What Do Facebook’s Algorithm Changes Mean for Car Dealers?

Earlier this year, Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, announced that some changes would be made to the social media network’s algorithm. This follows feedback from users who felt that posts from businesses, brands and media were too prominent, overshadowing personal content.

How is Facebook’s Algorithm Changing?

Feedback from Facebook users has highlighted that newsfeeds are becoming crowded by posts from brands, while consumers would prefer to see proportionately more content from their friends on the platform. The recent algorithm changes will attempt to prioritise content which is most valuable to the user.

Should Your Dealership Ditch Facebook?

Absolutely not! With over 2 billion active users per month, Facebook remains the biggest social media network by far, and the algorithm changes certainly do not mean that the benefits of the social media channel for businesses will become void. The goal posts have simply been moved and you may need to revise your social media marketing strategy accordingly.

Encourage Engagement

Engagement levels are a key indicator of how valuable content is to users, and Facebook is going to use this to determine which posts should be given precedence. A huge emphasis is being put on comments. The more comments a post receives, the more it will appear on peoples’ timelines, and the longer comments are, the better.

Your posts should therefore be aimed towards inspiring interaction. At Click Dealer, we try to use open-ended questions, create polls and talk about relevant topics that are likely to get people talking.

Don’t Try to Cut Corners

While driving engagement is now more important than ever on Facebook, you must avoid cutting corners at all costs! Something that Facebook has picked up on is a tactic called ‘engagement baiting’. This involves creating low-quality posts which are designed solely to trigger debate. Shares are also being scrutinised by the platform. If content is shared by several induvial, but the duplicated posts don’t receive many likes or comments.

The new algorithm will penalise people who use tactics, like share baiting, engagement baiting and react baiting, so keep your content relevant and honest; remember, cheaters never prosper!

Spend Wisely

With the changes to the news feed, it could become difficult to get your name out there with organic posts alone. Boosted posts and sponsored ads can help with this. Paid posts should be just as high in quality as your organic material, and should be designed with the same aim: to increase awareness of your brand and engage users.

Find Out What Works

The best way to ensure that you are maximising Facebook’s potential is to track and measure the effects of your posts. Facebook Insights is a feature designed for businesses, which will show you how many engagements and click throughs you have had, the extent of your reach and demographics of people who have liked or engaged with your content.

Not only does this enable you to identify what works and what doesn’t, but with an overview of user demographics, you can start to tailor your content, using language and media which is appropriate for your target audience.

 Choose Quality Over Quantity

I have seen many businesses responding to these algorithm changes by throwing out posts several times a day, in the hope that this will boost their chances of being noticed on users’ timelines. Considering that the reason for the changes in the first place was that people were becoming annoyed by the frequency of posts from businesses, bombarding them with content is not the way to get your brand seen.

This may risk followers becoming disinterested or irritated, which could lead to them overlooking your posts or even unfollowing you, meaning you will receive fewer interactions. According to Facebook’s updated algorithm, this will result in lower visibility, so this approach is counterproductive.

I recommend posting no more than twice a day, but at least two or three times per week, and if you can’t think of anything good to post, don’t. Quality should always triumph over quantity!

To speak to Joe about running your dealership’s Facbook account or for more information on how Click Dealer’s team of in-house social media specialists can help you out with social media marketing, get in touch today via marketing@clickdealer.co.uk, 01782 478220 or through our contact page!