You may have heard that Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook team announced that they are making a HUGE change to Facebook Brand Pages in the upcoming months. Well, I have been doing my research and taking in all the info I can, so I can help decode the news for my marketing friends and clients.

Essentially - Brand Pages Will have ZERO Organic Reach to everyone.

Yes, this includes your fans. You know the ones your business spent a ton of money trying to get because it looks good to your boss?  Yeah.

It has been known that content has only been shown to a small portion of your audience, and if they liked it (by liking, commenting, clicking or sharing) then the Facebook algorithm would show it to more people. But now - no one will see it, unless they go searching for it.. Which HA. No one is. Sorry if that sounded mean. It is important to remember how people interact with your brand. Not just how YOU do.  

Why The Facebook Page Changes?

According to the Facebook team, it is because they want to go back to the idea that social networking is about connections. And, honestly - I couldn’t agree more. We all started on Twitter, or Facebook to connect with PEOPLE…. To be “social,” not to be bombarded with invites to your friend from high school’s landscaping company (you know you liked it because you felt obligated to, but you really don’t care about seeing content from them).

Facebook may currently be the biggest social network, but over the past few years they have had their issues due to the last election (ugh), the spread of actual FAKE NEWS and memes, really bad content from brands, and the general nature of news that bleeds leads. Connections have become secondary for people… Yet, that’s why we started on this network in the first place.

What Can I Do?

One of the best sources of information on what they are calling FACEBOOK ZERO is the marketing website, Social Media Examiner. They spell out everything you as a marketer need to do - and #1 is rethinking how you view Facebook as a marketing tool.

No longer can you simply focus on QUANTITY of content and sacrifice QUALITY, no longer can you blast out links -- unless you don’t care if anyone sees your posts.

Some suggestions include investing in Facebook Live Video because those videos get great engagement, diving deeper into Facebook advertising and putting a few dollars every day into your content, and creating content that gets people talking. Okay, I know that is easier said than done, but really it is back going back to the roots of social media....   

Back to Basics

I started teaching classes on social media back in 2009. Back then it would be an hour-long class for Sonoma County Tourism on the basics of connections on Twitter and Facebook. It wasn’t about creating gorgeous photos, or videos… IT WAS ABOUT THE CONNECTIONS with people. And since then, I have learned to take great photos (IMO), Facebook ads and basic graphic design.. But I still focus on teaching people community management and connecting with their audience.

These new changes to Facebook Pages will favor brands and people that create engaging content. It will be about true back and forth dialog vs a pretty photo. And, I for one and ALL FOR IT.

Oh, and if you are local to Sonoma / Napa -- I would love to see you at my next event for PMG-North Bay, on Thursday, February 22, M is for Measurement where our panel will talk more about how these changes affect everyone on Facebook.