28 Mar Changing Up Facebook Posts

Facebook recently changed its algorithm, which means users are more likely to see favored high quality stories over memes.
If you have a Facebook page, and you’ve been frustrated because it seems only a small percentage of the people who “like” the page are seeing your messages, here’s a tip on how to get noticed and improve engagement.
Aside from paying for Facebook ads to promote posts, there’s something you should know: “Link-share” posts from pages are apt to be shown in people’s news feeds more than “text-only” posts. Facebook noticed that text-only posts were not getting much engagement, so they tweaked their algorithm.
Most people generally embed links directly into status updates. Since that’s no longer effective, you need to create a link-share post that shows an image in the post, along with a title and descriptive text below the image.
To create a link-share post, do this:
Add a link to your status update. You should see an image with a title and description appearing in the post. Then, delete the link in the status update box since the image and description are now clickable. Ta-da: you’ve created a link-share post.
The ever-evolving Facebook is attempting to provide a more visual and compelling experience for users. Images matter now more than ever.
The option to upload your own images when creating status updates still works well. Ideally, use images that are 1200 x 1200 pixels, which Facebook then re-sizes for the best possible display on your timeline and in news feeds, with nothing cut-off.
Another aspect of Facebook’s updated changes is that as a business you really have to  “pay to play” (so-to-speak) if you want what your post to be seen (and hopefully read) by the people who know and/or like you on Facebook.
For instance, you may have 5,000 Facebook likes on your page, and when you post something in your News Feed, only 10% of your followers might see it. However, if you pay Facebook to “promote” your posts, that percentage can go up.
It’s really a double edge sword.  Facebook used to be about freedom, and now it’s much more limited and limiting, causing many users—individuals and businesses alike—to decrease their use of it or abandon it all together.  And although my statement sounds negative, Facebook is still a very powerful social media tool and should still be considered as part of an overall social media strategy.  It’s still one of the best ways that B2C businesses can build a solid community and truly get connected with their customers.  Businesses need to realize that social media, and specifically Facebook, is not a free tool (and never really was).  However, as a medium for gathering pertinent data about your customers and potential customers, Facebook can be worth every penny.  It takes patience, a good marketing budget and an expert in the field for businesses to see true success from Facebook.