Facebook FREAKOUT: 5 Ways To Handle The Latest Algorithm Changes

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Mark Zuckerberg recently announced some sweeping changes that has every business Facebook page owner in a panic.  In short it sounds like the reach for Facebook business pages will go down even more – "Facebook Zero Reach"

Is this the end of Facebook?  NO!!  …and if you fell into this trap thinking that it was then you're officially in FREAKOUT mode, and you're doing exactly what page owners who thrive on Facebook want you to do!  You're getting out of the way so that those who understand how Facebook works can utilize the latest Facebook Algorithm changes and THRIVE.

Dare I say, you can THRIVE even BETTER than before these latest changes coming from Mark Zuckerberg? Oh YES… I dare…and I'm putting it out there!

Understanding the Facebook culture means that no matter the changes that come down the line, you will THRIVE because ultimately it won't impact the authentic and relationship building entrepreneur.

Facebook is growing FAST and owes it's allegiance to its nearly 2 BILLION USERS and owes NOTHING to the business owners and social marketers). I think  Jon Loomer summarized it really well…

Facebook owes everything to their users. If people enjoy their experience on Facebook, they come back more often. If they come back more often, there are more people for you to potentially reach (still possible, when done right!).

1. Think Relationships

1. Facebook– They want users to stay on their platform for as long as possible.

2. Your readers– If you have a business page then you need to cater to what your readers would like to see more of: engaging content

3. You– The business page owner.  You have to decide what it is you want to gain from your Facebook page.  So there are some questions to ask yourself:

Do you want more more readers? Why?

Do you want more sales of your programs? How are you going to do this to keep readers on your page?

Do you want to build your email list? How are you going to do this to keep readers on your page.

All of it comes down to giving your readers more of what they want, which ultimately gives Facebook what they want by keeping your readers on their site.

You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want. ~Zig Ziglar

2. Think 3C's (Content + Community = Collaboration)

Facebook pages and Facebook groups (especially) create communities that support your business, especially if you provide an environment that continuously delivers valuable content and where members can engage and feel valued, too.

When your community thrives, your business thrives and marketing happens with grace and ease.  You'll earn the right to share your products and services because you've delivered valuable content your community will want to share with others.  You won't have to promote so hard because your community will rally and lovingly do it for you— but you must deliver, first. 

On Facebook, the definition of great content is not the content that makes the most sales, but the content that people most want to share with others. ~ Gary Vaynerchuk

With the Facebook changes, you MUST make your content valuable and shareable and the best way to do that is with, and through, a community who has already benefited from your work, products, and services.

When other influencers see what you're doing in a genuine and authentic way, you will naturally attract the right kind of people to you and your business.  Collaboration is going to be a game changer in your business and choosing who you align yourself with is going to be a big decision for you.

The collaboration partnership is not necessarily financial it can be as simple as letting each other readers know about the other person.

For example, I do a lot of interviews with top names in the social and marketing world.  This helps the influencer expand their reader base and helps me cement my influencer status.

3. Think Authenticity

Selling to people who actually want to hear from you is more effective than interrupting strangers that don't. ~Seth Godin

…and for people to want to hear from you, they need to know WHO YOU ARE.

You simply must show up on social media and the best medium to do this with is with Facebook LIVE.

There are no two ways around it.  No matter what Facebook changes—REMEMBER THIS—Facebook is becoming a video GIANT in its own right who's algorithms weigh in favor of video,  ESPECIALLY LIVE VIDEO .

It's not the product or service as much as the story as to why you created the product or service.  What was the inspiration?  What problem does it solve?  What had to happen (what struggle did you experience) that is the impetus of why you do what you do?

People don't buy whatyou do, they buy whyyou do it. ~Simon Sinek

and…

There is no sale without the story; no knockout without the setup. ~Gary Veynerchuk

If LIVE video is something you simply CAN NOT wrap your head around, find someone who can passionately do this for you . Please DO keep this mind, Facebook users have EXCELLENT BS meters.  So, showing up authentically is really the only way to go. Share yourself and your story using Facebook LIVE stream and you will maximize your time online, build communities and strengthen relationships MUCH FASTER.  It's a WIN – WIN -WIN!

Think about someone you love to watch on Facebook live, or for that matter Youtube.  Ask yourself why you are drawn to that person, what makes you keep going back for more?

A perfect example for me is watching and listening to Gary Vaynerchuk.  I keep going back to his videos as he is so passionate about what he does, he doesn't feed bullshit and does not mince his words.  He's genuine, authentic and is showing up in a consistent way.

YOU will be sharing your energy on camera when you do a Facebook Live and believe it or not, people can pick up on your energy on camera as much as they can when they're speaking to you in person.

4. Think Like 'Facebook'

Instead of going against the current, why not work with everything Facebook has that benefits you, too!  Let's face it, Facebook doesn't want its users leaving the social platform and has plenty in place to keep there.  Simply put, be where the Facebook users are (already).

• Use Facebook Messenger and invite your community to a conversation and dialogue. Over 60 million businesses use Messenger.  It's more desirable for the Facebook User to communicate through Messenger than to leave the Facebook platform to use another medium to communicate with a business.  Messenger cuts time, it's instant, and most likely checked and viewed before email and any voice messages.
• Use Facebook Instant Articles and make your content easily readable for Facebook mobile phone users—which makes up over 80% of the users.  It's tailor-made for blogs, encourages engagement, plus you can  earn more passive income , too!
• Use Facebook LIVE and connect and grow your communities with GREAT CONTENT.  Facebook users are already watching LIVE video 3X more than regular video recordings.  The power of LIVE streaming has the potential to 10X your business (see #3 above).

Facebook is a multi-billion dollar business, and it's part of your job to put yourself in the shoes of Mark Zuckerberg and ask the question: What would Mark do?

For example, if millions of users are complaining about having too many stories on their newsfeed that they don't want to see, What would Mark do? He would add a button to let you decide to block that content.

If millions of users are complaining about too many business page stories in their newsfeed and not enough from friends and family; What would Mark do? He would change the algorithms to promote more friends and family stories.

Thinking like this can give you a big advantage over 90% of page owners.  Whilst millions of page owners are complaining about the lack of reach and thinking about giving up on their page, then you have to be a contrarian and ask yourself: What Can I do to Keep facebook happy, keep my readers happy, and keep me happy?

5.  Think Investing Not Spending

Facebook has let you use its platform to market and grow your business (virtually free) for a long time…and now you have to rethink how you're going to move forward.  Trust me when I say, it's a good thing that the changes are asking businesses to step it up.

• Invest time on Facebook with purpose (including building communities, deepening relationships, and stop spending time on the things that aren't aligned with your business growth…like complaining about Facebook algorithms). 🙂
• Invest time learning about your community and giving them what they want. Deliver it by way of a blog or start a Facebook LIVE, or create a product or service that meets their needs.
• Invest in well-thought-out Facebook ads or boosts posts, and always consider the viewer, (your target market), first.

The Three Es

Invest your time in creating content that adheres to the 'Three E Principle' and ask this about every single piece of content you're create: Is it…

• Engaging?
• Enlightening?
• Entertaining?

This is a great exercise to do whilst creating any piece of content, just by asking yourself, is it engaging, enlightening or entertaining, will put you ahead of most other page owners.

A lot of people on Facebook are creating content that is ego based, in other words, they're saying look at me, look how good I am, look how much knowledge I have, look at me, look at me, look at me!That is not going to get you a lot of readers.

Marketing

At the end of the day every Facebook page owner is a marketer, but what type of marketing you do depends on your knowledge of marketing and your sense of community.

5 Main Types of Marketing

There are a lot more ways of marketing than I am going to mention here, but think about these 5 different types and then look at how you're marketed to on a daily basis and see which ones resonate with you:

Push Marketing– Marketers try and sell their products to you.

Education Marketing– Marketers teach you how to overcome a problem you may have, or try to enlighten you in some way with education.

Brand Marketing– You get your name known and recognised through advertising.

Ego Marketing– "Look at me, look at what I did, look how good I am" marketing.

Word of Mouth Marketing– Other people are talking about you, your product or service.

Of the five above think of a recent video or advert you've seen from a marketer and see what category it fits into.

What ones do you think is the best type of marketing?

For me, it's definitely education based marketing: You teach people how to do something and expect nothing in return.  If you give enough great information consistently then people will be drawn to you and ask you that question: Have you got a book, a product or service I can buy?

That is called Pull Marketingwhere people are drawn to you because of the great information you give and they are asking you to sell them something.  Education Marketing and Word of Mouth Marketing comes in the heading of Pull marketing.

This might sound trivial, but really sit down and think about this as it will change your business when you focus on Education and word of mouth marketing.

Conclusion

In spite of the changes, Facebook is still a great place to invest your time and energy and your future self will thank you for sticking with it. As I said, we have to remember Facebook is a 3-person relationship and you have to give Facebook what they want, give your community what they want, and ultimately you'll get what you want. Last but not least, my recent Facebook LIVE show covers some of my thoughts about Facebook Zero Reach:

My Facebook News and Updates Show airs
every Monday at 7:50am est on Your Digital Formula

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