Hot off the press!
In January Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook was about to introduce the biggest changes ever made in its history. At the time of writing this article the exact details weren’t clear, however, what is clear is that this will have a huge impact on anyone using Facebook to publicise their business and gain customers. Mark Zuckerberg explained:
“As we roll this out, you’ll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media.”
Facebook stated the overall reason for these changes was to bring communities closer together. As philanthropist Mark explains,
“Our focus in 2018 is making sure Facebook isn’t just fun, but also good for people’s well-being and for society. We’re doing this by encouraging meaningful connections between people rather than passive consumption of content.”
I am a business coach, trainer and consultant in the unique accommodation industry and I have been using Facebook as an effective tool for publicising my business for over 8 years. In that time I have witnessed a dramatic reduction in the amount of organic (non-paid) reach my business pages get. With the new changes, Mark explains this is expected to get worse.
“… by making these changes, I expect the time people spend on Facebook and some measures of engagement will go down.”
From my research I am going to summarise what we know now and what we can expect in the future. I will also highlight a number of actions you can take to counteract these changes and continue to drive interest to your business through this platform.
Facebook have been surveying their users over the past few years and the results have shown they want more in their feed from family and friends. In other words, for their personal profiles to have more priority over business feeds. But, as a business itself, this gives Facebook a dilemma. How to keep the individual user happy without turning away businesses. Mark explains,
“…recently we’ve gotten feedback from our community that public content — posts from businesses, brands and media — is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other.”
So since October last year they have been running tests in selected areas where they offer an ‘Explore’ space in a users feed for businesses to interact with them. This is a space users have to click over to, resulting in a dual feed. One for personal, friends and family interactions and one for the businesses they follow or are paying to have their adverts placed there.
Early results show that organic reach dropped by 2/3rds and businesses experienced 4 times less engagement in their posts.
It’s clear that if you are a personal user of Facebook then you are going to love the changes. However, if you use Facebook for your business then the changes will have a big impact on your page and how much it is seen by those who have already chosen to follow it.
Facebook is an amazing platform for a huge number of reasons, but for small businesses research shows that customers who interact with them are on Facebook 62%, Pinterest 12%, Twitter 11% and Instagram 9%.
Research also shows that 60% of those interested in a small business will visit their Facebook page before visiting a bricks and mortar location. 80% are more likely to purchase from them if they find a credible Facebook page and 62% say Facebook is the most important and useful social media channel to research small businesses.
Finally, it’s worth noting that 58% of Facebook users are currently interacting with adverts in their newsfeed, so this strategy is successful.
Facebook remains to be one of the most comprehensive, specific and targeted advertising platforms out there. Nothing like it exists anywhere else. You can specify if you want to have your advert put in front of a 35 year old female living in London who likes surfing, yoga and organic food or a 65 year old male who is retired and loves walking his dog and fishing.
To walk away from that kind of resource is crazy and businesses know it. This was highlighted in research by the social media platform, Buffer, which revealed 94% of businesses have invested in advertising on Facebook; and 67% of businesses intend to increase their social media advertising budget in 2018.
So what can you do to react to the changes?
Well, its best to start with what Facebook says it will give preference to and focus on that. This will help maintain your organic reach within the dual feed when it is eventually introduced.
Post Content
They are asking for posts and videos that are not over promotional or requesting users to click away from the platform. This means third party links and language such as ‘click here’ or ‘enter our contest today’ will be lowered in priority by the Facebook algorithm.
All posts must generate a positive response by the users, so anything that encourages them to click negatively on the ‘sad’ or ‘angry’ buttons, report posts or click away will be penalised. They will also be focusing on information shared by trusted and high-quality sources. As Mark explained,
“The second update we announced is about making sure the information you see on Facebook comes from broadly trusted and high-quality sources, in order to counter misinformation and polarization.”
Instead they will be looking for authentic and timely posts, which include things with immediate interest such as trending topics, current affairs or weather items. These will be further boosted by Facebook depending on how may likes and shares they generate. They will also be prioritising those sharing ‘Stories’ as Mark explained,
“We expect Stories are on track to overtake posts in feeds as the most common way people share across all social apps. That’s because Stories is a better format for sharing multiple quick video clips throughout your day. The growth of Stories will have an impact on how we build products and think about our business, including WhatsApp and Instagram, which are the #1 and #2 most-used Stories products in the world.”
Video Content
If you use videos to promote your business then Facebook will also be promoting those with high completion rates – watched at least halfway through – and are uploaded directly onto the platform, rather than shared via YouTube or Vimeo. They will also be focusing away from viral content. As Mark noted,
“Already last quarter, we made changes to show fewer viral videos to make sure people’s time is well spent.”
Scheduling Content
If you are considering scheduling posts on your page, only use the Facebook tool and not a third party platform as that will not be as effective. This is so Facebook can keep its users on its own platform and maintain overall control. Mark reminds us of their overall goal,
“… these investments will help us build a stronger community over the long term.”
Paid Content
Something to look out for at the same time as the dual feed, is the new features Facebook has promised to encourage audience engagement with businesses. Undoubtedly, this will require a fee to be paid, but it will enhance how a business is seen. Mark explains about one such feature, ‘Watch’ and ‘Watch Party’,
“Over the next three years, we know video will continue to grow, so our job is to build video experiences that help people connect with friends, family, and groups. That’s why I’m excited about Watch as a place to connect with people who have similar interests, and it’s why we launched Watch Party where friends can watch a show together.”
However, it is worth noting that not every paid feature is worth investing in. For example, boosting posts is unlikely to help your business become more visible with your audience. This only targets people who are on Facebook at that particular time and not your ideal customer.
Your Essential Strategy
Every business should have their own marketing strategy and Facebook is one platform that should feature highly within it. However, it is not the only way a business can improve their marketing, drive traffic to their platforms and customers to their booking portals. In fact, with regular and focussed effort to get the right message in front of the right people at the right time, businesses can make huge gains.
For unique accommodation businesses it is important to focus on the most cost effective actions to maximise customer attraction but not distract from the main business of the day. This is why I simplify the whole process in The Marketing Masterclass, to allow businesses to step up like never before, increase their occupancy and generate more income.
If you know you need to stretch and grow, reach more people, increase your occupancy, get organised, understand more about online and offline marketing, get strategic and know your numbers inside-out when it comes to return on investment, then a highly-focused marketing strategy is what you need.
About The Author:
Sarah Riley is a professionally qualified coach, trainer, and consultant working in the unique accommodation industry. She has developed the internationally acclaimed, ‘The Ultimate Glamping Business Guide’ and The Marketing Masterclass, on www.InspiredCourses.com, tailored for unique hospitality and glamping businesses to become visible, make bookings and get more heads-in-beds, using techniques few are currently taking advantage of in this industry.
