What Facebook’s Social Media Algorithm Changes in January 2018 Mean for Content Marketers
When you are on Facebook, do you ever realize that suddenly, you see a post from a page that you hadn’t seen in a really long time? In fact, you might have forgotten you’d liked that page at a certain point in near-obsolete history. That scenario probably sounds very familiar, and also sometimes frustrating as we all try to understand the latest Facebook social media algorithms that have been put in place. Businesses are worrying about losing interaction and a decrease in distribution—while on the flip side, consumers miss opportunities they don’t even know exist, because they didn’t interact with your page regularly. With the latest changes, what does that mean for businesses and content marketers? I’m diving in today. Grab a mocha, latte, or tea and come join me. What’s Up with Facebook’s Social Media Algorithm? Why Facebook is Changing for Your Benefit According to Adam Mosseri, Head of News Feed over at Facebook, the goal for these changes is to create an environment for meaningful engagement on behalf of the end user. The latest update will predict posts that end users do and don’t want to see based on individual interactions. Posts that are seen are meant to inspire discussion between friends, communities, and other pages. If you are a content marketer, this may make you say, “Well, how can I make sure that my business doesn’t tank like so many others? How does that benefit me?” These changes will encourage you to step up your game by being more interactive with your audience, and the benefits of doing so can cause your business to grow exponentially. Finding the Key that Opens the Door Recently, I discussed just how to find the key to content marketing that will keep your business growing and thriving. There are some trial and error approaches to see what works best for your audience, but you owe it to yourself to find the answer for your page. It could be an active group that focuses on you or your service or product. It could be a source outside of Facebook like Twitter or maybe a regular webinar or podcast. It could be a combination of all of the above. As long as your post is meaningful and not spammy, you are going in the right direction, but there is a bit more to it. What Not to Post on Your Page or In Your Group: Defining Engagement Bait People do not like posts that look like spam or seem like they are attempting to coerce interactions. Examples like “Like my post if you agree!” or “Like and share if you love cats!” are known in the content marketing industry as engagement bait. Other phrases like “Vote for your favorite” and “Share with your friends” also fall into the bait category. Avoid creating posts or content that include a phrase like those because that is one of the quickest ways to make people want to unfollow you. It may look like you’re getting engagement right now with posts like that, but along with the algorithms introduced in December 2017, Facebook is working on limiting anything that carries engagement bait phrasing. Keep that in mind when you post a picture or an article because Facebook strives for authenticity from people and businesses when they post an update to their pages and groups. The posts above from Parenting Hub, Wish.com, and even The Weather Channel are prime examples of engagement bait style posts, and these are well-known, established companies. As the algorithms to remove these posts are recent, everyone has a learning curve to go through. This includes larger businesses just as much as mom and pop shops that use social media as part of their content marketing strategy. Use this knowledge to your advantage and get ahead of the game by learning how to produce authentic posts that people will want to see in their News Feed. What Authenticity Means According to Facebook Facebook is forever adapting to meet the needs and wants of its consumer base that includes over two billion people up from a mere 100 million users ten years ago. According to them, their research shows that beyond seeing updates from friends and family, there are “two other strong expectations” which include posts being informative and posts being entertaining. From a content marketer’s perspective, you need to look at your posts and what they do for your audience. Is your content informative? Is your content entertaining? If you can answer yes to either of those questions, then your posts will be more meaningful, which means you are going in the right direction. Understanding How Meaningful Posts Work Meaningful posts on social media are relative to the people viewing them. When you’re developing your content marketing strategy, you need to have a handle on your target persona to be able to create posts that will be meaningful to your audience. When you have the target persona defined, you can develop content that will be relevant to your consumer base. As an example, if you are a cleaning product company aimed at the residential sector, your audience is likely going to be interested in the latest trends in cleaning items and ensuring safety for their families by using non-toxic recommendations. You can be the voice that they listen to when you post content that contains information they want to read therefore making the post meaningful in its interaction. Entertainment is Also Meaningful for Your Audience People also enjoy being entertained, so if you leverage the desire for entertainment in your content marketing strategy with your social media posts, you will have a leg up on the competition. Think about all of the funny pictures and videos that get shared by your friends. If a post, image, or funny video resonates with you like this clip posted by Good Housekeeping and its viewer audience, it will be more likely to be shared. Good Housekeeping knows their audience can relate to this particular funny video because their target audience is made … Read more
