It seems like so long ago — way back in 2012 — when brands first had to grapple with the realization that the free ride on Facebook that they’d been enjoying would be decidedly less free. Since then, organic reach has continued to decline, but many brands have learned tactics that have allowed them to continue to excel under the Facebook algorithm. Recipe videos, likebait photos, memes and “fake news” — all generate better than average engagement and continue to squeeze out decent “free” reach.
In fact, while most brands and business continue to see minuscule impact with each new post, those that have figured out the system have begun to drown out the friend-to-friend interactions that made Facebook into the behemoth that it is.
Mark Zuckerberg Changes Course
In January of this year, Facebook’s leader announced in a post that Facebook would be changing the company’s and products’ primary goal from helping users find relevant content to helping users “have more meaningful social interactions.”
Roughly translated: you’re going to see more stuff in your feed from your friends and a lot less from business and brand pages.
Understandably, this has page owners rattled all over again. Reach had already been squeezed, but this next round will likely force some businesses to question whether Facebook is where they want to put any marketing effort at all. If nobody will see anything from them, why bother?
Great News for MLMs — Maybe
On the flip side, there are many business owners that are likely ecstatic about Facebook’s announcement because they have always and will continue to promote their products heavily through personal profiles. As organic reach for business pages continues to drop over the next year, you will likely see even more posts for these types of products in your feed.
I, of course, am talking about companies that use multi-level marketing (MLM) or direct sales to get their products into the hands of customers. If you’re like me, not a day goes by where I don’t see one of my friends trying to sell skin care products, hair products, essential oils, diet supplements and more to all of their friends. And none of this activity will be subject to the decreased reach that is coming to business pages since it is person-to-person using personal profiles.
But here’s the catch. Facebook’s Terms of Service — the legalese that we all agree to when we sign up and continue to use Facebook — restricts how individual profiles can be used for “commerce.”
Roll it, attorneys…
Section 3, Item 1: You will not post unauthorized commercial communications (such as spam) on Facebook.
Section 4, Item 4: You will not use your personal timeline primarily for your own commercial gain, and will use a Facebook Page for such purposes.
I’m not a lawyer. But as a marketer, my takeaway from these two items is 1) don’t use your personal profile to indiscriminately blast out commercial messages to your friends that didn’t ask for them and 2) don’t use your personal profile “primarily” for selling things.
The Battle Begins?
While one could argue that Facebook left enough room for MLM business owners to maneuver and stay within the rules, it appears that they often don’t. And, Facebook, for their part, either doesn’t care or they have bigger fish to fry. But, for example, if I was a marketer for Clinique and my social media marketing efforts are being pushed into irrelevance while Rodan + Fields reps are at the same time getting a boost across the board, I would be taking notice and readying myself for a fight.
If the impact of Facebook’s algorithm change is what everyone is expecting, I believe that 2018 will be the year that large brands will force Facebook’s hand. Either through economic (decreasing or eliminating ad spend) or legal pressure, I expect that brands will get them to enforce their own Terms of Service and level the playing field when it comes to how they treat all commercial messaging on their platform, no matter the method of distribution.
So now what?
If you’re an MLM / direct seller and the thought of losing the ability to promote and recruit via Facebook sends you into a cold sweat, you don’t have to take it lying down.
First, start by getting on the right side of Facebook’s Terms of Service.
- Stop “spamming” all of your friends. Only promote your program and products to those that may be interested. Create a list of friends and then use that list for all of your promotional posts. In the same vein, you could also create a Facebook group for clients and prospects, but be aware of a couple of things: 1) Everyone in the group controls the content – not just you and 2) some people get annoyed when they get added to a group without their knowledge.
- Don’t use your personal profile “primarily” for commercial purposes.While Facebook doesn’t define what they mean by “primarily,” if less than half of your posts are promotional, you would likely be able to make the argument that you are within their rules.
Second, if you haven’t already, start diversifying your promotional / sales strategies, tactics and media.
- Start a regular email newsletter to your customers and prospects.Sign up with an Email Service Provider such as MailChimp (it’s free for up to 2,000 subscribers) and ask people to subscribe. Do NOT just create a list of people inside of your personal email service (like Gmail) because personal email services are not built to deal with the requirements around commercial email.
- Evaluate other social media platforms. Depending on your comfort level with other social platforms (and the existence of your audience within those platforms) you can test others to see if they can work for your business.
- Jab, Jab, Jab before trying to sell. While one-to-many posting on social media is easy — “post and go” — it’s definitely not personal. Spend time interacting with others on Instagram, Facebook Groups, Twitter, etc. on a one-to-one basis and provide value using your subject matter expertise.
- Try traditional sales tactics. Spend time learning the problems that your customers are trying to solve and be their solution. Call them when a new product comes out that matches their needs. Email them when there’s a sale in their normal products. And only after you’ve provided them a huge amount of value, ask for a referral to their friends or ask them to join your downline.
Resource Links:
- How to Create a List of Friends
- How to Add or Remove Names from a List
- How do I choose who can see a post?
Photo Credits: Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson & Marlon Hammes