Facebook is suppressing the organic reach of business pages more and more. Here’s why that’s a good thing.
Many people think success of a Facebook business page is measured in the number of likes. On the surface the number of “Likes” seems like a good measure. It is simple and easy to understand. It appeals to that desire to feel popular that lurks just below the surface for most people.
However, with Facebook’s algorithms for business pages having too many of the wrong kind of likes can crush your page’s organic reach.
Facebook’s customer is the user scrolling through their news feed. Facebook’s job is to deliver videos, articles, and cat pictures that user will find interesting. When a business page posts a new picture or link it is pushed out to a sampling of that page’s fans. If those fans engage with the post by liking commenting or sharing the Facebook bot deems this content as interesting to Facebook users and pushes it out to more people. If the post is met with only the sound of crickets the Facebook bot moves on. The video below illustrates this well.
It is a must watch for anyone considering investing in Facebook ads, it explains how buying ads, even through the official Facebook channels, often results in toe tag likes. If you think you are safe from the danger of having your page suppressed under the new algorithms because you are inviting your Facebook friends to like your page, think again.
A disengaged like is a disengaged like, whether it came from a click farm in Bangladesh or your well meaning friend who accepted your request to like your business page because they like you, not because they are part of your market base.
For page managers that view Facebook as another channel to build connection these changes could be an opportunity. If the page has well curated “Likes” of people who are interested in and engage with a page’s posts, the likelihood of that content being shown in their feed on a regular basis increases.
Let’s take this shift in Facebook’s algorithms as an opportunity to remember every customer is a person and social media is a vehicle for creating connection and conversation with people.