Optimize Your Blog Posts To Increase The Reach of your Dealership on Facebook
Ever since Facebook launched their News Feed, marketers have wondered how to make the best use of it. That requires understanding how Facebook’s algorithm determines which posts to present to which users, in which order. It seems mysterious, and in most ways it is. So the question remains — is there any way you can optimize your blog posts to increase the reach of your dealership on Facebook?
Not really, as it turns out.
For one thing, Facebook is not anxious to spread the word about their proprietary behind-the scenes machinations. If it were clear to every user how the algorithms work, everyone would be creating blog posts and other content aimed at impressing the algorithms instead of their target prospects and customers. It would be a mess. Content would be presented in ever more bizarre ways, further and further alienating your audience instead of establishing your dealership as the resource of choice.
For another thing, Facebook – just like Google and other key platforms – is constantly working to improve their usability. Every tweak changes the landscape. To be an effective marketer, you need to stay current with best practices for each of the social platforms your dealership is using. But unless you have a very large marketing team, your dealership will benefit most from keeping your eyes on the bigger picture.
Promoting your dealership on Facebook isn’t your only goal.
There are many reasons to optimize your blog posts. Yes, you want to increase the reach of your dealership on Facebook, but that’s not likely your primary marketing goal. Ensuring your blog posts provide timely, relevant content is the best way to reach your desired audience(s) – no matter where they are online. As noted earlier, the more time you spend trying to outsmart one particular channel, the more you’re eroding valuable marketing focus.
That said, there may be opportunities to boost your Facebook News Feed presence.
It turns out you might be able to optimize for personal relevance. Let’s not forget that millions of Facebook users are on there to conduct personal interactions that have nothing to do with business. At least a couple of Facebook marketers have tested various “trigger words,” to see if using them would boost their News Feed reach and/or display ranking. What they learned might be useful for your dealership.
For instance, the word “congratulations” is a winner. Using it in your blog post and/or “receiving” it within comments from your followers can give your post a big lift. That’s fine if you’re posting about milestones in your personal life, but consider it from a business standpoint.
Your dealership – and your people – rack up milestones, too. One of your sales people wins a significant award from Freightliner, or from Kobelco or another construction equipment OEM. Or your finance manager has a baby girl. Congratulations are definitely in order here. Posting about them on Facebook, using the term “congratulations” would make perfect sense.
You probably wouldn’t write an entire blog article about the baby, but manufacturer-sponsored awards make great content – you can talk about how the award underscores your dealership’s professionalism, exceptional customer care, etc.
In general the Facebook News Feed algorithm takes into account the timeliness of your post and how many responses it generates to determine its relevance. Working to produce quality content that will resonate with your prospects and customers continues to be the best way to drive traffic to your website and convert visitors to leads and customers. In doing that, you will also create content that matches the News Feed goal, “to connect people with the stories that matter most to them.”
