Facebook’s New Algorithm and What it Means for Your Business

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Social Media Marketing | Tips for Creating the Perfect Facebook Post

By: Brianna Harr, SRM Local Account Manager

Facebook has long prided itself in being a community, not a media company, and has made changes in the past to reinforce this idea. Recently, the social media giant has released a statement announcing another change to its newsfeed algorithm, one that will directly affect the reach of your business’s Facebook page. As a marketing agency, we have been following the changes and wanted to put a few tips together for any business currently struggling with changes in the algorithm.

Up until this change, Facebook promised to “help you find relevant content” by showing posts from pages you might like and prioritizing posts from pages you like and follow. The new goal is to help to foster “more meaningful interactions” with friends and family. So, rather than your feed being dominated by content from brands and businesses, your feed will be comprised mostly of posts from friends, family, and groups you are a member of.

What Does this Mean for Your Business?

Pieces that spark conversation will be more important than ever before. However, Facebook will not be as lenient with what they call “engagement bait”, posts using language like “tag and share”, and will penalize pages who utilize that strategy. This means there will be a stronger push for more engaging, quality content from brands and businesses, accompanied by a need for them to really listen and pay attention to what their audiences are interested in. Focus on originality over repetition in every post.

Social Media is First and Foremost “Social”

With these changes going into effect soon, how should you adjust your social media strategy to counteract that inevitable drop in engagement?

Be sure to approach the customer in a tone and style you would use face-to-face. No one wants to engage with something sterile or generic. Find your voice! While doing this, take advantage of the real-estate Facebook provides. Facebook is one of the only platforms where your characters aren’t very limited. In fact, there are 63,206 characters up for grabs! While this may seem like a daunting number, have no fear. You don’t need to use every single one. In fact, you shouldn’t even come close.

Keep it Short and Sweet!

Writing a six paragraph post will have your readers’ eyes glazing over before they finish the first one. You can throw in a #hashtag here and there, but be careful with how often you use them! Ask questions, encourage feedback, start a conversation. Use links where an engaged user can learn more. Just don’t backload the links in your content! Make sure relevant content is shown first. It is best to use two links at most and try to use link shortening trackers, like Bit.ly, to avoid wasting visual space.

Pictures are Worth a Thousand Words

Including images or videos in your posts is a sure fire way to get people’s attention. Posts with images receive the highest amount of engagement (50% more than those without!) and tend to be more noticeable than those with just text. In fact, you should be sure to use only enough text to get your point across with video or an image. The focus will be on that media and not reading the text as people have a tendency to skim their newsfeed.

In line with Facebook’s algorithm change, live videos will also be prioritized a little more as they are seen as “authentic and engaging” pieces of content. In fact, Facebook states that live videos receive 6x more engagement than non-live ones.

Keep Things Positive!

If you see someone constantly posting negative updates, you’re less likely to pay attention to them. This same principle can be applied to your business page. While some Facebook “rants” do see a good bit of engagement, this isn’t the type of message you want to associate with your business. Happier posts tend to attract meaningful responses, something Facebook will be looking for when prioritizing posts in your newsfeed.

Positivity breeds engagement!

Timing is Everything

Pay attention to the times at which you are posting your content. Studies show that the best time to post on Facebook is between 12 pm to 3 pm on weekdays and noon and 1 pm on weekends. People also tend to be happier on Fridays, with funny or upbeat content performing best on that day. These peak times tend to see the highest click-through rates. Don’t just post during business hours, either. Pay attention to when your audience engages the most. By doing so, you can pinpoint exactly when to send your next update to get the most feedback from your customers!

Be Engaging!

Most importantly, be sure to engage with your audience! By responding to comments, something that should be done in a timely manner, you start to build a close relationship with your clients. This also plays into the push for more meaningful interactions!

Conclusion

This isn’t the first time Facebook has made a change like this and it certainly won’t be the last. Rather than looking at this as a hindrance, use this as an opportunity to change direction with your social media strategy. Pay attention to what your audience is looking for and push for more quality content, and your engagement will be on the rise again in no time.

The Social Trotline™

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Why Your Business Will Die on Social Media

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Social Media Marketing | Death of a Hunting and Fishing Business

By: Jeremy Flinn, Chief Marketing Officer

If you haven’t noticed a drop in organic activity on platforms like Facebook, then you likely didn’t have a very active business page to begin with. For those businesses who grew large followings on social media platforms and possibly even their bank accounts via incredible branding and product sales, the “heyday” is long gone. All of those who laughed when Facebook valued itself in the billions of dollars, yet was making no money, now have seen the grand plan unfold with even the smallest businesses “boosting” posts in hopes of reaching more customers. You can shake your head at it, but the over quarter TRILLION dollar valuation of the ZERO profit Amazon that you likely use regularly will likely pull a rabbit out of its hat soon as well in order to justify the number. Regardless, the bottom line is social media marketing is critical to every marketing strategy, but if used incorrectly it can cost businesses in the hunting and fishing sector more than just “fans.”

For years, hunting and fishing companies have built their businesses upon the rapidly growing social media platforms. The problem is even though it is “your page,” you control very little. From the content, you can post to the people you reach, the platform determines your success and failure. For instance, many companies have been scratching their heads over the massive drop in engagement and reach on Facebook. You see Facebook delivers content via specific algorithms. In many cases, great content still does great. However, great content is rare, and what is posted is lackluster advertisements and promotions. So, it becomes a “pay to play” model. How do you think the social media giant was ever going to live up to such an insanely high IPO? Surely wasn’t through adding me into Farmville. The fact is they control the algorithm, which controls your reach. As you became more and more dependent on the platform, they began to squeeze the reach of your posts. Now you are likely in a position where much of your business banks on these platforms whether for sales, sponsorship numbers, or both. What do you do?

social media marketingThe Harsh Reality Social Media Marketing

Well, I can say this. If you aren’t planning on dumping a lot of spend money onto the platform it won’t be getting any better. And for many, even if they have the money, it will do nothing for them. Why? Facebook’s strict Community Standards and Policies, will prevent anyone pushing firearms, ammunition, bows, arrows, knives, and many more items related to our sector from “promoting” posts through paid advertisements. Not only that, but many pages are finding organic posts to their fans that violate policies are now getting pulled, and pages are being threatened to be deleted! Can you imagine losing that following base? Well you need to, because if you do or show any of the above, it’s coming. At some point having a harvested whitetail buck in the photo with your bow beside you will be enough to unpublish your Facebook business page, and force you to audit your entire page and clean it up of related posts.

When that is your business, what do you do?

Now is the time to take control. You need to grow the assets you control which includes your website, content, and email list. If you are neglecting these now, you better get to work. These are the only assets at the end of the day that you can fully control and guide to success. No, your TV show is not something you control, nor is the magazine ad you placed. You directly influence via your actions with your website, content, and email list. And your current social media platforms can help you grow those, you just have to know how to use them wisely.

What does this look like? Take a look…

social media marketing

Outdoor Industry Marketing 101

About the Author: Jeremy Flinn is Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Stone Road Media, an outdoor industry marketing company focused on brands in the hunting, fishing, shooting, and outdoors. For questions about your own content marketing, drop him an email at jeremy@stoneroadmedia.com.

Stone Road Media’s Marketing Media Kit