3 Things Every Business Can Do To Improve Their Chances Of Being Seen On Facebook – In Spite Of The Recent Changes!

So Facebook’s newsfeed has changed again and it’s going to be a little harder for brands to be seen. I’m not here to blow smoke up your arse and say everything is going to be alright, just post these three bits of content at this time and you’ll be grand.
Nor am I going to say abandon ship – Unless your customer audience is over 55 – as one newspaper reported recently. Yes, Facebook is not down with the kids as much as it was, but neither are you and I!

Gone are the easy days of Facebook, I think that’s pretty clear. But there’s no need to panic, there are some things you can do to improve your reach and it’s not throwing money at Facebook ads, although this is something you really need to think about – Facebook ads, not throwing money – imagine all the coffee and shoes you could buy! So let’s get to it – what can you do to improve your reach, during this great Facebook depression….

1. Authentic Content
Yes, I said the bloody A word, it’s widely overused amongst the digital marketing community, but it’s what you need to think about. So let’s break this down a bit- Facebook’s algorithm likes posts and will, therefore, favour posts in your newsfeed from individuals, friends and family because they get the most engagement. If your friend posts a video of their baby on Facebook you are most likely going to watch the video and either like, comment or share.
Whereas, if your local coffee spot posts a pic or video about their latest menu, sure you might watch it but will you comment or even share this post? More likely you are going to share and interact with the things that mean most to you. If you’re a business page, you need to think about posting content that will resonate with your audience, spark enough of a reaction for your followers to comment, like or share – and this will result in the engagement you need to move you further up the newsfeed.
So think about what type of content or conversation is most likely to spark a reaction from your followers, this is what you need to be posting.

2. “Conversation Content”
As much as you want your Facebook audience to identify with your content and bring with it an interesting conversation, what you don’t want to do is ask for engagement. So all those posts asking people to respond with a GIF is apparently being penalised by Facebook and pushing them further down the newsfeed. I say apparently because I haven’t seen direct evidence of this personally and they are still popping up in my feed, I am saying that this is not something Facebook likes, so Beware!
What you could do is think about better ways to engage your audience, Facebook Live’s are thriving and because your followers will receive a notification, think about starting a conversation that way.
Videos perform better than anything else on Facebook and Facebook Live is currently trumping everything! – I mean that in a good way, not in a tangoed, wiggy, destroying the world way.

3. Communities and Groups
It seems that Mark Zuckerberg is trying to change the world, cure disease and achieve world peace, one Facebook group at a time! Yes, it’s all going to be about the groups, but he sort of has a point. I’ve noticed loads of supportive Facebook groups popping up in the last 6 months, groups supporting small businesses, women supporting women, flexible working and freelancing groups.
Whether we like it or not, groups are a big part of Facebook and it’s the place I personally spend loads of time engaging, recommending and being recommended to others. So to me, this completely makes sense and is an easy tactic to employ.
This can only be a good thing, although business pages cant engage in groups yet, I do think this might be something that changes in the near future. You can, however, engage with groups as yourself or start your own community group within your business page. Just remember, it’s a group of like-minded individuals, not a sales conference, so don’t be a car salesman, there’s nothing more annoying in groups than someone who bangs on about their business and promotions repeatedly. Pretend you’re at a coffee morning and take part in the art of conversation, be interested in others, don’t just talk about yourself, hell I’m gonna say it, be authentic.

So there you have it, three ways to help improve your visibility on Facebook.
I would love to hear your thoughts and if any of these are working for you.
If it’s all too much and you want to lie down in a darkened room with a box of oreo’s get in touch to find out about my one to one social media for small business training.