Facebook’s fight against the news media bargaining code is finally over. After a week since publishers and users in Australia were stopped from sharing or viewing news articles on the platform, the tech giant has lifted the news ban and restored all blocked pages. If your brand or organisation got caught or you’re looking for alternatives to Facebook, here’s 5 helpful tips to take your social and digital media strategy to the next level.
- Explore other platforms: Facebook isn’t the only player in town. As a brand, targeting your loyal audiences, and engaging new ones means looking for fresh ways to share your message. If you haven’t dipped into advertising on YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat or LinkedIn, now is the perfect time to explore how these platforms can help spread brand awareness and build your base. Google search engine marketing (SEM) or simply, Google Ads, is another great way to make sure your content messages are appearing at the right moment when people are searching for it. Google Ads don’t just appear in the all-important google search, but they also appear as banners, skyscraper ads across all kinds of websites.
- Take control of the feed today: Algorithms are often a mystery to most of us. Last week we had a glimpse of the power of big tech platforms and how quick they can change their algorithms we seemingly take for granted. So, it’s time to get acquainted with this AI-powered technology to make the most of your digital marketing strategy. With the algorithms constantly changing and updating, it’s essential to get in the habit of checking the latest best practices to step up your organic posting and advertising methods. Facebook favours live video and video ads in its feeds over everything else. Does your social strategy include videos?
- Apply a human resource to social and digital media – after all, it is the future: We know that the Facebook algorithm is pretty good at targeting users, but it’s far from being perfect! Last week, dozens of brand, lifestyle, essential services, and community pages were mistakenly removed along with news sites when Facebook stopped serving news to Australia. Social media algorithms struggle to understand the context in which topics and situations are portrayed (side note: this is why sentiment tracking on social media is useless) especially when moderating content. Your company should always consider using an agency or assigning a team member to anticipate changes to social media and check advertising, engagement, comments and manage your community audience.
- Keep growing your owned media: Is your email list bigger than your Facebook audience? If so, you should feel pretty good about yourself today as email lists are still considered one of the best ways to connect with your customers vs. social media. Grow your digital ecosystem and ask your audience in your edms to follow you on other platforms, give them some exclusive content such as a LinkedIn live video or a Reel on Instagram. Make sure your business has a solid strategy to grow your owned channels such as email marketing, your real estate:, the website and its content with good SEO will ensure your digital proofing is strong.
- Take storytelling elsewhere: After Facebook decided to ban news in Australia, interesting data came to the light revealing that 40% of local users engage with news on the platform, and two-thirds of all Aussies are on the app. So get into the advertising game with Facebook or start to look for ways on other social platforms where you can tell a new and exciting story about your brand or organisation. Be ahead of the pack and experiment with different story telling elements and features these other platforms have to offer such as Instagram’s Reels, Snapchat, TikTok and MeWe. Why wait when you have the opportunity now? Brands need a powerful story to grow, and storytelling is the best way to maximize your brand’s visibility, narrative, and impact.
The 24-hour news cycle is fast and brands often spend their time focusing on the potential to be targeted by social media activists. The lesson that we can take from this incident is that the power of the tech giants to simply switch off a community or brand page is at least as much of a threat to your online presence. Have you prepared your organisation to respond? And what solutions would you deploy?
Want to have a chat about digital advertising and content strategy, contact us at contact@agendac.com.au
