Facebook’s New Algorithm – And What it Means for Your Birth Center
Have you heard? Facebook has changed its algorithm… again. But never fear! Your trusty birth center marketers are here! And we want to dive into these new changes head on so that YOU know all the dirty little secrets before any of your competitors have the chance to catch up. So let’s get started!
Last week, Facebook unveiled its biggest News Feed algorithm change to date, favoring content from friends and family over posts from companies. Why is this happening? Facebook believes prioritizing content that’s acted on (with comments, likes, shares) will reduce the occurrence of fake and offensive content in the news feed. And what content do people typically act on? The content that their friends and family share!
For those of us who have a personal Facebook account, this sounds nice, right? Less advertising and more photos of babies and dogs. (Who doesn’t want to see more baby photos?) Win-win! But it does have some advertisers, companies, birth centers, and natural birth professionals worried. And rightly so! Especially for those who have been pretty successful on Facebook so far – what does this mean for your business if your posts are going to start dropping to the bottom of your followers’ News Feeds?
But before you worry too much, we think it’s important that you consider a few sides to this algorithm change. First off, there are two VERY important things you need to know:
- Paid posts will NOT be affected. If you are running successful Facebook ads, they are not suddenly going to tank. The goal of the algorithm change seems to be to cut down on clickbait style promotions including things like “Like our product if you think this dog is cute” – which brings us to our next (and most important point…)
- The algorithm feeds off of the QUALITY of the content based on how users act on it (likes, comments, shares). What does that mean? If you are producing quality content (cough cough… video and photos) you will continue to receive likes, comments, and shares from your followers, and your posts will NOT dramatically drop their reach.
- Pictures. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Well, a picture is also worth a thousand Facebook likes & shares. People CONNECT with images – they are INSPIRED by images. If you are trying to attract new clients on social media so that you can be their natural birth professional, what better way than to SHOW THEM what you do with an image?
- Video, Video, Video. Should we say it just one more time for fun? VIDEO. We’ve already told you WHY you need to use video to market your midwife, doula, or birth center business. But frankly, we could probably write an entire book about it. That is how important video is. Video is HUGE for your SEO, it is widely shared on social media, and it helps your audience connect with you on a VERY personal level. You already know that the connection between a natural birth professional and their client is CRUCIAL for the success and happiness of the mother and baby. Why not start that relationship with video before your clients even meet you? So yes, you’re gonna need video this year!
- Success Stories. When a potential client comes to you, they want to know that you’ve had plenty of success in the past. Ultimately, it will be one of the MAJOR deciding factors in choosing you as their natural birth professional. So when you create content out of past success stories, everyone wins!