Business Facebook Page Update - Is Your Page Sucking Wind?
Do you feel like your latest business Facebook page update is seen by no one? Do you feel like you are in an empty room with no one interacting with you?
Several times a day you may check to see if anyone has looked at your latest post and nothing happened. 🙁 You may reach 10 people with no engagement, no shares or comments. (And you have at least 100+ likes on your page.)
If you are seeing this with your Facebook page, you are NOT alone today!
Facebook has really been changing up their algorithm the past few weeks - more so than ever before. As a matter of fact, here are some of the things that may be changing if they haven't already!
Friends Surveys
The new focus for Facebook is on friends' people might want to hear from the most and links they deem worthwhile. Facebook had been taking surveys of its users to find out what is most important to them according to a recent story by Adweek. This will make the newsfeed more personalized for users.
Facebook users can choose which friends they want as close friends or which friends or PAGES to see first with the click of a button.
So, go ahead and check to see who are your closest friends and if you selected any pages you want to see first.
Clear History Tool
Next, Facebook has been working on a clear history tool. Facebook users could delete their history usage right from Facebook. This would make it harder for this business Facebook pages to advertise on Facebook based on user's activity on the social network.
But through Facebook's analytics tools and trackers, the company collects a massive amount of information about what you do both on the site and outside it. So, a tool like Clear History could have a major impact on Facebook's ability to target ads and generate revenue if enough users actively remove the information collected about their online activity.
However, there has been a delay of this tool coming out as I believe Facebook realized they could potentially lose a lot of advertising revenues.
Video Rules!
Of course, video is now ruling on Facebook. Not to mention, if a business Facebook page has a weekly video where people will return to and watch weekly it will rank higher.
Next, the social media giant will continue to reward engagement, adding more weight to videos that are consumed for at least one minute. Particularly video clips that are at least three minutes long in total. Yes, now you will have to produce 3-minute videos for your business Facebook page to generate more engagement!
According to Tech Crunch, Facebook will also punish those using sharing schemes. Those are when people pay others to like and comment on their posts.
What Can YOU Do to Suck Less Wind with Your Facebook Page?
Start Producing Your Own Video!
For example, last week I started with video on my Facebook page that was just over 2 minutes long. I will be producing one every Thursday around mid-day going forward. I must practice what I preach to you and my clients 😊
Before when I posted with a link or image I reached around 40-50 people per post. With the video above I had over 200 people reached. As an experiment I just boosted it for a few bucks to see how many more people it can reach. Stay tuned!
Facebook has a great video guide too that you can read more about how to utilize video on their network. One thing that stood out about using videos was the "videos should show who YOU are and what you think or stand for."
Making videos from images on Facebook (slideshows) are now going to have LESS visibility going forward. This was one technique I had used for clients that did not want to get in front of the camera. I will be sharing this post with them to help inspire them to begin doing video for their Facebook pages.
Even though you may dislike being on video you could get creative and take video of your office, business, or surroundings with you talking in the background.
New Facebook Video Metrics for Your Business Facebook Page Update
Next, Facebook will be changing the metrics for videos. Today, as a Page owner, you can only see how many people started watching your video. When the new metrics roll out over the coming weeks, you will also see information like video views, unique video views, the average duration of the video view and audience retention.
Indeed, these new metrics are designed to help you learn what's resonating with people and determine how to more effectively create and promote your videos on Facebook.
Invite People To LIKE Your Business Facebook Page
Oftentimes you may see people that like a particular post on your page but NOT your page itself. However, you have the option to invite them to like YOUR business Facebook page. Do so! This is something I do for all of my clients daily.
Inviting others to your page really increases your Facebook page's audience.
One special note of advice:Granted, be sure to invite folks that would truly be interested in your page. Having uninterested people like your page is NOT good! It can actually hurt your page as they would never engage or watch a video. SO, think hard about who you do invite to your business page.
Those that like your posts are a good candidate to invite to your Facebook page! 🙂
Post LESS Often on Your Facebook Page - Yes, LESS!
YES, did you read that correctly? Posting LESS on your business Facebook page is now the new way to go! Post more valuable content but LESS often. The amount of time depends on a few factors:
- How many likes your business Facebook page has.
- What niche you are in.
- How active your audience is on your page.
You can experiment for a few weeks to see which amount of posting works best. I've seen it on several of my pages that I manage. The less you post the more the engagement may go up. I do recommend posting at least weekly and for most around 3x per week is a good rule of thumb.
If you post too often you will notice people unliking your page. That will really make your page suck wind 🙁
Use Stories for Your Business Facebook Page Update
Using stories for your Facebook page may seem trivial but it does get your page in the news stream more often and gives you more visibility. Social media stories work best if you can showcase some behind the scenes images of your business. (Stories work fabulous on Instagram too!)
People love stories as they don't want to miss out. Fear of missing out is real today especially for the younger demographic. As you can see from my mobile device, these stories features show up front and center! On desktop they show on the upper right hand corner too.
You will also be able to track how many views you received on them in your Facebook insights. (Only for 28 days as even insights of stories disappear!)
Participate and/or Start a Facebook Group
You have several options if you are starting a group. They can be closed, open or secret. My advice is to join and participate in some groups first.
Get to know how they work. Many times people will invite you to a group or if not, you can request to join one. You can easily search right on Facebook for groups that look interesting to you.
If you do not like receiving notifications all the time do check those off for groups. Some of the more active group notifications can get annoying 🙁 I would recommend keeping them on and see how often they are coming at you.
The visibility of groups like stories is now higher in the Facebook agorithm. The Facebook algorithm is like the Google 200+ ranking factors for your website or blog.
With this in mind, both stories and groups are high in the visibility on Facebook as of today. (May 20, 2019)
For retailers, Facebook Groups can be data goldmines via @Digiday | Specifically groups started by brand loyalists under a "buy, trade, sell" format. 😉💚 💰 https://t.co/nM8PDsPYkT
- Mari Smith Ⓜ️ Top Facebook Marketing Expert (@MariSmith) May 19, 2019
Add a Little Humor Once in a While
Adding a little humor to your Facebook page may also help your page visibility. Being entertained on Facebook is what keeps many people there 🙂
I've seen it happen with several pages over the past few months. One person with a lot of Facebook friends shares the post and before you know it, it gets the most engagement.
The Facebook page above got over 900 people reached. That is over 4x the average for this page with no boost.
What do these numbers really mean?Page views are the number of times a Page's profile has been viewed by people, including people who are logged into Facebook and those who aren't. Reach is the number of people who had any content from your Page or about your Page enter their screen.
Of course, as a business page keep the humor light, fun, related to your page and controversy free!
Facebook Pages App for Your Business Facebook Page Update
Last but not least, download the Facebook PAGES app. Many clients I have found did not know about this app for pages. It's a great way to stay on top of your business Facebook page on the go! You can even order ads and see your insights from this app. Of course, you can post, comment and invite others to your page all from the easy to use app. 🙂
Finally, I'd love to know in the comments below if you are seeing a decrease in your Facebook page's stats or if you have embraced the new changes! I'd love to know more in the comments below.