Have you noticed that your store’s Facebook reach has gone down? This isn’t necessarily a reflection of what you are or are not doing on your page to drive engagement. Facebook is making changes to what users see in their newsfeed. Find out how the changes affect your page.
If you noticed your page views and post interaction are way down, you are not alone. According to Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, the company’s focus for 2018 is making sure that the time spent on their platform is “well spent.” What does that mean? It means that the company is actively trying to bring people closer together with their friends and families.
Because of the limited space available in a person’s newsfeed, there is less room for business posts. It is likely your reach, referral traffic and video viewership will decrease as a result. However, that doesn’t mean you are without options.
People who absolutely love your page or don’t want to miss what you post can select “See First in Newsfeed.” This will help make sure your page’s content isn’t buried in their newsfeed or not included at all.
Another way to ensure your page is seen is to increase interaction and post engagement — which is no small feat. However, posts that are commented on and generate conversation are more likely to show up in newsfeeds than those that aren’t. However, be careful to avoid what Facebook calls “engagement-bait.”
Engagement-bait is when a post asks for users to tag friends, comment on the post, vote on something, react by like or emoji, or share a post. Posts and pages that are repeat offenders will be demoted in the page viewership.
Facebook is simply looking for real interaction between you and your readers. They want to see real conversations and engagement that help strengthen their site rather than turning it into one long ad platform.
As a page owner and a Facebook user, I have mixed feelings about these changes. As a user I appreciate that I will see more from the people I know. However, I also follow pages for a reason — I want to see their content. As a page owner with typically decent interaction, I am frustrated. So, like everyone else, I will be watching to see how the changes are fully realized over the next few weeks and how savvy pages find ways to work around these new restrictions.
In the meantime, do not get discouraged if your post reach is lower than usual. As with most Facebook changes, you will either learn the new methods of interacting to bring viewership back up, or things will even out with time.
