FACEBOOK CHANGES – HOW IT WILL EFFECT SMALL BUSINESS

Facebook Changes … AGAIN!

But this time it’s major.

Those of us working in social media have had a whiff that something was up for a while. Facebook has been testing a 2nd newsfeed in some smaller countries. They called it Explore. The idea being that there would be 2 newsfeeds, 1 for posts from family and friends and the other for everything else.

We’re used to constant changes within the platform. After all it needs to keep fresh and relevant as well as make it viable for users, both personal and business.

But ask a 15 year old (aka my daughter) what they think of Facebook and they’ll tell you…

Their social life is on Snap Chat and Instagram, not on Facebook. Facebook is very aware that if they want to create a new generation of users, they need to listen to these milennials.

Facebook Changes

So on Jan 13 Mark Zuckerberg announced (on his Facebook page of course) that some major changes are about to be rolled out:

“…we’re making a major change to how we build Facebook. I’m changing the goal I give our product teams from focusing on helping you find relevant content to helping you have more meaningful social interactions…. As we roll this out, you’ll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media.” You can read Zuckerberg’s post here.

Social media marketers around the world went CRAZY.

Facebook Zero they called it… as in zero engagement.

But Facebook have done their research and they say it’s what users want. They’re cleaning the platform up, bringing it back to the people.

“At its best, Facebook has always been about personal connections. By focusing on bringing people closer together — whether it’s with family and friends, or around important moments in the world – we can help make sure that Facebook is time well spent.” So they say.

Great for personal users so I say. Newsfeeds free of annoying cat videos and personality quizzes! (Well here’s hoping!).

What are the changes going to be?

Zuckerberg was quite non-specific about what these changes will actually be. After all the testing, there was no mention of a 2nd newsfeed in his recent announcement. They are keeping their cards close to their chest.

Should small business owners panic?

Well, no. Organic reach is already at 1% (a drop from 26% in 2011). There are now so many brands pumping content onto Facebook, they’ve had to rein it in. So in reality the majority of business owners probably won’t see much change here.

However, without large advertising budgets, small businesses may feel it the most. With the new algorithm changes, ‘passive’ posting, ie pre-recorded videos, blogs and posts with little or no engagement will be given low priority in the newsfeed.

According to Michael Stelzner from Social Media Examiner, hosts of Social Media Marketing World:

“This is a big threat for businesses that use Facebook as their primary social medium. Pages began seeing declines over the past several months that have amounted to massive declines recently. Now they’re going to have to come to the table willing to pay for content to be seen.”

However, he does stress that there will be value for businesses. “They just have to figure out how they fit in.”

AS A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER, WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Well as far as the actual changes are concerned, nothing. Facebook is always changing the rules and will continue to do so. So we have to accept that.

Create Engaging Content

Your content needs to focus on what customers want to see, hear, engage with and share. Value has to become the essential feature in your social media strategy. It is far better to post something that your customers will want to engage with, rather than posting for the sake of ‘being top of mind’. So your time on the platform may be reduced (which is a good thing yes?)

I have written an Ebook that will give you some ideas on How to Increase Engagement on Facebook. Ideas and tactics you can implement in your new content strategy. You can download it here.

Try a New Content Strategy

A simple strategy, to try and stand out from the crowd, is to create your content strategy around your niche topics. Then deliver your content in different formats around these key topics. Include Facebook Live.

Use Facebook Live

Statistics show live video gets 6 times more interaction that pre-recorded video. With the new Facebook changes, prerecorded video will not rank as highly as it did in the past. In the newsfeed it will be ranked on par with other content.

Preference will be given to Facebook Live (as it is considered more interactive) along with content from the Watch digital TV platform (not yet available in Australia).

Many small business owners are uncomfortable with making video, but with Zuckerberg predicting that one day everything on Facebook will be video, it’s something we will have to learn to master if we want to stay relevant on Facebook.

Use Facebook Groups

Groups are the perfect platform to encourage interaction; and they will continue to rank highly. Consider setting one up for your own community. They do require a lot of work, so be prepared to spend a fair amount of time on and in the group. If you are not prepared to invest the time, then don’t do it.

Use Facebook Events

Events create a lot of engagement and will still be a feature of Facebook. They will continue to be given a high ranking in the newsfeed.

Use Facebook Advertising

Facebook is in business to make money. Of the 65 million business pages on Facebook, less than 5% pay to advertise. The reality is that the days of free marketing on the platform is D.E.A.D. As Michael Stelzner explains it:

“Facebook is committed to showing less public content on the News Feed, including videos and posts from businesses. Part of that is for a cleaner user experience. Part of it is to open up advertising revenue for Facebook.”

This means that small business will have to have an advertising budget if they want to continue to use Facebook. They will have to either learn how to use advertising on Facebook, or outsource it.

Don’t Put All Your Eggs…..

Social media is one (albeit major) marketing platform. Perhaps it’s time to try another one. Do your research before you start. Ensure your target market are on the platform and be prepared to commit your time to it. Content you post on Facebook may need to be reformatted for other platforms.

Use LinkedIn to publish your blog posts. Showcase your creative side on Instagram. Both are excellent for networking and connecting with prospects.

And don’t forget to throw some traditional marketing into your marketing mix. Speaking at events, networking, being seen out and about, even writing a book, will help you to be known and will grow your business.

In Summary

The reality is that until the changes are actually rolled out we don’t know exactly what impact it will have on small business. We’ll just have to wait and see.

There has been a lot of mixed response to these changes.

What about you, what are your thoughts?  Feel free to leave your comment below.