Facebook is seeing a huge resurgence in use in the United States over the last month. A lot of that has to do with stay-at-home orders, telework, and an overwhelming need for information.
It’s shown itself to be a monster of a valuable tool for connection.
For author, it does mean an audit of how you’re using the platform.
Facebook’s 2018 algorithm change affected my author page…
Mark Zuckerberg made an announcement on his Facebook page in January 2018 about changes in his social network’s algorithm.
“We built Facebook to help people stay connected and bring us closer together with the people that matter to us. But recently we’ve gotten feedback from our community that public content – posts from businesses, brands and media – is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other.”
What is really amounts to is that Zuck wants to take it back to its origins (or he’s looking for an increase in revenue stream through forced ad buys from FB Pages, but that could be the cynic in me coming out.)
It’s been two years since this change, and the organic reach from Facebook Pages plummeted.
The new algorithm did change your news feed. A lot more friends and family.
A lot more groups. Have you noticed that too? The organic reach from Groups and Feeds in 2020 has simply exploded….almost completely due to the coronavirus and our home isolation. So it’s time to rethink how to use Facebook. This trend may change as the virus levels out and life goes back to a semblance of normal. But until then, I recommend Group and tinkering with ads.
If you depend on Facebook Pages to advertise your books and your brand, you absolutely, 100% must have an ad budget.
If you are still using Facebook Pages, you know the reach is way down.
This means two things for an author:
- Your posts need a high organic rate of engagement – comments and share.
- Without high rates of engagement, you’ll need to buy ads.
High Engagement is key:
- Facebook Pages with high engagement see the most return
- If your post looks like a regular post instead of an ad, it will more likely garner engagement.
- Live Facebook Video is still money for organic reach – six times more reach than simply posting a video.
- “Engagement Bait,” which used to be all the rage, Zuck says is now a big fat no-go. So no posts with “tag a friend” or “comment below.”
- You can also post a notice on your Page asking folks to click the ‘See First’ button on the page, so they are still getting some of your content.
Advertise with Facebook Pages?
The answer is yes – IF you enjoy being on Facebook. It is still a social media site with well over a billion users, most in the United States and Canada. The biggest thing about ads is create them to look like regular posts.
With more engagement on the ad, the lower the cost.
When you buy ads, the sole purpose is to boost your following, build your email list or sell books. That’s it.
Tinker with the ads platform but only use Conversion or Lead Generation for your objectives. As an author, the others aren’t all that helpful.
The latest algorithm rewards long term ad buys rather than short bursts, so keep that in mind when you schedule your ads.