Facebook Skills For Small Businesses: Staying in Touch with Changing Rules

12th June 2015

Facebook is one of the most beneficial promotional tools for small to medium sized businesses, yet many businesses are using it in ways that don’t enable them to see the full benefits. Facebook imposes strict guidelines for businesses in order to protect users from unwanted content, and these guidelines are constantly changing in response to user feedback and marketing trends. It’s important to stay in touch with these changing rules, and learn vital Facebook skills to ensure your content is seen by the right demographic.

Don’t Over Sell

In November 2014, Facebook asked their users what they liked about their news feed, and what they didn’t. Not surprisingly, most users enjoyed posts from businesses they had ‘liked’, but hated ‘random’ promotional content. What Facebook discovered, however, was that much of this content wasn’t random at all. In fact, it had come from ‘liked’ businesses.

Quite simply, the content was too direct, too promotional, to (a) engage with users, and (b) be recognised as being shared by a ‘liked’ business. A major gripe was ‘posts that solely push people to buy a product’. As a result, in January 2015, Facebook introduced higher levels of content control to penalise businesses that post overly promotional content. According to Facebook, these businesses can ‘expect their organic distribution to fall significantly’.

Rethink Business Account Habits

Earlier in 2014, Facebook introduced changes to the news feed which meant that post distribution was either positively or negatively affected by user engagement. If a post was deemed to be successful, it would ultimately be distributed within wider circles. On the other hand, if a post failed to engage with users, it would disappear from news feeds. What was left unaffected by these changes, however, was sponsored advertising.

A common issue seen with business Facebook accounts is that too many businesses are using the social network in the same way they’d use it for their personal accounts. Facebook’s Vice President of Small Business, Dan Levy, states that businesses should view the platform as a ‘tool to help them grow their businesses, not a niche social solution to getting more reach’. Digital marketing, and social media marketing (SMM) in particular should be made a priority in any small business marketing strategy, and budgets should be reconsidered to allow for businesses to make the most of social media promotional tools such as paid advertising.

Yazoomer.com is a leading online directory offering global promotion for small to medium sized businesses looking to strengthen their online presence. Sign up to Yazoomer today and take advantage of our introductory offer - get 3 months advertising for just £1. Our worldwide customers will be charged the same amount in their local currency, with no extra fees.

We would also welcome any feedback or comments that will help us improve our website. Please send to info@yazoomer.com. Your email address will not be disclosed to any third party or used for marketing purposes.