It all started with the decline of organic reach for Pages a few years ago. As a marketer or Page owner, you did all you could to get around it. You varied your content. You posted photos of happy customers. You shared videos. Every so often you posted a special just for your fans. You did all of this so that a mere single-digit percentage of your audience could see your content.
And now, Facebook has announced yet another reason for brands and marketers to be turned off from by its seemingly endless quest to give brands little reason to be on Facebook at all – no more overly promotional posts on Facebook as of January 2015.
The update, as Facebook claims, is to give users what they want to see. The users said that they see brand’s content as too promotional, not relevant or with real good content.
Or is it just no more free advertising on Facebook, as this update is only for organic posts, not ads?
Regardless, it’s up to marketers to change their strategy and play Facebook’s game if they want to be successful on the platform.
And then, of course, it’s defining what “overly promotional” is, which, according to Facebook, includes:
- Posts that solely push people to buy a product or install an app
- Posts that push people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real context
- Posts that reuse the exact same content from ads
What This Means for Your Page
Think about why your Page is on Facebook. While, yes, you do want to show off your staff and share information, at the end of the day, it’s all about your product.
My recommendation is to continue to educate your followers about your products. Make it worthwhile experience: share blog posts, include videos, post great photos and provide tips on how to use your products.
If you’re using words like “buy here” or “see our inventory now,” make it an ad. Even if you’re just spending a few dollars to target that post to your followers, it’s the only way that they’re going to see it at all.
About the Author
PCG Digital Marketing is an award winning digital agency headquartered in Eatontown, NJ. We help our clients get found online through innovative search, social and online advertising campaigns.