Facebook recently announced that they are making some changes starting in January that will affect the organic content from pages. Take a look at how Facebook is defining this change:
“As part of an ongoing survey we asked hundreds of thousands of people how they feel about the content in their News Feeds. People told us they wanted to see more stories from friends and Pages they care about, and less promotional content.”
So what does this mean for your church’s Facebook page? Facebook has made it very clear that any page that chooses to post promotional content will begin to see their organic distribution fall. Facebook has defined “promotional posts” as the following:
- Posts that solely push people to buy a product or install an app
- Posts that encourage people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real context
- Posts that reuse the same content from ads
An important thing to note here is that this change ONLY affects organic posts, and NOT paid ads. Essentially, they are stating that, if it feels like an ad, don’t bother posting it organically. Instead, buy a paid ad.
The Bottom Line
Because this change hasn’t rolled out yet, it is still unclear exactly what type of posts and language will take a direct hit. However, this change is forcing your church to change the way they think about marketing and promotions especially via social media. You will now be encouraged to be more interesting, conversational, and educational. The user should come first! If the consumer would rather see more engaging posts in their newsfeed rather than promotions, then it is our job to provide that. Maybe this means your strategy will shift from the classic call to action of “Register Now” to an announcement or description.
Check out the difference in these two posts:
Try this: We are so excited about this year’s Christmas Concert. Learn more about the event!
Instead of this: Sign up for the 2015 Christmas Concert. Register NOW!
The Problem
What if the purpose of your page is to provide information on events and promotions? If the user has “liked” the page to see information on these events, registration, or promotions, then that is the content the user ultimately wants to see. Should there be an exception to the no promotion rule?
What are your thoughts on this announcement and how it will affect marketing on your church’s Facebook page?
(For more on these developments, check out http://marketingland.com/facebook-kills-organic-reach-108160 and http://www.jonloomer.com/2014/11/16/facebook-promotional-posts/)
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