Can I let you in on a little secret?...

Image by Shout & Co. for Makerie Ceramics. Shout & Co.: Product Stylist & Social Media Strategist.

Ok look, we all know about the changes happening over on Facebook.  For most small businesses,  Facebook is a key place to punt their wares.  But things are changing: you'll read countless articles and blog posts on how to stay on top of things, but can I let you in on a little secret?  There's really 1 big thing that you need to do to boost your presence on the ol' grandaddy social networking site. 

To keep up the engagement with your followers, you need engage.

Uh huh.  No seriously.  Hear me out.

So the changes that the folks over at Facebook have implemented are all about keeping people connected and interacting with each other - that's why they're prioritising friends and family connections over business posts and pages.  Anything that isn't encouraging discussion and dialogue between people is going to get chased lower and lower down the newsfeed food chain.  If you have a business Facebook page, you've probably noticed that your engagement is way down since the changes - that's because you're not talking to your followers in the right way and Facebook knows it.

So whats a business owner to do?

As I said above, engage your followers, and the simplest way to do it is with videos, whether it's on your newsfeed or a live video "broadcast".  Images are great, but videos are king.  In fact the team at Facebook have predicted that the newsfeed will be exclusively video in 5 years time.  

So instead of posting a static image of your product, why not do a behind-the-scenes video of your workspace, or of you packing orders to ship out, or of the team that works with you, or of your dog, or of you making the product, or or or.  I could keep throwing ideas out there but I'm sure you get the drift.   Videos in all it's forms (stories & live) will be paramount in your arsenal of follower-engagement activities.  

Follow these videos up with engaging captions and copy: ask questions, get opinions, talk TO your followers instead of AT them.  Have you heard of the 80/20 rule?  80% of the content that you're posting should be about subject matter that interests your key customer, while only 20% should be spent talking about your brand.  Use your video airtime to talk about things that your followers are telling you they want to see on your feed (and you'll only know this if, again, you're talking TO them and establishing that 2-way communication). 

Think of it as you're creating your own little tv channel - where you are the anchor, reporter, meteorologist, lifestyle editor and foodie.  If you're camera shy, there's no time for that now!  You are your brand's best and only person for the job.  

Wanting help incorporating videos into your newsfeed?  Get in touch: info@shoutandco.com