How to Update Your Social Media Marketing to Take Advantage of the 2015 Facebook Changes

In part one, we took a high-level view of the changes that will affect brands on Facebook. The social media team at TBA sees these changes as more opportunity than threat. And this is our chance to make our clients’ social media efforts even more efficient and successful.

Here are our five ways to improve your social media based on the latest Facebook changes:

1. Content strategy. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snapchat and your blog have all evolved. Gone are the days when these were simple update platforms where you tell your fans you have a T-shirt in a new color. Of course, you can still tell them about the T-shirt, but create a strategy around it. Tell your fans the color was inspired by the sunset hitting the mountains in northern Colorado. Just be sure the story is authentic and the strategy is consistent. Take advantage of the types of audiences on each platform and craft the appropriate strategy for each.

2. Creativity. Let’s be perfectly honest. Social media posts that simply say, “buy my stuff” rarely work. Now Facebook is telling you fewer people will see those posts, but that’s OK, because your brand is better than that. Reinvent your brand on social media. Tell a story. Make it exciting. This is your chance to connect with fans and become more than a brand – to become a part of their lives.

3. Customer service strategy. For the foreseeable future, fans and non-fans of your brand will always turn to Facebook for compliments and complaints, regardless of the changes Facebook makes. Social media is the quickest way to complain that it took too long to get on the plane or that a waitress was rude to you at the restaurant. Create a list of responses for common complaints, and be responsive. Having a plan is half the battle. In most cases, you can turn an unhappy customer into a satisfied fan.

4. Ad strategy. Facebook’s changes have made it difficult to sell products or services through its News Feed for free. It is true that your brand will have to pay in order to reach fans with promotional posts, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be successful selling on Facebook. It’s time to get your timing, targeting and content right for your promotional posts. Without an unlimited budget, your brand won’t be able to boost posts all the time, so make sure you’re posting at the most effective time of day and the right day of the week. Ensure you are targeting the people most likely to buy. Use photos and copy that will catch your fans’ attention.

5. Website click strategy. Your brand will certainly still want to drive traffic back to its website from Facebook, but you won’t want to be as promotional about it. This is where we come full circle to being creative again. There’s nothing wrong with linking to a blog post that has a link to your product page. Give people something of value to click on, and you can still drive plenty of traffic to your website from Facebook and social media in general.

In light of these latest changes and our recommendations for being successful with them, does your brand need a social media assessment for 2015? We’d love to hear from you. Contact us today!