Jessica Reid and Craig Jones, founders of Greenwich Point Marketing.a
Are you freaking out about the changes to the Facebook news feed? With the changes being referred to as “Facebook Zero” and “Facebook Armageddon,” there is reason for concern.
New algorithms at Facebook mean posts on your business Facebook page will lose priority to posts from friends and family.
On January 11, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook’s mission is to bring people closer together, “but recently we’ve gotten feedback from our community that public content – posts from businesses, brands, and media – is crowding out the personal moments.”
The good news is it’s possible to prepare your business for the changes.
The Greenwich Free Press speaker series continues with a presentation by Craig Jones, a social media expert who co-founded Greenwich Point Marketing with Jessica Reid.
“There are workarounds,” Jones said. “But the workarounds cost money and an investment of time because you have to be much more creative with your posts to get them in front of readers’ eyes.”
“Every post needs to be well thought out. You’re going to be punished by blithely slapping posts up on Facebook. Before you post it, you have to ask yourself, does this benefit my community?” Jones continued.
On Feb 5, Jones will give an overview of the Facebook platform, including organic reach versus paid reach, as well as how to segment and target audiences.
Think you understand creating a targeted audience?
“Everyone targets women 35-55 in Greenwich,” Jones said. “There’s way more to it now.”
“No longer can you hire a high school kid to do your social media,” Jones warned, adding that many people who have a Facebook page for their business aren’t necessarily familiar with the Facebook “Business Manager,” which offers a wealth of tools.
“Business Manager gives you more detailed analytics and targeting. It lets you create a Facebook pixel, which is how you retarget website traffic on Facebook,” Jones said. “This is the big one that people miss: The ability to retarget and create custom audiences. This is more valuable now than ever.”
Jones likens having a business page on Facebook to playing T-Ball.
“The business manager page is like making it to the major leagues,” he said.
Business Manager, according to Jones, allows you retarget people who have visited your website, retarget people who engage with a video, or watch more than 50% of a video you posted. It’s even possible to upload your email list to create a custom audience.
Facebook will even create a custom audience that has the same characteristics of people on your email list.
“They look at characteristics of your email list and create a similar, but new, audience,” Jones said. “It’s call a One Percent Audience! Facebook is saying they match your current list and would probably like your page.”
“You need to use all the tools that Facebook puts in front of you,” Jones said. “Facebook doesn’t want anything showing up a person’s news feed that they don’t want to see. They’re giving you tools to make that happen, but if you’re not using the business manager account, you’re not seeing the tools you have access to. And it’s free. It’s just a little more complicated than using the basic Facebook page.”
Jones will share tips and workarounds for the changes to the Facebook news feed upstairs in the meeting room at Greenwich Library on Feb 5 from 5:30pm to 6:30pm. (Doors open at 5:20pm).
The fee is $10. Light refreshments provided.
RSVP to Leslie.Yager@gmail.com to reserve a space.
Space is limited and we expect this timely talk will be popular.