We get their goal - drive more person-to-person (P2P) engagement and less business to person (B2P), especially since the average time spent on Facebook is declining. Even though it seems like there are dark days ahead for Business pages, companies still have opportunities to engage with consumers on Facebook. We promise there's a light at the end of the tunnel, and it's shining bright. Let's cover a few tactics on how Business pages can combat the new algorithm.
1. Promote your posts
Every Business page should be utilizing the Promoted Posts feature. This tactic is an easy and inexpensive way to get your message in front of a mass audience and, typically, give you more engagement than an organic post. You can also take advantage of the targeting tools and analytics of Promoted Posts to test and improve your messaging. Narrow your audience by location, age range, interests, time of day, for a specific post to optimize certain demographics interest. Then utilize the analytics to measure their engagement and adjust your message and audience targeting as necessary. Keep in mind the engagement sentiments, likes, click-throughs, comments, shares, or conversions, as you review each post to judge its success. Promoted posts provide great insight into how your content is resonating with consumers (both followers and general users) and may also let you know what is working or not working.
2. Encourage conversation to posts
It is more critical now than ever to make sure that the content you are delivering is driving engagement. With Facebook's new algorithm, posts that drive little to no engagement get pushed out of the way to make room for posts that are driving engagement. So, if your Business page is publishing posts that don't receive any engagement, you'll start to see the numbers drop on how many people your posts are reaching. Prevent this from happening by driving the conversation to your posts. Include questions with your message that begin engaging discussions, and don't just sit idly by, hop in the conversation to give it a boost and keep it going - you'll see a considerable boost in reach with these posts. Once posts start getting an increase in engagement, it is a great idea to promote them as well. This will drive the engagement up even more, which in turn will help drive more people to your page.
3. Utilize the Facebook Stories feature
Do you use Facebook Stories on your personal page or maybe see your friend's stories? Did you know that your business page also has its own Story? USE IT! You can post your messages or videos to your story in up to 20-second increments, and they last for 24 hours. Not to mention, you can pull Insights from your Stories as well. Do you have an offer or special going on that you want to get out in front of people? Use your Story and get your message out to ALL of your followers. Yes, that's right, every one of them. This doesn't mean they will open it and watch, but it does pop up in their Story lineup. Oh, I almost forgot, it's also FREE (for now). Don't miss out on an excellent opportunity to get your message in front of those that matter to you, your followers.
Getting lost in updates and add-ons while trying to conduct your business social media strategy can be difficult, especially as new algorithms seem to come out of the wood works nearly every day. But with these three helpful tips we hope that you can manage to maintain those likes and comments, and stay out of the Facebook graveyard.
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