Social media has provided small businesses with a powerful promotional tool for many years. In many cases, it allows customers to interact directly with the brands and businesses that interest them, and it provides a cheaper option than more traditional advertising methods. Now, Facebook has announced changes to the way they will present advertising related content to users.
With this in mind, it may be time to reevaluate small business social media strategies in the coming year. While some elements of small-business ownership are constant, such as the need for business insurance, social media engagement represents a shifting landscape that forces owners to adapt.
Facebook has always tweaked what content users saw from businesses and other pages they “liked,” and this sort of interference will become more pervasive in the next year. In response to customer feedback, Facebook has announced that users will see less advertising-related content in their feeds. Small businesses who currently use Facebook as their main source of advertising may find this stifles the reach of posts that would have previously contacted more users.
While businesses will still be able to pay for Facebook ads, Jason Falls, a social media expert, noted in an interview with Louisville Business that these changes will make it harder for small businesses to reach consumers for free.
The other free tools available to small-business owners involve a more active approach than Facebook’s feed system. Other services, such as Twitter, are based around a more involved model that allows consumers to directly engage with businesses by asking questions. While this conversational approach can encourage customer loyalty, it also requires that small businesses take an active role they may not have pursued in the past.
The next year will likely bring more changes to the social media scene, and the businesses that succeed will be those who keep ahead of trends.
