Change brings opportunity, and this change is no different.
When Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook would be changing its News Feed?s algorithm to prioritize posts shared by friends and family (essentially removing media, businesses, and brands), it started an avalanche of worry about how it would affect businesses. Many businesses and brands have been built using Facebook. In fact, there is an entire sub-industry within marketing with the sole purpose of creating videos, graphics, and other content specifically for use on the social media giant. So when Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook would be changing its News Feed?s algorithm to prioritize posts shared by friends and family (essentially removing media, businesses, and brands), it started an avalanche of worry about how it would affect businesses. But while your worry, and possibly panic, are understandable, it should be short-lived.
Why?
There is excellent opportunity for you and your organization within these changes, and you may find yourself reaping the benefits!
Why You Should Be Excited
There are many reasons you should be excited about Facebook?s algorithm change! It gives you and your business:
- The Ability to Choose Quality Over Quantity:
For years, Facebook emphasized featuring posts by businesses and news outlets, which resulted in a virtual arms race to see who could put out the most content. The thought was, ?more content equals greater chance to get featured.”
But with Facebook now emphasizing ?meaningful social interactions,? for a business or brand?s messaging to be seen en masse, it must resonate with your target audience and be shared. So, instead of pushing content for the sake of meeting a targeted number of posts per day/month, you can now focus on developing content of quality, which will give you a greater chance of speaking directly to your most valuable customers.
- The Chance to Build Lasting Relationships:
A byproduct of pushing a lot of content out is the tendency to focus on the wrong thing. When you put out a lot of content, it is impossible for your target audience to see everything you post. It becomes too easy to focus on the posts that are seen the most, as opposed to those which receive the most engagement, which are the posts that most often become click-throughs and, hopefully, sales.
- The Chance to Be More In Tune with Your Best Customers:
The best way to develop quality content is to speak to the people who you expect will read it. Reach out to your best customers and ask them why they choose your business, what keeps them coming back, and if there are any pain points you are not solving. You will end up with some great ideas for content while showing your clients how much you care. You may also discover better ways to serve them.
- The Ability to Have Fun with Your Marketing:
When tasked with generating a lot of content in a limited amount of time and on a limited budget, it is easy to settle on the basics and develop and share the same type of content week in and week out. Now that you have to focus on quality over quantity, you can try ideas you may not have had the time or thought for. Maybe you do Facebook Live videos or create engaging infographics. Now you have the freedom to try new, exciting, and appealing forms of content!
- The Ability To Get Back to Basics:
Going through a significant change is an excellent opportunity to clear the decks and get back to basics. Instead of focusing on reaching a certain number of posts per day or month, focus on creating stand-out content that features your most profitable services and speaks to your best customers!
Being concerned about the changes to the Facebook News Feed is natural. However, if you view this as an opportunity to improve your marketing strategy, you can position your organization to take full advantage of this shift, and, in the end, come out on top! Just remember–change doesn?t have to be scary!
