Facebook today announced changes to their news feed algorithm. These new changes will mean that text-based status updates from Pages will appear in the Newsfeed less often and users will receive more status updates from friends in the Newsfeed instead.

This is the latest in a series of changes aimed at making it harder for businesses to market on Facebook organically (ie for free).

For instance, in 2012 Facebook announced that a status update from a Page would typically reach only 16% of that Page's fans.

Worse, a study by Ignite in December 2013 reported that this figure was actually closer to 3%

That's right, you post a status update from your Facebook page and only 3 out of every 100 fans will ever see it, much less convert into a sale.

If you rely on Facebook as a major marketing channel it's probably time to re-think your strategy.
 

The Sky Isn't Falling

I'm not saying you should abandon Facebook. With over 1 billion users - yes, billion - Facebook is still the largest social network in the world. What's more, that user base is very active, with 728 million daily active users. That adds up to a whole lot of potential customers you can tap into - it's just that you're probably going to have to spend more on advertising to reach them.

There are lots of other benefits to having an active Facebook page as well. It's an easy and convenient way to interact with customers, ask for feedback and deal with any problems they might have.

Also, this latest update apparently only affects text-based status updates. You can probably expect better reach if you're posting images or videos with links attached (which you should be doing anyway).

 

Where To From Here?

Firstly, it might be time to change your Facebook strategy. Either start spending more on advertising, start spending less time on creating and sharing text-based content, or switch from text-based content to images, videos and links. And definitely do not buy Facebook likes.

As far as alternatives are concerned, Pinterest is much better than Facebook for generating sales. One study found that the average order referred from Facebook was worth $40; the average order from Pinterest was worth twice as much at $80. If your customers are female and you can show off your product visually, Pinterest might be a lucrative marketing channel for you.

It's worth mentioning Twitter, Instagram and in particular YouTube as other low-cost marketing channels. YouTube in particular is useful; video content boosts search engine rankings and is easily shareable across other social networks. It can help explain to potential customers how to use your product, or why your product is better than a competing product. And there are heaps of product review channels on YouTube with big subscriber bases you can tap into cheaply.

As with all online marketing, test, test and test again.

Does posting on Facebook drive a lot of traffic and sales for your online store? Will this latest change impact on your business? Let us know in the comments below.