Will your Facebook posts be seen?

Social media. A few years ago probably half of association members would say they don’t use it – now however, it is a growing communication platform with 1 in 4 people worldwide using some social network according to a recent eMarketer report.

I know I rely on the flexibility and instant communication channel social media provides me with both associations I work with. In fact, for one, social media is the main way we communicate with one facet of our audience.

So what happens if that audience can’t see what you post? Changes to Facebook newsfeed algorithms over the past year or so have gradually limited the reach of business pages’ posts to followers.

Earlier this month Facebook announced that beginning in January they will begin limiting organic posts that are too promotional. This change comes in response to survey data from users about the amount of promotional posts in their feed.

To help eliminate these types of posts, Facebook has identified three traits that define a post as promotional.

  • Posts that solely push people to buy a product or install a app
  • Posts that push people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real context
  • Posts that reuse the same content from ads

While most association pages don’t fall under these three categories, it’s still important to keep these new guidelines in mind as you move forward with planning 2015 social media communications.

Alternative forms of social media communication include purchasing Facebook ads which can be done for as little $5.00 depending on the audience size and demographic you wish to reach. Don’t want to invest in the ads? Host the content you aren’t sure about on your website, and then push the links out on social media using advertising neutral language. The bonus to this method is that it drives traffic to your site, which ultimately a goal of social media to start with.

Want to know more about Facebook’s new promotional post policy? Read the official announcement here.