You can’t Ask for Attention on Facebook

I swear I have reported on this before on here or LinkedIn! Facebook announced this week that they are going to rank posts lower that use Engagement Bait. Put simply, Engagement Bating is asking someone to Vote, React, share, comment or Tag. I”m sure many of you have used this tactic, especially when doing a contest/giveaway.

The big question is how will this affect pages? This is a quote from Facebook’s post on Engagement Bating:

Publishers and other businesses that use engagement bait tactics in their posts should expect their reach on these posts to decrease. Meanwhile, Pages that repeatedly share engagement bait posts will see more significant drops in reach. Page Admins should continue to focus on posting relevant and meaningful stories that do not use engagement bait tactics

How do you get around this, especially with contests/Giveaways.

  • Ask a question – Instead of asking to like or comment. Ask a question directly to your followers. Then follow up with a random winner will be selected from the participants.
  • Fill in the Blank – If you don’t want to ask a question do a fill in the blank statement. Such as, “The best thing about winter is _____”
  • Multiple Choice – Ask your followers which option they would prefer most. Such as, ” In the summer which is the best place to visit, the lake, mountains, or beach?”

Will these three still perform or be around in the next year? That is unclear, the news feed is constantly changing. You may have to resort to a third party app for contests. If you have been in social media for a while, you remember when this was the only way to do a contest.

In the meantime stay away from Engagement Bating. Your posts will get demoted in the newsfeed. If you continue to engage in engagement bating, your page will be punished. If you notice a substantial drop in engagement, double check your posts and change course going forward! My the news feed odds ever be in your favor!

Tim is the founder of Element33. A social media agency specializing in education, management and strategy for small businesses. He comes from a traditional marketing agency but has embraced all things digital. He considers himself a marketing nerd and believes that all marketing is tied together. This means no matter what silo you are in, social, email, seach, etc, changes in one will affect the other!

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