It must have sounded like a nightmare when Facebook announced they would no longer promote Business pages in newsfeed as they used to and that they would aggressively fight newsfeed spam.
Reminds you of Google, doesn’t it?
It does. Facebook has a wide user base and it has received many user complaints about how businesses clutter the newsfeed with spam, so Facebook just reacted to protect its users.
However, that doesn’t mean Facebook business pages are doomed. Promotion simply needs to be handled differently.
Here’s how.
Tag Users and Pages In Your Posts
Every time you publish and share your content, make sure you tag mentioned experts, interviewees and cited blogger in your posts.
In fact, most of these people will have a business page for their website or at least a personal Facebook profile, so they will see your tag and possibly engage with you on your post, either by commenting or by liking or sharing your post (even better if they share, because there are higher chances for your content to go viral!).
Promote Your Content In Facebook Groups
There are several Facebook groups that are niche or industry specific and allow members to share their content with the community.
Stick to guidelines, though! Don’t let admins catch you spamming or you’re out of the group and you might be reported as a spammer to the Facebook staff as well.
Ask Your Friends To Share Your Posts On Their Profiles and Groups
You can ask your Facebook Friends to share your content on their profiles, groups and pages, but you will have to respect their editorial decision to actually help you with the promotion or not.
Ask privately, possibly outside of the Facebook platform (so, not even private messages) to avoid possible spam reports.
Remember that Facebook now actively fights share- and like-bait.
Your Personal Profile Helps
You can share your business page posts on your personal Facebook profile and get more engagement that way, because not all of your Friends will be following your business page, but certainly all or almost all of them will follow your personal account in Newsfeed.
However, keep in mind that your profile followers may have different interests than your target audience for your business, so personalize your posts comment to this different audience when you share them.
Promote Your Facebook Business Page Offline and In Print
Add a link to your Facebook page on your business cards, posters, flyers, conference slides and wherever you see brand communications fit.
While people are more sensitive to online marketing and tend to be wary of promotional messages, offline and print promotions are still seen as less threatening and you can leverage this psychological aspect to spread the word about your business page.
Leverage Your List
Every business runs an email list for their most loyal clients or fans.
Share your Facebook-only offers and links with your list. They will respond willingly as getting interesting content and offers is part of why they joined your list.
How do YOU handle Facebook business page promotion?
More Ideas to Get The Most Out Of Your Facebook Business Page:
- How to Leverage Facebook for Business Marketing by Kabbage Team
- Should I Have A Facebook Page For Business Or Just Use My Personal Profile? by Josh Steimle at Forbes
