On January 11, 2018, Mark Zuckerberg made an announcement about upcoming changes we will soon see added to Facebook. This announcement shared that the goal of Facebook is changing to focus on helping users find relevant content to have more meaningful social interactions between individuals and less on public content from businesses, brands and the media. Currently, Facebook marketers use signals such as likes, comments and shares to determine how well their content is resonating with their fan base. The more your content is engaged with by fans, the more likely they are to see it in their news feed in the future. With this announcement, Facebook is saying that it is going to instead prioritize posts that spark conversations and meaningful interactions between individuals. They will do this by predicting which posts will prompt you to interact with your friends and then they will show these posts higher in your newsfeed.

Re-evaluating your Facebook strategy is going to be paramount to this still being a successful marketing channel for business owners. It is currently believed that paid advertising on Facebook is not going to be affected by this change.

To stay ahead of these changes, you should get familiar with other products and services that Facebook is offering. It is a real possibility that Facebook is becoming a “pay-to-play” marketing channel. Additionally, this about the things you post and how they will spark conversation between your audience. Should you be asking more questions? Should you be providing more education about your products/services and industry? Should you be working on integrating Facebook Messenger into your plan? Should you spend more time using Facebook Live? Facebook reports that going live results in six times more interaction from followers than other video.

The Wyoming Small Business Development Center Network’s Market Research Center can complete a social media network analysis to help you understand how your Facebook marketing is currently performing. Our social media experts can help you brainstorm new content ideas, work with you to build a content calendar, create metrics to measure success, and help you monitor your success.

These changes are still in the works, so social media marketing experts aren’t 100% sure how it will affect individual businesses. Current theory is that if business owners plan to post between 2-3 times a week, using the 80/20 content mix (80% of the time asking questions, sharing information, participating in a larger conversation, etc. and 20% of the time directly promoting their products or services) and really focus in on content that drives interaction between individuals, that this well help them. Additionally, it is encouraged that businesses educate their audiences how to set up the “See First” feature on Facebook, so that their brand content still shows up in the top of their followers’ news feeds. In addition to the listed suggestions above, there has been a lot of talk about setting up Facebook Pixel and designing even a small paid campaign, and making sure video is being posted via Facebook Watch.

To get started evaluating your Facebook marketing strategy, call Sarah Hamlin at 307-851-2029 or email at sarah.hamlin@uwyo.edu

Sarah Hamlin is the regional director for Fremont and Teton Counties. Sarah has a marketing and operations background with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver and an MBA from Colorado State University. Her love for helping small business started when she was in high school working for the local, family-owned sporting goods store in northeast Ohio. Sarah specializes in social media and digital marketing, working with clients statewide to get their businesses online.

When she’s not meeting with clients or on the road:

Sarah is plotting mountain and river adventures with her husband and three-legged pup, experimenting in the kitchen, and volunteering in the Lander community.

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