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Have you noticed a decrease in your Facebook outreach these past few months? Posts that may have accumulated traction are no longer gaining the same reach as they had in 2019. Now, it seems that your audience is no longer interacting with your posts, or not seeing them at all. It can be frustrating, but there is a reason for this.

Facebook is in the process of implementing updates on this social media platform, and these updates may be the reason your posts are losing engagement. Here are some general social media strategy tips and the reasoning behind them, while also peppering in some updates that are causing these shifts in numbers.

DO Post videos that stay within the platform

Video is still one of the best ways to gain traction on Facebook because it allows for engagement on your posts. According to Facebook, around 500 million people watch videos on this platform daily. And, the daily watch time for Facebook live broadcasts have quadrupled in just one year, and Facebook live videos produce six times as many interactions as traditional videos.

So what does this mean? Basically, if you’re going to be posting, remember to post a video that is relevant to your business and industry. Try to keep it over 3 minutes long, as that will bring more people to interact throughout the video as well. Facebook, for example, is wanting to minimize links that redirect you off of the platform, so any videos that link will receive less traction. So, when you upload the video, make sure it is uploaded directly to Facebook. Bonus points for utilizing their closed captioning option, because 85% of Facebook users watch videos with the sound off.

DO Post content that encourages engagement

The main point of posting is to gain engagement on your posts so you have a higher chance of them showing up on your user’s newsfeeds. This will help your page remain credible and timely, and will continue to make sure that your page is seen to those who have liked or followed you.

With the latest update on Facebook, doing this is going to be more important now than ever. This is because Facebook’s new algorithm sees them as less popular, so any pages that are not active or sparking engagement with an audience will more than likely not be seen in your customer’s newsfeed. In order to promote engagement, start creating posts that showcase your company culture, your employees advocating for you, or post helpful tips that will help businesses like yours succeed. Doing things like this will help organically promote engagement, instead of asking users to share or like your post, because the Facebook algorithm is now downplaying posts that feature phrasing like that.

DON’T post without a solid plan

Consistency is key in 2020. When setting up your social media marketing strategy, you need to stay consistent with when you post, and how often. On Instagram alone, the time you post is going to be imperative because this ever-evolving platform favors posts with interaction and engagement. If there isn’t a lot of interaction, then the engagement will continue to fluctuate.

The same can be said for Facebook. If you don’t keep your page active with consistent and engaging posts there is less of a chance that your posts will perform. The thing to remember in terms of Facebook posting: Don’t post more than once a day. If you have more posts that you’d like to share, consider using Facebook stories. The reasoning behind this would be that the more posts that are on a page, the less engagement that is likely to happen across all posts, therefore further dropping your chance of seeing your posts on your user’s newsfeeds. Stay consistent, but don’t post too often. Have a solid social media plan.

DON’T post the exact same content across all platforms

What works on Twitter won’t necessarily work on Facebook, and vice versa. Keep track of the demographics between each social media platform. For example, according to SproutSocial, if your target audience is more 25 – 45-year-olds, you want to hit Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, because that is where they are. If you want to target teenagers, however, you’ll want to utilize Snapchat, YouTube, and Instagram. Knowing these numbers will largely help your social media strategy, and will help keep content consistent across all platforms while still targeting it towards people differently throughout the different mediums.

There is so much more that can be said about social media strategy and how to implement your social media correctly. In fact, I only talked about organic posting, and haven’t even dove into advertising! If you’re reading this and are overwhelmed, contact us today, and let us help you with your social media strategy, or take it off your plate entirely!