Will these Facebook Updates Affect Your Business?
Take a step back in time for a moment. Do you remember the days when ‘timelines’ were seen as a scary new venture? It’s amazing how much Facebook has evolved over the years – including in 2016 alone! Today, we’ll run through one of the biggest updates from 2016, and discuss what it means for advertisers and Facebook Business users.
#1 – Changes to reach
This was a pretty major update, and one that a lot of businesses weren’t happy with. For large companies or those who can afford it, paid advertising has always been a handy solution to ‘declining post reaches.’ However, earlier this year Facebook rolled out an update to prioritise posts from friends and family, as opposed to those from media websites and companies. While this was great for people wanting to see more from their friends, it was a devastating blow to companies and publishers.
- “Why Facebook, Why?!” Source
It also seemed a somewhat strange move given that millions of companies pay Facebook to increase their reach – and in turn, that many Facebook users also rely on the platform for their news. However, the truth is that Facebook is ever-evolving and this leaves us with no choice other than to keep experimenting with new options. One of the easiest ways to ensure your content remains seen, is to have a strong network of friends, colleagues and clients who will share and comment on your posts.
In the early days of your business, this inevitably means sharing your content across your personal social media channels. If you find the thought of this a bit daunting, you’re not alone – no-one likes to spam their friends with their every business update. But that said, you do need to get your content out there, and who better to support you than the people you’re closest to?
If you’re worried about overloading your friends by mixing your personal and business pages, try inviting them directly to your Facebook page, or send them a message asking if they’d like to support your business. You can also ask them to invite their friends if it’s something of interest.
Another good little trick to remember – if you’re looking for a way around paid advertising – is to monitor people who have ‘liked’ your Facebook content, and then invite them to follow your page. It won’t always work, but it does encourage users who may have seen your status, hit like and kept scrolling, to actually follow your page for more updates.
Here’s an example:
As you can see here, by clicking on the number of likes under one of our statuses, we can invite people who are not already following SponsoredLinX to ‘like’ our page. Handy isn’t it!
Thirdly, it’s also important to implement video content. As mentioned earlier, this is the main medium that continues to go from strength to strength; and one that has not yet being hit by Facebook’s algorithm changes.
So – moving on, what can we expect from Future updates?
When it comes to the future, Facebook have recently announced two new changes. The first, are unique codes for discount offers. These are really handy for both new advertisers and those already using ‘Facebook Offers,’ as they allow you to to provide your most loyal followers with special offers that can’t be reproduced to the masses. Keep an eye out for this, and then utilise it to draw in more customers, or reward selected clients.
Lookalike Audience Tool
The second update to be announced recently, is Lookalike Audience – a new tool launched to help businesses grow globally. As part of the Lookalike Audience Tool, Page managers will be able to find new customers from around the world who are similar to their existing follower base (for example, in age, gender, location and interests).
According to Facebook, this is done by ‘uploading a list of existing customers or high-potential leads’ – and it’s already working for many businesses! According to Facebook Business, Turkish fashion start-up Modanisa revealed that they had achieved ‘a return on investment that was 4x higher than its previous campaigns’ through the use of Lookalike Audience.
Alongside this tool, Facebook are also introducing ‘webinars on international marketing with Facebook’, and an educational handbook on finding the right customers in new countries.
These are just a few of the most recent updates, but as always, I’m sure there will be many more to follow in the next few months. Keep an eye out on SponsoredLinX for any updates!
Keen to find out more about how you can grow your Business through Facebook?
Sign up today for our FREE upcoming webinar: Facebook Tips & Tricks for Business (September 28th). Did we mention it’s completely FREE?
If you missed Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, just check out our previous SponsoredLinX Academy posts!