Facebook announced in November 2014 an update to News Feed. Any digital marketing agency can safely assume that Facebook only wants to make the network a much better place for both individuals and businesses. As with any change, however, there will be winners and losers. For this change, the startups and small businesses could be at the losing end.

Let’s examine the changes and how small-scale businesses may triumph over them.

 

Facebook marketing changes in 2015

Based on a survey conducted by Facebook itself, it discovered that people don’t want to see promotional contents on their News Feed. Examples of these are:

1. Posts that solely push people to buy a product or install an app
2. Posts that push people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real context
3. Posts that reuse the exact same content from ads

Facebook also figured that these posts are not actually ads but are posts made through Facebook pages. The social media giant decided to take more control over the volume and content on Facebook pages that users deem as promotional posts.

As it is, News Feed is already a competitive place. That’s according to Facebook. Standing out means making your Facebook pages more interesting and engaging than treating as merely a publishing platform where you can post anything you want albeit being overly promotional.

 

What does this mean for small businesses?

Evidently, the changes don’t necessarily mean to abandon your Facebook pages. Quite the contrary. After all, your Facebook page is still an important free marketing platform that you can utilize considering its reach and impact. In addition, Facebook will increase its investment on such feature considering the almost 1 billion Facebook pages visit in October 2014 alone. So, there is no need to change platforms.

If you are still approaching your Facebook page as a marketing platform, perhaps, you should rethink what Facebook is in the first place. It is a social networking site. Now is the perfect time to rethink the contents you post on your Facebook page. Meaning, you need to publish content that encourages interaction and conversation.

If you haven’t had a solid content strategy, create one now, but this will require a Facebook marketing expert. The changes would have minimal effects if you are already publishing shareable and engaging contents on your Facebook page. Then, just direct the users to your other channels (website, blog, landing page, etc.) via these contents. But, be discreet about it and use the proper link formats.

Let’s say you have a marketing budget. If you still want to publish promotional contents on Facebook, better pay for that privilege. With these changes that already took effect, regaining organic distribution means getting the same engagement level from the users and communities for a fee. But that’s another story that deserves an article of its own.

 

What can you do as a small business?

Donné Torr of HootSuite offers some practical tips for small business with no or limited budget to spend on Facebook advertising.

• Evaluate your current Facebook marketing strategy
• Create Facebook-worthy contents or contents that provide value
• Run a test to determine which posts are engaging and which are not
• Cross-promote contents published on other platforms on Facebook
• Organize Facebook posts by using social media content calendar

Furthermore, Socially Stacked offers more specific suggestions with or without Facebook.

• Use email marketing in promoting your milestones and latest products
• Host promos and other campaigns on your website itself
• Place ads on your website and blogs
• Try encouraging your community to use Facebook’s share features

 

In 2015, when it comes to digital marketing which is not getting any easier, it is not only Google that we have to please. We also have to please Facebook. These changes are NOT negative changes, however. Think of the change as an opportunity of making your Facebook page a better place as well by refraining from publishing posts that are too promotional, thereby aligning your business goals with that of Facebook.

 

Image credit: MStarz.com