In the digital media marketing world, November 5th means a change for how you’ll need to go about growing your fan base on Facebook.
Back in August of this year, Facebook announced in some very fancy language that there were Platform Policy changes coming in the fall. (See highlighted in orange below.)
Borrowed from Facebook’s BlogIn layman’s terms: Facebook will be eliminating like-gating, also known as fan-gating, which requires fans to like a page through apps like Rafflecopter, Woobox, Tabsite in order to view content, participate in contests, receive ebooks and things of the like. This is also an extremely common tactic for game developers who require users to Like a page to move on to the next level of a game or to receive more lives.
Why the Change of Heart Facebook?
Similar to Facebook’s recent decision to crack down on click-bait headlines, the company hopes that eliminating fan-gating will help improve the user experience in terms of content users actually want to see. Essentially, the method behind Facebook’s madness is that it wants users to stay on its social networking site. A user that likes a page because they wanted to win an iPad doesn’t necessarily indicate that they wanted to see Joe’s Plumbing Service’s updates or targeted ads. (Sorry Joe.)
The Glass is Always Half Full
The soon-to-be death of fan-gating doesn’t mean the end to Facebook Like success for brands, especially small businesses. Dry your tears and try one of these strategies instead:
- Facebook Like Ad Campaign – So easy you forgot about it! Target your Like Ad with Interests that your fan base would enjoy like specific wines, sports teams and so on. Focus on your brand and target on what your consumers would like. If you are a small business, consider targeting by zip code to home in on your local supporters.
- Split Test – Use analytics tools to gauge when the most people are online as a guide on when to post content. Then develop several different dark posts to see which one performs best with different headlines, copy and images. Not familiar with Facebook Dark Posts? Read my blog to learn how to create one.
- Quality Over Quantity – Instead of plastering your user’s timelines with meaningless content, provide them with a benefit and call to action in more deliberately spaced posts.
- Install a Like Button on your Website – Chances are if consumers searched out your website, they have a sincere interest in your brand. Installing a plug-in on your website is a subtle way for you to say, “Show me you really like me.”
