You may have noticed that your organic reach on Facebook is just not what it used to be. Did less than 10% of your fans see your last post? And this is a fact. So, you may be questioning its efficacy as an advertising platform. We explore whether Facebook is still worth advertising on.
Is the romance with Facebook advertising over?
It’s well reported that 2017 was Facebook’s toughest year to date. It lost almost $100 billion in market value. Global concerns ranged from the levels of fake news, privacy scandals to inappropriate content.
In response Facebook made numerous adjustments.
- Updates in terms of privacy and data sharing
- Changes to how ads are setup and reported on
- Shut down its Partner Categories program. This was the method that allowed advertisers to target customers based on behaviours that happened outside Facebook (think Netflix)
- Facebook Algorithm updates
With 1.28 billion active users & counting, Facebook is one of the biggest worldwide advertising platforms. It’s therefore unlikely that the love affair is over, but advertisers are calling for greater transparency.
Facebook is simply evolving
Despite all the recent changes and uncertainty, Facebook ads still offer the cheapest way to reach 1,000 people. They cost 1/128th as much as newspaper ads (per impression) and 1/9th as much as Google ads. This is a platform that 75% of adults worldwide use every single day. So even though it is undisputed that it’s getting harder to reach these potential customers, it doesn’t mean you have to throw in the towel.
Upping your Facebook game
There are several ways to ensure your posts reach more fans. For instance, quotes, infographics and memes work well and encourage sharing.
Content creators are also finding favour and success with Facebooks new algorithm. The two types of content pieces that get the most shares and engagement are ‘why’ articles and infographics. Of course, this is easier said than done. If you don’t have the time to generate quality content, this is worth outsourcing to specialists. Email us and we can chat. info@creativeimagineering.co.za
Facebook’s new Algorithm
Let’s unpack how this new Algorithm has changed the way Facebook users are served posts.
“When a user visits Facebook, there are thousands of potential posts that might be displayed in their News Feed. The sophisticated algorithm takes these posts and arranges them according to how likely the user would be to interact with the content. That’s the basic theory.” (www.buffer.com)
The algorithm is distilled into four, very simple components:
- Inventory (content available)
- Signals (considerations about content)
- Predictions (considerations about person)
- Overall Score
Previously, Facebook used all sorts of signals to determine which posts would be shown to users:
Now, the algorithm will use signals that heavily favour “active” interactions such as comments and shares:
The focus and prioritising of posts from family and friends are because Facebook has placed more value on a person-to-person connection versus a person-to-page connection.
In other words, content from friends and family tends to illicit more “active” engagement from users.
As Alaura Weaver shares in her Medium article on the importance of story-driven content, “Instead of focusing on what makes content popular and attention-grabbing, we need to focus on what makes content personal and conversation-worthy.”
The first step to creating content that ranks well is having an understanding of the top signals and ranking factors in the Facebook algorithm.
Facebook Ads
Facebook ads are unashamedly about advertising and there are some great ways to promote engagement.
- Run a special campaign or competition & drive traffic to a campaign-specific page on your website
- Promote the campaign with Facebook ads — targeting fans & friends of fans
- Create a valuable e-book related to your product and use a Facebook Ad to promote it – sending traffic to your website.
Here today and gone tomorrow
Facebook evolves every day and what was working last year, no longer works in 2019. At Creative Imagineering we stay ahead of the game because this is our game. Partner with us and we can ensure that your brand still flourishes on the largest and most cost-effective advertising platform to date.
Email us today Info@creativeimagineering.co.za