How to Make SURE The Equine Chronicle Shows Up on Your Facebook Feed

Yellow Barn Media

After Mark Zukerberg’s announcement, there seems to be widespread panic among the social community regarding how businesses use the platform.

Over the last ten years, Facebook has made numerous changes; some that affected how the platform visually looked to users, and others that created new opportunities for businesses to connect with their audience. With every change, massive amounts of strong emotion followed. This change is no different.

According to a post on media.fb.com in early January, here is what we need to know:

What does this mean for Pages and public content?
Because space in News Feed is limited, showing more posts from friends and family and updates that spark conversation means we’ll show less public content, including videos and other posts from publishers or businesses.

As we make these updates, Pages may see their reach, video watch time and referral traffic decrease. The impact will vary from Page to Page, driven by factors including the type of content they produce and how people interact with it. Pages making posts that people generally don’t react to or comment on could see the biggest decreases in distribution. Pages whose posts prompt conversations between friends will see less of an effect.

Can people still see posts from the Pages they follow at the top of News Feed?
Yes. People who want to see more posts from Pages they follow can choose See First in News Feed Preferences to make sure they always see posts from their favorite Pages.

What types of Page posts will show higher in News Feed?
Page posts that generate conversation between people will show higher in News Feed. For example, live videos often lead to discussion among viewers on Facebook – in fact, live videos on average get six times as many interactions as regular videos. Many creators who post videos on Facebook prompt discussion among their followers, as do posts from celebrities. In Groups, people often interact around public content. Local businesses connect with their communities by posting relevant updates and creating events. And news can help start conversations on important issues.

Using “engagement-bait” to goad people into commenting on posts is not a meaningful interaction, and we will continue to demote these posts in News Feed.

So, how do you take this news and move forward?

• Stay positive. You do not own Facebook. As a business owner, you must stay flexible and embrace the changes that come. Smile, learn how the changes affect you and then continue on with business as usual.
• Focus on your email list. Your money is in your list. Having an email list to nurture will provide you have an open line of communication, so that no matter what may happen on any social media platform you have that solid foundation of communication.
• Utilize Facebook ads. Facebook ads are incredibly powerful, and you can target your exact target audience for less money than you think. Some of the most powerful brands in the horse industry use Facebook ads to promote their products and increase their engagement.
• Go Live. Facebook live is also an incredible tool. I have heard so many objections from business owners about why they won’t go live, but I strongly encourage you to overcome your objections and go for it. Video, on any platform, is so powerful and is a MUST DO for businesses in 2018.
• Utilize a Facebook Group. Encourage your customers to take part in your Facebook group. Groups are a more intimate setting, and give you the freedom to really engage and share on a more personal level. I would be honored if you joined my Facebook group: The Elite Equestrian Professional. I share important updates like this one, as well as, strategies and tools for effectively marketing your horse business. You can join by clicking here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/horsebusinessmarketing.
• Continue to engage on your Facebook page. Get creative and focus on building relationships with your Facebook fans. Instead of just creating content, put the focus on engaging. Ask questions. Collaborate. Be interesting. Make your page a place of value and information.
• Have more than one egg and more than one basket. We have all heard the phrase; “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”, right? Facebook is a marketing giant, but you can’t put all your hopes and dreams only in the Facebook basket. Diversify and make sure you update your website, send regular emails to your list, and stay connected in a few different ways. This will help you to grow a solid business no matter what changes may come in the future, and rest assured the changes will never stop.

I share these suggestions in an effort to provide hope through the coming weeks and months as we start to see the actual impact this change will have on each of our business pages.

About Jamie:
Marketing veteran and avid horsewoman, Jamie has been coaching, speaking and creating content for the horse industry for over ten years. Her firm, Yellow Barn Media, specializes in social media marketing, email marketing, graphic design, marketing funnel creation, website development, Facebook ads and much more. She has over 35 years in the horse industry and her passion for this industry really shows in her work.

Please visit www.yellowbarnmedia.com, email Jamie at jamie@yellowbarnmedia.com or call/text 517.375.5399 if you would like to learn more about her services.