What happened?
Last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a big redesign for Facebook which will now focus more on Facebook Groups and Events and de-emphasize the News Feed, which had been an essential component since Facebook became popular.
The reason that these changes were made is because of the numerous scandals, privacy issues, data protection and other problems which lead to a major decline in user growth and a decline in user trust in the platform over the last two years.
So what does that mean for Small Business Owners like you and me?
Over the past 4-6 years the Facebook Ads platform has become so powerful and popular that it had made the ability to attract organic (non-paid) traffic more and more difficult. However this change is the strongest signal yet that the platform wants to focus in connecting people, or the “social” aspect of social media.
Here are a few tips on things you can do to help drive organic traffic on Facebook & connect with your audience:
Find your target audience in Facebook Groups and Pages relevant to your brand.
Ask relevant questions which are easy to answer (What’s your favorite thing about? Would you prefer A or B?) The goal is to get people to respond.
Respond to comments, try to engage in a helpful, non-spammy manner. Become their friend & supporter.
Engage with your target audience on their posts. Be positive, supportive, helpful and most importantly, respectful because you are operating in someone else’s Group or Page Timeline.
Eventually, after a few back and forths or multiple conversations with people, (at least 5 or 7 quality engagements, preferably not merely a Post Like) you can ask them to Like your Business Page or send a Friend Request.
If you are sincerely engaging with people and making friends with your target audience, they will be happy to help support you and possibly become an customer in the future.