Let’s be honest – the news about Facebook cutting down the organic reaches of fanpages is not really the end of the world. If we create content that is engaging and valuable for our audience and generates communication buzz around our posts, we should not feel threatened. In further sections of this article I will present a few tips which can help you develop your Facebook strategy in 2018.
Focus on the community
When creating content for your fan page, you should focus on being empathetic, not on your KPIs. Making sure that your content represents important substantive value for your community is the key to “meaningful social interactions” mentioned by Mark Zuckerberg. If a company produces content that nobody wants to identify with, the organic reach of its posts will be effectively limited.
Fight for the returning audience
Video, especially live streams, has been ranked very highly on the “reach pyramid” defined by the Edge Rank algorithm. Still, the key to success is not the format itself, but creation of content that engages the audience in such a way that people want to regularly return to its source. Consider preparing a series of videos that will not only provide valuable content, but will help build loyal groups of viewers who will be happy to return to your posts (“repeat viewership”).
Make sure external content is of high quality
Facebook does not like it when users migrate “outside” its platform. Therefore, when you provide links to any external content, make sure you pay attention to its quality. The reach of your posts will be affected by such factors as website optimisation for load time, its correct or incorrect display on mobile devices or the number of ads displayed. You should also pay attention to the quality of the content available on the landing pages to which you direct your audience.
Reconsider the engagement bating
“Share now if …”, “Tag 15 friends with whom …”. The reach of such posts, as ones which do not represent significant value for Facebook users, will be limited. This rule also applies to posts inviting people to vote with reactions, asking them to enter comments with a specific phrase or respond to posts using specific reactions. Avoid this type of posts and opt for a more creative CTA.
Build a contact platform
The expansion of automation in 2017 created great opportunities for using Facebook as a contact platform and a place for cross-platform integration. Setting up the Messenger plugin on the website will allow you to potentially reach people who would not have reached your fanpage. If you also integrate it with a chatbot, whose reaction paths will eventually convert the user to the online store, you can start implementing the real business objectives. In the case of remarketing activities, Messenger acts as a newsletter whose view statistics, not to mention the click rates, are many times higher than those of traditional mailings.
The material presented above is part of the article titled “Eksperci o zmianach, które szykuje Facebook” [Experts on changes announced by Facebook] which has been published in Social Media Manager 1/2018 (www.facebook.com/socialmediamanagerpl)
