Since Facebook announced the algorithm change for Business Pages, back in January, many business owners have either left the platform or have given up.
The reality is that as a small business owner we can still continue to grow on Facebook. There are many elements available through Facebook that allow us to keep building our businesses. You have your personal timeline, groups and YES, your Business Page.
What I have seen and heard, is that it was the larger companies, those who had larger followings, that got more affected by the change than us ‘little’ guys. Reason being is that they had huge amounts of engagement (like/comment/shares) than we had, so the decrease in numbers were much more noticeable.
I will tell you that I personally, did not see a difference in my “number of people reached” on each of my posts, I am still averaging 600 daily reach on my posts. Why?
I have been using Facebook for 10 years for business, with the last 6 focused on my Facebook business. During those 10 years, I spent more time building relationships through the different groups, than anything else. I realized the impact of this for my business, so I knew that I had to dedicate DAILY time to doing this. I knew that my Business Page was not the ONLY thing I needed to focus on. I also learned that my personal timeline could make a HUGE impact.
By working these 3 main elements of Facebook, it ultimately, will affect your following and your engagement on your Business Page. People will want to follow you because you have built a relationship and in turn, they will tell their friends and your following starts to grow. HOWEVER, this is not the only way, this is just a small fraction of what you can do.
Really think about what you are posting on your Business Page. Does it provide value? Is it something that will create engagement? Does it show you as an expert in your field? Does it show who you are/your personality? Is it ANOTHER business promotion?
What we post on our Business Page is the KEY to creating engagement, even against the algorithm. When people make sure that they are seeing your posts, then they are engaging, that will draw in more attention. Facebook loves engagement, so we need to do what we can to create it. P.S. Did you know that when you ‘share’ your Business Page posts onto your personal timeline and into groups, this is considered engagement?
As you are growing and learning which type of posts work best, DON’T get discouraged by your numbers if they are not all great, every day. Just keep moving forward and focus on improving what you are doing.
Here is a great article from Buffer talking more in-depth about the Facebook algorithms and some suggestions on what you can do. READ HERE