If Facebook is an integral part of online marketing for your organization, now is the time to prioritize a content strategy that is laser-focused on engagement. Facebook’s latest News Feed algorithm change, announced January 11th, places favor on content from friends and family, and posts that generate audience engagement. While Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement of the algorithm changes noted it will take months for a full roll out, Facebook actually started making changes to make content from family and friends more prominent in news feeds at the end of 2017.
For companies and causes whose Facebook content consistently generates little to no engagement, the reach of content stands to decline sharply. Rather than abandoning Facebook for another social media platform or online marketing channel, organizations can benefit from tweaking their content strategy to deliver content that is both relevant and highly engaging. By strengthening followers connections to the “Page” and increasing their levels of interaction, organizations can help to mitigate declines in reach.
Getting Started
Taking a look at the Facebook content that has generated the highest levels of engagement on your page during the past 3-6 months is a great place to start. What types of content do your followers respond to? What types of information do they crave? How can you replicate successes?
Shifting the Focus of Content
Once the most engaging types of content have been identified, it’s time assess how you can make the content that people weren’t engaging with – but is important to post/share – more dynamic and engaging.
Consider:
- Could periodically using Facebook Live provide a new avenue for sharing important information in a more dynamic format?
- What would your followers like to talk about? How can you start an engaging and meaningful conversation among your followers?
- Can you empower your followers to generate content that you can share on your page…and that they will then be compelled to share on their own pages?
Mobilizing Your Followers
Perhaps you are a nonprofit with a signature fundraiser fast-approaching or a B2B company who will soon host its annual conference. While you will have multiple marketing channels at play to help get word of these events in front of the right audiences, modifying your approach to marketing them through Facebook could yield favorable results.
For example:
- If your nonprofit has a volunteer committee helping to organize an upcoming fundraiser, encourage them to talk about the event on their personal Facebook page. Of course, an important part of this content is having your volunteers tell their friends why they are invested in the cause, which will help them to drive engagement around the post(s).
- Give the speakers for your upcoming conference materials they can use to talk up the event on their own company pages and their personal pages, if appropriate.
- At your event, seize opportunities to deliver experiences that people will feel compelled to share on their own Facebook pages. Signage to encourage social sharing, noting company social media handles and relevant hashtags, can also help to drive social sharing.
While Facebook’s News Feed algorithm change requires brands to refine their approach to Facebook marketing, a strong focus on audience engagement can not only help to amplify the reach of content, but strengthen stakeholders’ connection to an organization which can yield ROI in the form of customer/donor retention, event attendance, referrals and more.
