Instagram did this a few months ago and now it’s Facebook’s turn. They’re removing the display of the number of likes on a particular post in a feed, on all posts in fact. So it’s trying to level out the game and actually probably charge you for the privilege of actually reaching out to more people in Facebook.
Yes, they’re playing the psychological card of you know people just chasing likes and the mental health issues associated with that, but it’s probably more financial come down to it. However, it really does bring it home to businesses about the exposure to ‘platform risk’ as a business you see many small businesses out there go I’ve got a killer Facebook strategy I’m getting so many leads and inquiries and it’s filtering through the phone’s ringing and then Facebook change the rules.
So here’s a great example of that, with all the influences if it wasn’t for all the Botox and fillers you’d be able to see influencers tearing it around and following their eyes out because of these changes that Facebook and Instagram have just made, its total Game Changer. So how do you reduce platform risk focus back onto your core website this is critical get your content published on your website first that could be video so you published a video in youtube and then you’re sharing it back through your website embedding those videos in your website and your content your long-form articles your updates, your SEO content.
Whatever that content is in your website. Website first and then ‘amplify’ that content to your channels, your social media channels, one might be Facebook, one might be LinkedIn, another might be email, and the list goes on. So you’re actually pushing and sharing content from your site. Not only does it reduce your risk, so if facebook changed the rules, you can focus on other channels, change your strategy a little bit, whatever that might be, you’ve still got control over your content but you can also judge engagement and actual conversion.
It’s a whole lot easier as well, because as people flow through these channels you actually can get them to do what you need to do on the website and monitor and change and control that process. Again you’re not totally relying on all this, you use these to amplify your content and reduce your platform risk going forward. You’ll have a much stronger business if you build up multiple channels over time and not rely on one.