Facebook, arguably the King of social media, is changing its algorithms – again.
It might not seem like a big deal just yet, but the move intended to give its users a better social media experience might be the move that makes the already complicated task of social media marketing even more tedious.
Businesses have learned over the past couple of years that social media is the best nearly-free marketing platform available to them. With minimal cost, brands are able to reach out to and engage with millions of people on a daily basis, building a loyal tribe of followers.
Wouldn’t it be nice to harness the same power to drive traffic to your website? Well, you can. Here’s how.
- Publish content.
For people to be able to find you, and want to “follow” you, the first step is to publish content. A lot of content. A lot of valuable content. Give your readers a reason to follow you and the links you share via social media back to your website.
Click-bait headlines aren’t enough anymore – readers today have become too savvy for that. You’ve got to provide them with a legitimate reason to seek your company out in the form of fresh and valuable information, “evergreen” information if you will.
Like the messages conveyed in classic rock songs, evergreen content is based on topics and subject matter that is timeless. For that reason, it can be re-published with a few minor tweaks here and there to refresh it and make it relevant throughout the ages.
- Re-publish content.
This might seem counterintuitive since, in our first point, we’ve just told you to provide a constant flow of fresh content. But, when you take into account that on Facebook, only 10% of your followers actually see the content you publish, it makes sense that you’d need to re-publish the same content at least a few times to maximize its lifecycle.
Now, that doesn’t mean you’re going to blast the same blog post out on all of your social media channels for five days straight. What it does mean, however, is that once you’ve published a new blog post on your business’s website, you’ll share it over on each of your social media platforms, tweaking it to fit the nuances of each platform.
After that initial share, wait a day to see how your shared blog post performs using the analytics tools for each social media channel you posted it on. Then, on the second day after your initial share, re-publish the same post with a new lede or headline. While a few of your followers may have already seen your previously published post, they might not have interacted with it (likes, shares, comments, etc.) and will be more prone to click on it after seeing it a second time.
- Don’t Be a Used Car Salesman
Take a moment to think about the last time you went to look at a car or went clothes shopping. How did you feel when you saw a salesperson take notice of you and head your way? Their attention probably triggered some sort of fight-or-flight response in your subconscious mind, and you felt your shopping experience dip into the depths of pushy sales associate peril.
Take that same sentiment, and apply it to social media. How many people do you know that log into their accounts just to read advertisements and promotions day in and day out? That number is probably somewhere around zero.
That’s because, although the creators of the various social media platforms have found ways to monetize them, the original intent was simply about sharing information and actual social interaction between people.
You have to remember that what you share on social media is all about enhancing the experience of your followers. It’s not a place to push your latest ads and promotions. Users will naturally follow a promotional link AFTER they’ve established that your content is trustworthy and worthwhile – meaning, it provides some type of value to them.
Just like nobody wants an inbox full of spam letters from their uncle, the Nigerian Prince promising millions of dollars in exchange for the account information to deposit said millions into, nobody wants to read an entire feed of self-promotional material.
Think about your own threshold for spammy content, and back it up a notch or two when catering content to your social media audiences.