Noticing a change in your Facebook’s post reach? Are you creating killer content and yet no one is responding to your post? You are not alone! On January 11th Mark Zuckerberg announced a major change to the Facebook news feed algorithm that prioritizes seeing content from friends and family over business and brands. This is the algorithm that dictates how much noise your brand can make on Facebook.

“As we roll this out, you’ll see less public content likes posts from business, brands, and media. And the public content you see will be held to the same standard- it should encourage meaningful interactions between people,” stated Zuckerberg.

Since the rollout of this change, more and more business are feeling the effect. With organic reach dropping and fewer people engaging with your content, many businesses are starting to feel lost on how to combat this drastic change. So, what does this really mean you and your brand?

How to keep reaching your customers on Facebook…organically.

The key to this change in Zuckerburg’s own words is ‘Meaningful Interaction’. Simply put, brands need to create quality content that starts a conversation. However, there is a twist to this. The days of simply posting a photo with simple questions like ‘Do you agree?’ or ‘Comment on this post if you love puppies’ are long gone. In fact, Facebook is considering these style posts as engagement bait, and if brands continue to do this, the posts will actually be demoted on the newsfeed.

As if making noise and being heard on Facebook wasn’t already hard, this change makes it even harder. You will need to focus on posts that will start a conversation with your audience and steer away from asking one-word answers. Get customers talking about you and more importantly WITH you. Engage, engage, engage.

Videos have always been favored by Facebook, and while this is still the case, the new algorithm will favor brands and businesses who use Facebook Live. Live videos tend to lead to a real-time chat and discussion, which of course will lead to more engagement. Now is the time to tap into the power of Facebook Live and stay one step ahead of this algorithm change.

One other way to keep reaching your audience is to invest some time into Facebook groups. Business Facebook groups are tremendous for engagement and create a way to spark a conversation with your loyal fans and followers. There is no question about it; Facebook groups will likely be a great asset to your work towards keeping your reach on the up and up.

The bottom line is quality over quantity! If you are already dedicated to providing your customers with highly valuable and engaging content, you have no reason to fear the algorithm. If this seems a little over your head, don’t worry — the team at Core and More Technologies (insert link here) will help you every step of the way.

Are ads being affected by the change?

Yes and No. Over the last few years, it is no secret that organic reach has been declining- even before the this major News Feed algorithm change. More brands are investing in the power of Facebook ads and with the right marketing team behind them, are probably seeing amazing results. The good news is that, for now, the ad algorithm has not changed! BUT- since more and more brands will be turning to Facebook ads to get their message across, expect the ad prices to go up, and brands will need to spend more in order keep up with the competition. Ensure you have a Facebook marketing expert on your side to help navigate the sometimes stormy waters of Facebook ads and keep your cost low and your ROI high.

Don’t panic…

So, you can either focus more on Facebook ads or choose to adapt your organic content strategy to match the algorithm change, or truth be told, do both. Create engaging content, post more videos… especially live ones (and always be sure to add captions to all videos). Focus on making your headlines strong, evoke emotions with your posts, and talk to your audience, not at them. Stay far away from engagement baiting, and last but not least, focus on a cost-effective Facebook ad campaign. The right campaign will reach a much larger audience than your organic efforts.

Remember to breathe; you got this. And if you don’t, Core and More Technologies will be here to help every step of the way.