts see approximately 10% of your followers at the moment. After the updates, this number may be reduced to 2-3%. What does Facebook want? They want to get paid for their marketing service. So, do that! Advertise the most popular publications. To start with, spend 1-2 dollars a day. It’s not so much money but it will help keep your posts in the Facebook users’ news feed for a long time. Set up the ads properly. Define your brand’s goal and its key audience. Hire a targetologist who will do professional marketing for you.
Video and high-quality content
Yes, Facebook wants people buy advertising from them but that doesn’t mean that the informational, entertainment and other engaging posts should be completely abandoned. On the contrary, you will lose your followers, if you constantly overburden them with the marketing content. You have to do your best in order to increase the organic reach of the posts and make people see them. Improve the quality of posts, take video, generate more interactivity (use polls, live streams). Just use the content people would respond to. This is an integral part of Facebook marketing.
Bloggers in a Facebook brand marketing
This is the type of users who won’t get affected by the reform. Their profiles are not public. Their publications have high organic reach. They are interesting to people and their opinions mean a lot. Getting your brand mentioned on the blogger’s page is not just a guarantee that you will be noticed but also a chance that people will get interested in you. Cooperate with the bloggers for successful social media marketing.
Personal brand on Facebook
Another conclusion to which we came analyzing the new Facebook ranking algorithm is that it is essential to the brands to improve and promote personal profiles of their owners. Personal posts will be given priority and shown first. Share your professional opinion and your Facebook business page content in your personal profile. Also, take into consideration that people like personal content on the business pages too. Post photos of your employees and your own for successful Facebook marketing.
Thus, by reducing the organic reach of content by businesses and brands Facebook will achieve two goals. It will increase the demand for advertising and improve the quality of marketing content. The content of the pages will not disappear from the news feed but brands will have to fight for their place in the sun now. And be sure, it’s worth it. The strongest ones won’t just survive but will start selling even better. Facebook and other social networks will remain a powerful marketing tool.
