With Facebook making further, more dramatic alterations to its algorithm, what users see in their News Feed has now shifted, prioritizing person to person communication. So what can artists do to stay in touch with their fanbase? Here we offer some pointers.
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Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0
In an effort to combat fake news, Facebook has overhauled what users will see in their News Feed, and that will change how artists and bands post. Going forward the emphasis will be on what friends and family post first, and that will now rank their posts, videos and photos higher than a company or brand (which how an artist or band is categorized).
In essence, this means that person-to-person communication is prioritized because Facebook wants you to see more stuff from real people, not companies. As a result, you will see fewer posts from pages. That said, long and thoughtful replies will get a boost. Recorded videos will also not get nearly the weight they once did, and passive scrolling and low-quality engagement are now considered a bad thing. That said, posts that get long, thoughtful replies will get priority in your feed.
What can you do to keep reaching your fan base? It’s not as bad as it seems if you follow these points:
● Use live video. Facebook seems to be putting an emphasis on live versus prerecorded video.
● Create great content. You really have to think your posts through as anything frivolous just won’t reach many people anymore.
● Encourage a genuine conversation. Anything that gets people commenting is good except if it’s “engagement bait.” What’s that? It’s goading people into reacting. A post that says, “Comment YES if you love rock as much as I do” will be screened and penalized. The conversation has to be real.
● Create a group. There’s a lot more freedom to post within a group, if you can get enough people to join.
● Ask your audience to choose “See First in News Feed” preference. This will make sure that they always see posts from your page. They need to click “Following” near the cover photo of your page and in “In Your News Feed” select “See First” though.
● Paid advertising. While organic reach may be down, paid reach won’t change. Pay to promote a post if you think that it will get the engagement you’re looking for.
Every time Facebook rolls out a new change people freak out, but usually the change isn’t as ominous as it first seems. That will most likely be the case this time as well.
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