With Valentine's Day behind us, I can finally declare my one true love: Facebook. You might be saying "But Nicole, you're recently married!" I know, I know. I just can't quit my love affair with Facebook, no matter how much my husband or Twitter seduce me.
You know who also shouldn't quit their angsty love affair with Facebook? Small businesses. With algorithm updates within the last year, it's likely your organic reach has dropped significantly. We also understand that frustration. Nowadays it seems that the only way to get your content viewed or shared is to pay Facebook for an ad or boost your content for 5 or 10 bucks. Ain't nobody got time (or the extra cash) for that. It's inevitable that organic reach is going to decrease even more this year, making paid advertising almost necessary. But, there are a few things you can do to improve your Facebook posts for a better, more appropriate reach.
Anyone can read a news article. We can just head over to Twitter (my second love) and scroll through tweets upon tweets for interesting news, pictures of a celebrity's breakfast, or some viral gif or video.
For Facebook, spruce up your blog link, news article or industry news with your own personal commentary. Be personable! The people behind your brand are human, after all. Maybe pick out a quote that will draw in readers. Ask a question — "do you agree?" or "which design is your favorite?" Additionally, always be sure to upload a picture if the article doesn't automatically display one. Images are more likely to draw attention on the newsfeed than plain text or a url.
Play around with different days and time slots with your Facebook posts to see which ones get a larger reach. You can track the reach with Facebook Insights, or link clicks with information, Facebook tends to hide (unpaid) posts that are basically self promotion. So much for your call to actions like "Read our new blog!" or "Visit our store for 25% today!" Of course, this encourages small businesses to hop on Facebook's "Pay to Play" train. It's a vicious hypocritical cycle.
Mix up your day-to-day content with news articles, pictures, or stories your target audience cares about. Be fun, interesting and relatable! You know when you go to the mall and the lotion lady from the kiosk won't leave you alone? Don't be the lotion lady of the Facebook world. Nobody wants to feel like they're just being sold to.
For small businesses (and my husband), it's easy to become frustrated with Facebook. I wish I knew how to quit you, Facebook, but I just can't. And neither should your brand!
By: Nicole Bailey
