There is an old saying, “Don’t build a house on land you don’t own,” and never has it been more true than now. Facebook announced back in December that the would be rolling out a change to their News Feed’s algorithm. What you didn’t know was that reach has been on a downward path for sometime now. According to research from Ogilvy, page reach has been as low as 6% of their own audiences.

What’s this mean to my brand and our Facebook followers?

There’s no denying the power of social media as a tool to engage your customers. Facebook has a business to run and a big (HUGE) part of that business is based on ad revenue. It makes sense that they would do what’s best for their bottom line. That means the trend will be to push brands towards more ad spend by throttling back organic reach. There may come a day where organic reach is zero. Brands such as Eat24, with 70k+ followers, are already revolting. That may be more drastic than what you need to do.

Snyder Group recommends an agnostic approach to a social network strategy. If you have spent a lot of time building up followers on your Facebook page or are just starting, don’t panic. All is not lost. But don’t put all of your eggs in the Facebook basket either. Remember that social networks are mainly distribution channels for your content. Keep the focus on driving traffic to land you own (your blog.) When posting to Facebook, or any social media, remember that quality, consistency and creativity is key and yes… you will eventually have to support your posts with some ad spend. As marketers, we have had it too good for too long, the free ride is over on Facebook.

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Blogging is fast becoming the cornerstone of any successful inbound sales and marketing program. A well optimized blog can drive traffic, engage your customers and consistently deliver qualified new leads. Check out our Free Ebook: How to Blog for Business