Have you been wondering what to do about the announcement of the Facebook News Feed changes?  Maybe you’ve already seen an affect on your Page Reach.  Or maybe your clients are calling you asking if they should abandon Facebook altogether.

The fact is, we aren’t going to completely know how Pages will be affected fully for a month or two.

And the advice is going to be different for different types of Pages.  If your Page is getting good engagement now, don’t change a thing with the types of posts and your frequency.  Wait and see how your Reach and Engagement Rate changes over the next couple weeks.

If your Page is getting low reach and low engagement, you can consider making these changes now.

#1 Facebook Advertising is a must

If you aren’t doing an Facebook Ads, realize that has to change.  Boosting a post to your warm audience doesn’t have to be expensive.  $20 can be effective.  But also consider a bigger strategy with your Facebook Ads.  Make sure you know when to use Boosted Posts vs regular Facebook Ads.

As a social media manager or consultant, make sure you are advising your clients on how to measure the ROI of Facebook Ads and social media in general.

#2  You can post less but make sure the content is interesting and sparks conversation

Why spend a lot of time and effort in creating a lot of content that won’t be seen?  Focus on your posts that do well in terms of Engagement Rate.

Also make sure you aren’t using “Engagement bait” such as “click Like if you agree”.  An occasional request for comments or “What do you think?” isn’t going to get you in trouble so don’t worry about that.

#3  Do more Facebook Live and Facebook Video

Facebook has said that they are going to show less video but from what I’ve seen, Facebook video and especially Facebook Live is still getting good Reach.

As a social media manager, Facebook Live is not easy to do without the client’s help.  But you can advise them of the benefits and suggest ways they can use Facebook video and Live video.

#4  Watch your stats closely

I’m always shocked how many businesses don’t have Google Analytics installed on their website.  It doesn’t take long to do and it’s free!

Watch your Network Referrals to see how your social traffic is behaving.

Now you can see how your traffic is being affected and you may want to consider ramping up activity on other social sites.

#5  Consider a Facebook Group

Facebook Groups aren’t right for every business.  But they are more visible in the News Feed and if you have a good strategy for getting leads and sales from your Group while facilitating value to the group members then they can be powerful.

Remember that Groups require more moderation.  See my post on Facebook Groups vs Pages.

#6  What about Facebook Chat Bots?

Facebook Messenger has been a good tool for many people to contact businesses.  Chat Bots can add some fun to a Page.  I did one not long ago and I got a lot of response.  But I also was running a Facebook Ad to get leads for the same thing and the Ad out performed the Chat Bot.  But not by a lot.

I think they are evolving and it’s good to learn about but don’t always go for the shiny new object in your business.  Focus on making your Ads funnel work.

So are social media managers or consultants in trouble because of these changes?  There may be businesses that pull out of Facebook posting a little but social media is here to stay.  And as more businesses need to know about Facebook Ads, that area will grow.  Facebook ads are more complex than just posting on Facebook and so businesses will NEED consultants who know what they are doing.

I think there has never been a better time to start your business as a social media manager or consultant.  Our course, Social Media Manager School is open for enrollment right now until January 29th, 2018.  We cover all the latest changes and strategies you need to know to help your clients.

Get all the details and join us here:  https://socialmediamanagerschool.com/