Another week, another change for Facebook. If it seems like there are constant updates to social media platforms, you’re correct. Snapchat becomes less ephemeral as Instagram officially rolls out the algorithm as Facebook becomes less friendly to pages. What’s a brand to do?
With all of the time you put into creating remarkable content (or at least the time your marketing team spends doing just that), it’s vital that you are able to get information in front of the right people and spark conversation. However, it seems all of the social platforms are set against you accomplishing that very goal.
With Facebook’s most recent announcement to shift News Feeds from what they think you are most interested in to posts that are from or shared by your friends and family, many marketers are concerned with the impending drop in post and page reach. Rightfully so, as the platform stated the change will likely impact all types of content from a page (including videos, Live posts, shares, content curation, native photos, and status updates). They are attempting to redirect the News Feed back to its original intent and what people have asked for: entertainment and information (bonus if you share entertaining information or informative entertainment).
Does all of this mean that you need to shift your digital marketing strategy away from Facebook? Nope. If you’ve determined that your ideal customers are using the platform, now is no time to abandon them (or worse, leave them looking for your competitors). Now is the time to be the brand. The old adage that you should be your own best customer applies now more than ever. Don’t just equip yourself & your team to share the good news of your business on the streets; show them how (and empower them) to spread your company’s reach online.
It has always been in a company’s best interest to have employees share social posts to personal profiles and engage with the business’s posts, but now it is necessary to do so if you want to continue to grow your reach. We’ve always engaged with our customers’ brands on all platforms. Sure, it’s a nice thing to do, but it also help provide added value to the client and increases organic performance on each post.
Does it work? Well, I can speak from personal experience that my networks, colleagues, friends, and family members have asked me about a variety of topics they saw me share (anything from trucking to fitness events to yachting). Many of the people in those groups followed a page or company that they saw me engage with because the message of the post resonated or sometimes just out of sheer curiosity. But, that sends a key message to Facebook: someone wants to see posts from that brand.
So if you want to continue to achieve increases in page and post reach on Facebook, make sure you create social media guidelines for your employees and then encourage them to help grow the company by engaging online (no banning social media at work). While you’re at it, go for the gold star and ask them to engage with your brand on all the platforms. Something as simple as an employee liking a post sends feedback to Facebook, shows your audience that you have dedicated staff, and communicates with prospects that your employees are all-in.