You my think we’re late at posting this now that it’s May, but since the F8 just happened, this is probably a good time to discuss the new strategies of doing Facebook Marketing. We did make an Epiphany Toilet episode about this, so you will want to check that out to give you the highlights. But in this post, we broke down the Facebook strategy a little bit more.

A Quick synopsis before you get into this…Facebook is becoming a lot more of an individual sales platform than a brand marketing platform when it comes to organic growth. There’s only one way marketing will help you now: making awesome content. But the distribution and building engagement? That’s becoming more of a sales team job.

1. Biggest Item To Pay Attention To: Facebook Groups

You know that Gary Vaynerchuck saying? “Marketers ruin everything.” Well…that happened with Facebook . And it’s going to continue to happen.

Facebook’s main goal is to keep you on their platform actively engaging with others. They found that the new way people like to interact is among Facebook groups and the place people interact the least amount are with Pages. To keep Facebook as active as possible, Facebook is pushing groups a whole lot more than Pages (which is where you currently market).

The “annoying” thing about groups is that it’s made for individuals and it is controlled by individuals, causing many groups to be biased or contain a lot of rules (Why? Because “marketers ruin everything”).

You also cannot join this group as a brand or with your Page. Only your profile. Thus it’s hard for your outsourced marketing team to be involved in these groups (and don’t make aliases. That will destroy your brand).

So the bad news first…

Your organic reach for your Facebook Page is going to suck even more. Like…almost pointless posting for organic stuff (unless you currently have a very active audience – which we’ll get to).

The good news…

Your organic reach on groups will only grow.

2. It’s not 2011 anymore

You need to get over this idea that you have to always provide this funnel to make people go down to view your content. The internet is full of content and becoming easier to access it. Don’t be the fool who decided to draw a map to find a golden treasure. People on social are lazy. They’ll give up your “pot of gold” to save even a few seconds.

So what am I trying to say?

Post your content in multiple places. For example, I will post this blog on my personal feed, my Page feed, and any groups I’m allowed to post in. But in addition, I’m going to post as much of this blog inside the caption as possible because the important thing is that it’s read – not 100% where it’s read.

I say all this to say that sharing content can be done in multiple ways and you need to do as much of it as possible. Show activity as much as possible. Become a familiar face throughout Facebook – through your individual profile and your business page. Becoming a familiar face is a big ROI. It repays over time. You won’t notice it happening until it suddenly does!

3. Have more conversations

Sometimes you cannot be posting the content from your Facebook Page to your groups all of the time. And sometimes you’re not talking about your business at all on groups. Sometimes you’re just being a fellow human being. But that is still important to just show up once in a while.

“Remember – if a platform does not receive engagement, it loses all value…So make sure your internal platform is also engaging!”

The more engagement you have with someone else, the more engagement they’ll have back. It can lead to 1) becoming friends or 2) starting a private messaging conversation. Private conversations are going to be pushed or suggested more for Facebook users due to Facebook wanting to push more privacy. They are adding better features on the Messenger app so that you will continue to engage as much as possible on your platform.

Remember – if a platform does not receive engagement, it loses all value (just ask Google Plus…oh wait…). So make sure your internal platform is also engaging!

If your platform and posts are being engaged with, Facebook will push your content and Page to more audiences. It’s a snowball effect. The beginning? Getting engagement on your posts  from multiple different people (not just getting Facebook Page likes).

4. Innovate Your Media Presence

Now that it’s getting harder to push content through your page, here’s how you can begin marketing better: Create Facebook Groups around content you’re good at producing. Notice how I did not say to make a Facebook Page around your brand. Remember what I said earlier? Marketers ruin everything.

Now it’s time for marketers to “ruin Facebook Pages.” Let’s bring it back to the grass roots of a media company.

A media company – say a television channel – will produce tons of “free content” for you to watch. Why are they doing this? So that they can build an audience and advertise. You want to create or distribute content that is strictly for engagement purposes and audience growth. When you receive value within your page due to providing value for them, you can begin introducing your brand.

We see this all of the time, but I think many brands and businesses have missed this. They think it’s only people who build a platform to sell advertising to other businesses. Well why aren’t businesses just making this themselves? It’s been done before. The big one who did – Disney.

Story time! 

Disney wanted to build Disneyland. But it was a lot of money. So Disney started the Mickey Mouse Club through their Disney Channel to begin growing their brand and support. That’s why the Mickey Mouse Club existed. To raise money for his theme park. Of course he would talk about his theme park to get folks excited, but he mostly just entertained.

FYI, I did shorten that story A LOT. Just wanted you to get my point.

Closing: So what’s my point?

Facebook is just a platform that will change with consumer behavior. The behavior has changed to be more group oriented. So follow the change and adapt. Facebook is still fantastic to use and you’ll see better conversions and sales now more than ever. But that’s only if you win engagement.

Engagement only happens with 1) producing content others actually want and enjoy and 2) be engaging yourself. Don’t hide behind a curtain and only advertise so that your name is known and heard. You may have success with that, but you would have so much more success if you figured out how to become engaged with your audience.

BUT…to become engaging with your audience is strictly dictated by your audience. So don’t be romantic to your beliefs. Be accepting and adaptable to theirs.