In our last blog we shared five easy steps you can follow to create a social media strategy. As we all know, the world of social media is ever-changing and evolving. For example, earlier this month, the Co-Founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company will be changing its news feed algorithm yet again. The intent of this change according to Zuckerberg is to bring the focus back to “personal moments.”
“But recently we’ve gotten feedback from our community that public content — posts from businesses, brands and media — is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other,” said Zuckerberg. “As we roll this out, you’ll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media.”
This announcement has many businesses including nonprofits wondering how they are going to share their message and get engagement when they are not at the top of the news feed.
According to research data from M+R, “There are more than 1.5 million nonprofits on Facebook.” Many nonprofits do very well getting their donors and volunteers engaged on Facebook, furthermore, for some it is their only social media channel. In addition, Facebook serves as the main fundraising platform for some of these nonprofits.
Per Sheela Nimishakavi in a recent post via Nonprofit Quarterly, “With less exposure to Facebook users who may be potential donors, nonprofits are facing a tough year ahead.”
Zuckerberg’s announcement does not mean the end for nonprofits when it comes to Facebook. Rather it comes back to the point that social media is always changing. Nonprofits must be willing to adapt and work with the news feed changes. At the same time, he reiterates that public content should “encourage meaningful interactions between people.”
Once again, this comes back to our last blog that called for creating content that follows the 80-20 rule – 80 percent should educate your audience whereas 20 percent should directly promote your organization. In the nonprofit world, education is meant to be interactive. So it makes sense that the news feed algorithm change could benefit nonprofits long-term.
“Nonprofits have meaningful interactions with constituents every day in real life. Those that can find a way to have these types interactions on Facebook may find success with the new algorithm,” said Nimishakavi.
Let us work with you on your next event to showcase the meaningful interactions and personal moments that shape your world.