Facebook Engagement bait will soon be a thing of the past

Facebook engagement

Facebook Engagement bait will soon be a thing of the past

Starting last month (December 2017) Facebook has changed its algorithms to punish businesses that use Facebook engagement bait techniques. As a result of this, those who continue to post these kinds of posts will see their Facebook organic reach further throttled. If you do any kind of marketing on Facebook already, you know how limited organic reach already is.

What are Facebook Engagement posts?

Facebook Engagement bait will soon be a thing of the past

  • Like & Share to enter to win a ______

 

  • React based Posts (Like this if you’re a _____ – Heart this post if you’re a ______ )

 

  • Vote Baiting (Image broken into sections, sections can be voted on with different emojis)

 

  • Tag baiting – “Tag a friend that could do with ______ – Tag a friend that could do with reading this post etc.

Facebook Engagement bait will soon be a thing of the past

  • Comment Baiting – “Comment ____ if you agree! – Write ____ in the comments if you agree etc”

 

What Facebook engagement bait is then, is an attempt by the publishers/advertisers/page admins that try to lure feedback whether that’s likes, comments or shares.

Charities & certain posts WON’T be affected

“Posts that ask people for help, advice, or recommendations, such as circulating a missing child report, raising money for a cause, or asking for travel tips, will not be adversely impacted by this update.”

Just remember Facebook’s algorithms are always learning & improving so don’t try to game the system now the update is out.

What should I do moving forward?

STOP using Facebook engagement bait – The consequences could severely hamper your organic reach. 

In addition to this, you should consider the following

  1. You should remove any past posts like this, as remember Facebook is still tracking this past data so may decide to further demote your reach.
  2. Remove any Facebook Engagement posts from your social media scheduling software such as HootSuite or Buffer
  3. Consider your future marketing techniques for other social media platforms, remember Instagram is also owned by Facebook so similar changes and punishments for publishers may come out on Instagram also.