Facebook Algorithm Will Directly Affect Organic Reach & Inbound Marketing Efforts of SME'sFacebook is rolling out one of its biggest-ever changes to its news feed, prioritising posts from friends & family over advertising & celebrity posts. While this may be great for the individual, placing emphasis on the community you have built around you and your page, it could potentially have enormous implications for small business & brands with limited budget. There has been a lot of talk over the past year regarding the influence had by celebrities, large business, political parties etc, not to mention concerns about outside influence of elections through social media. This change is certainly aimed at addressing this, with Mark Zuckerberg announcing his new year resolutions placing family & friends firmly at the top of his priorities. This is a brave & commendable move considering he knows the hit Facebook's share price could take, as it already seems to have, just hours after the announcement. Zuckerberg wrote: “I‘m changing the goal I give our product teams from focusing on helping you find relevant content to helping you have more meaningful social interactions." This is all very well & good but it does have implications for small and medium business owners (SME's), charitable groups, sports clubs and others who have long used the social media channel to get their message out to the broadest possible audience among the platforms 2.07 billion active monthly users. Page administrators have been fighting an uphill battle against a progression of changes to the Facebook algorithm that is slowly reducing the organic reach of posts. Going from your post being seen by a large percentage of your friends, their friends & their contacts, to this change which will see posts in your timeline being primarily from your circle of friends & family. This doesn't mean you will no longer see adverts, political posts and celebrity "Look at Me's" in your timeline, but what you will be seeing will most likely be posts aided by Paid Ads and post Boost's, essentially from those with budgets to pay for reach. Its likely the effectiveness of organic inbound marketing will be badly hit which sharpens the incline for groups & SME's with limited budget to reach their audience effectively. This will pose a challenge for marketers like myself who's focus is on organic reach, brand building without throwing gobs of money at it. So as a small business owner, what can you do about this change? Well, If you've been listening to your marketing advisor you'll know that its all about building your community and providing them with relevant useful content. Its all about the customer. Don't be shy, get to know them, they have a lot of good things to say about you if you let them. Inbound marketing is basically a reversal of the traditional marketing approach where you bombard the marketplace with your brand & say gimme gimme gimme. Your strategy now should be about building genuine relationships and saying we're here for you. Find out what your customer needs and give it to them. Provide tools, information and content they find helpful and tell your story. If your story is genuine & authentic and they find it resonates with them, then you'll find the community you build will be that of true friends, and they'll be more than happy to share your story too. If you have any questions about Marketing or Design I'd be delighted to hear from you. Author Hugh Shelley is a creative with a passion for sharing experience & knowledge on Photography, Design & Digital Marketing.
1 Comment
Evann
14/2/2018 19:31:29
Some great info, thanks.
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