If you operate your own Business page on Facebook, you’ve likely see the announcement by now by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. If you haven’t had a chance to read it, then click here.

For those who need a refresher however, essentially, Facebook will be increasing the importance of personal posts and decreasing the importance of business posts. What this means is that your business Message is going to organically find its way into the feed of fewer people. There’s no way to sugar-coat this. It’s a bad thing.

It isn’t the end of the world however and just like businesses did when newspapers started to wane in importance, we will adapt and survive. We need to think outside of the feed to get our message across.

3 things to keep your business message top of mind.

Keep the content engaging.

Facebook has indicated that they aren’t interested in likes as a primary factor any longer. They want meaningful conversations. This means fewer mind numbing videos that you can’t help but watch, while simultaneously kicking yourself for losing all that time. It also means fewer cat pictures, unless of course you tend to have a discussion on those kind of threads. No, your business shares have to elicit conversation with your audience. Ask questions, start polls, or perhaps post long form educational blogs. What matters is that you spark a conversation.

Ask for more.

Much like spam laws here in Canada, there is now a double opt-in for business pages. Your audience can like your page to see the minimum amount of posts that you share and they can also click the “See first” within the business page to see more of your company shares.

Advertise.

Facebook is a business and many decisions, though couched as other reasons, will be based in the necessity to earn a return. That’s why the paid ads you see won’t be reduced on your feed. They certainly may become more expensive as more people try to get their message out, but they will still be available to you. You will still be able to boost posts and create ads.

The end of the world hasn’t arrived for business Facebook pages. Things will definitely have to change and no one truly knows how this decision will play out in the end. What matters is that you still keep creating content and relaying your message to those who wish to receive it. Be careful however with how you “push” your message out. There was a time when you could trade a page like for the chance to win a contest. Freebie Friday contests were always appearing from various companies. Like our page and get a coupon. Like our page and get your name in this draw.

While it was once acceptable, no longer will Facebook let this happen. Your  page likes have to come organically. But then again, you WANT an audience who will engage with you as opposed to a bunch of people who clicked like for the chance of winning an iPod. There is no question engagement is going to dip, but take this as a wake-up call to create better content rather than sharing useless information.

If you are curious how this may affect you or just want to vent, click here and join the conversation on our Facebook business page.