Facebook recently announced new plans on how they are going to prioritize their newsfeeds. Standard brand and business content might take a real hit, as more posts from friends and family will be shown first.
Mark Zuckerberg said that he wants to “fix” Facebook in 2018, meaning that he wants to see it go back to its friendlier, conversational and engaging-content roots among its users.
It’s clear that Zuckerberg is saying user content is more important than ads. But what he is also saying is that brands have to be more creative and in tune with their target audience to ensure reach. Some understand this to mean that advertisers are going to have to spend more money to be seen and heard.
Research has clearly shown that the onslaught of negative effects on mental health from social media is real. We’re talking about fake news, incivility, conspiratorial propaganda and the lot that appears on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and other platforms. It could lead to people simply logging off.
Facebook is doing a smart thing. They understand all of this -- to stay successful, they have to keep their users logged on.
Our advice to our Facebook personal injury practice clients
The changes Facebook is making may affect brand reach, but it certainly isn’t a death knell for maintaining a Facebook presence. We just don’t know at this time exactly what the effect of the changes will; however, we do believe it would be foolish to give up on it. It still has fantastic possibilities for lead generation for your personal injury practice.
To be cautious, this is what we suggest for our personal injury practice clients who regularly post or advertise on Facebook.
- Don’t put all of your eggs in Facebook for lead generation. Diversify and spread those advertising dollars around to include Instagram (800 million users), Twitter for interacting on a small scale, LinkedIn and Snapchat.
- Take a look at your marketing results and consider reallocating your budget. You need to constantly reassess what is working and what is not. Keep in mind that although we don’t know how much more expensive it will be to maintain a sizable Facebook reach, allocate an increase for your advertising.
- Prioritize engaging content that will be sharable and engage Facebook users. Content is and always will be king. This is not a new idea, but it is imperative. You must create posts that provoke interest and interaction.
- Strongly consider live According to Facebook, it leads to 6 times more interactions than regular posts.
- You should no longer ask for comments in your posts. Facebook said asking for comments will be considered “engagement bait” and will be pushed down to the nether regions of the newsfeed.
- Invest in Facebook ads. This will be the most assured way of getting users to your website.
There is no doubt about it. There are no quick fixes and there is still a lot that remains unknown for now. However, you must reconsider your Facebook marketing strategy ASAP and be willing to invest time, creativity, strategy and money.
If you need our help in changing your Facebook marketing strategy, we can help. Just give us a call
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Group Matrix Blog – February 5, 2018 – by Sharon Bowles
