We need to change the way we think about Facebook. It's not a great communications tool any longer, as Facebook has moved to a pay-to-play environment. For many of us, the whole reason we got on Facebook in the first place was to share information with the public. Big changes to Facebook's algorithm have made this increasingly difficult, and it's only getting more difficult.

1. State of Facebook 2015
Sowhatdowedonow? UPDATED
Derek Belt
Social Media Specialist, King County (Wash.)
derek.belt@kingcounty.gov
@derekbelt

2. In this presentation
• How Facebook works
• BIG CHANGES
• So what do we do now?
• Understanding the algorithm
• Getting through to your fans
• Optimizing your content
• Tips for posting
• Facebook ads
• Resources and links to learn more

3. How Facebook works
I join Facebook I make friends
I make LOTS of friends!

4. Not so friendly, after all
200 friends
20 friends
10%
But I don’t see posts from all
of my friends. WHY NOT?!!
Facebook decides for you what
you get to see.
Roughly 10% of your friends see
the content you share.

5. The hard truth (read all of this)
• Two years ago, no one really got their news from Facebook. Now,
they do. Every publisher from CNN to Buzzfeed is producing content
they hope readers will find and share through Facebook.
• At any given moment, there are approximately 1,500 stories that
Facebook could show in the average user’s News Feed. The struggle
is figuring out how to get the right stories to the right people.
• Facebook has changed its mind about brands. It has decided that
users do not really want to see a News Feed full of updates from
brands—this includes our King County pages.
• Facebook is aware there is a cottage industry built around helping
brands reach fans for free through the News Feed. Facebook’s view is
that these updates were plugging up the system, and it’s not going to
allow that to happen anymore.
Source: Slate

6. Reach is decreasing big-time
Reach is now
less than 5% for
most Facebook
pages.
And those
numbers have
been dropping
steadily for
several years.

7. So what do we do now?
• Share great content that people really want—if you’re saying
something worth listening to, people will find you.
Reimagine your Facebook page as a customer service portal, not a
communications tool. In many cases, residents see Facebook as a
direct line of contact.
Facebook is one of the world’s great market research tools.
Start asking your fans real questions you want real answers to.
If Facebook is one of your main communications and outreach
channels and you don’t want to abandon it, then you need to
buy guaranteed reach: ads.
Prioritize an email list or newsletter—use your Facebook page to
raise awareness of this and encourage sign-ups.

8. So what do we do now?
• Share great content that people really want—if you’re saying
something worth listening to, people will find you.
Reimagine your Facebook page as a customer service portal, not a
communications tool. In many cases, residents see Facebook as a
direct line of contact.
Facebook is one of the world’s great market research tools.
Start asking your fans real questions you want real answers to.
If Facebook is one of your main communications and outreach
channels and you don’t want to abandon it, then you need to
buy guaranteed reach: ads.
Prioritize an email list or newsletter—use your Facebook page to
raise awareness of this and encourage sign-ups.
170 likes
15 shares
Reached 4,000
people.
King County
Metro buses are
ready for the
Seahawks game!

9. So what do we do now?
• Share great content that people really want—if you’re saying
something worth listening to, people will find you.
Reimagine your Facebook page as a customer service portal, not a
communications tool. In many cases, residents see Facebook as a
direct line of contact.
Facebook is one of the world’s great market research tools.
Start asking your fans real questions you want real answers to.
If Facebook is one of your main communications and outreach
channels and you don’t want to abandon it, then you need to
buy guaranteed reach: ads.
Prioritize an email list or newsletter—use your Facebook page to
raise awareness of this and encourage sign-ups.
Our posts rarely reach into
the thousands, which used
to happen quite often.
Now, the average is a few
hundred, which is 5-10%
of our total fans.

10. So what do we do now?
• Share great content that people really want—if you’re saying
something worth listening to, people will find you.
• Reimagine your page as a customer service portal. In many cases,
people see Facebook as a direct line of contact.
Facebook is one of the world’s great market research tools.
Start asking your fans real questions you want real answers to.
If Facebook is one of your main communications and outreach
channels and you don’t want to abandon it, then you need to
buy guaranteed reach: ads.
Prioritize an email list or newsletter—use your Facebook page to
raise awareness of this and encourage sign-ups.

11. So what do we do now?
• Share great content that people really want—if you’re saying
something worth listening to, people will find you.
• Reimagine your page as a customer service portal. In many cases,
people see Facebook as a direct line of contact.
Facebook is one of the world’s great market research tools.
Start asking your fans real questions you want real answers to.
If Facebook is one of your main communications and outreach
channels and you don’t want to abandon it, then you need to
buy guaranteed reach: ads.
Prioritize an email list or newsletter—use your Facebook page to
raise awareness of this and encourage sign-ups.

12. So what do we do now?
• Share great content that people really want—if you’re saying
something worth listening to, people will find you.
• Reimagine your page as a customer service portal. In many cases,
people see Facebook as a direct line of contact.
• Facebook is one of the world’s great market research tools.
Ask your fans real questions you want real answers to.
If Facebook is one of your main communications and outreach
channels and you don’t want to abandon it, then you need to
buy guaranteed reach: ads.
Prioritize an email list or newsletter—use your Facebook page to
raise awareness of this and encourage sign-ups.

13. So what do we do now?
• Share great content that people really want—if you’re saying
something worth listening to, people will find you.
• Reimagine your page as a customer service portal. In many cases,
people see Facebook as a direct line of contact.
• Facebook is one of the world’s great market research tools.
Ask your fans real questions you want real answers to.
If Facebook is one of your main communications and outreach
channels and you don’t want to abandon it, then you need to
buy guaranteed reach: ads.
Prioritize an email list or newsletter—use your Facebook page to
raise awareness of this and encourage sign-ups.

14. So what do we do now?
• Share great content that people really want—if you’re saying
something worth listening to, people will find you.
• Reimagine your page as a customer service portal. In many cases,
people see Facebook as a direct line of contact.
• Facebook is one of the world’s great market research tools.
Ask your fans real questions you want real answers to.
• If Facebook is one of your top communications tools and you don’t
want to abandon it, you need to buy guaranteed reach: ads.

15. So what do we do now?
• Share great content that people really want—if you’re saying
something worth listening to, people will find you.
• Reimagine your page as a customer service portal. In many cases,
people see Facebook as a direct line of contact.
• Facebook is one of the world’s great market research tools.
Ask your fans real questions you want real answers to.
• If Facebook is one of your top communications tools and you don’t
want to abandon it, you need to buy guaranteed reach: ads.

16. So what do we do now?
• Share great content that people really want—if you’re saying
something worth listening to, people will find you.
• Reimagine your Facebook page as a customer service portal. In
many cases, people see Facebook as a direct line of contact.
• Facebook is one of the world’s great market research tools.
Ask your fans real questions you want real answers to.
• If Facebook is one of your top communications tools and you don’t
want to abandon it, you need to buy guaranteed reach: ads.
• Prioritize an email list or e-newsletter—use your Facebook page to
raise awareness of this and encourage sign-ups.

17. Facebook vs. email reach
Sending a Facebook post: Sending a targeted email:
Reach 10% Reach 100%

18. Where are all my fans?
• Facebook’s reach is pre-determined
by a fancy computer algorithm.
• Affinity—the relationship between
a fan page and a regular person—is
strengthened over time with every
click we make on Facebook.
• Affinity is personalized to each
user, so different posts reach
different people. For example, Joe
Public might see a video you share
but not a photo album about the
same thing.
• Because Facebook knows Joe is a
video guy, not a photo guy.
Stronger “affinity” means
a person is more likely to see
your Facebook content.

19. Understanding the algorithm
• Facebook’s algorithm, formerly known as “EdgeRank,” determines
what content people see in their News Feed.
• We spend 40% of our time in the News Feed, so this is a very big
deal. News Feed is how people find information on Facebook.

20. How does Facebook determine who
sees what in the News Feed?
There are four categories:

21. Graphics by PostRocket

22. Graphics by PostRocket

23. Graphics by PostRocket

24. Graphics by PostRocket

25. Graphics by PostRocket

26. Getting through to your fans
The goal with every post is to get here.
Sweet
spot!
But that’s hard to do because
Facebook blocks most people from
seeing your content.

27. Tips for posting
• Shorter posts between 100-250 characters get 60% more likes.
• Photos and videos get more engagement than links and text-only posts,
according to numbers released by Facebook.
• Ask your fans a question. Hey, we’re thinking of opening a new farmers
market in your neighborhood. Where’s the best place? Facebook is an
excellent market research tool for stuff like this.
• Tell fans what to expect if they have to click on something to get it.
If you’re sharing a video, tell them what’s in it.
• Provide inside access. Give fans information they can’t get elsewhere.
• Fill-in-the-blanks generate 90% more engagement because ______ .

28. Facebook’s weighted posts
Videos/
Photos
Links
Text-Only
Posts by you have weight: Actions by others have weight:
Shares
Comments
Likes/
Clicks
MORE WEIGHT
LESS WEIGHT
AFFINITY

29. Optimizing your content
• Example 1: Standard cut
and paste with just the link.
This is not the ideal way to
share content on Facebook.

30. Optimizing your content
• Example 1: Standard cut
and paste with just the link.
This is not the ideal way to
share content on Facebook.t on
Facebook.
• Example 2: Write a clear
message and customize the
copy to make the post more
relevant and meaningful.

31. Optimizing your content
• Example 1: Standard cut
and paste with just the link.
This is not the ideal way to
share content on Facebook.
effective way to share content
on Facebook.
Headline (make it count)
Sub-head (use the first sentence)
Copy (100-250 characters preferred)

32. Sharing links… the right way
• Pages that post links get preferential treatment
if they use Facebook’s “link-share” system.
• See the next slide for an example of “link-share.”
• Tip #1  Don’t delete the embedded link box
that automatically pops up when you paste a link
into Facebook.
• Tip #2  If you’re sharing a photo, add the image first and then
write your caption. But understand that a photo w/o a link included
in the caption will outperform any photo with a link.

33. Facebook says text-only posts from regular people
(not fan pages) increases engagement
from other people.
However, text-only posts from fan pages don’t
have the same effect.
Pages that post links get preferential
treatment only if they use Facebook’s “link-share” system.
• Tip #1  Don’t delete the embedded link box that automatically
pops up when you paste a link into Facebook.
Deleting
this box
will hurt
your
reach,
meaning
fewer fans
will see it.

34. Photos are still a smart play
• Text-only posts aren’t
very compelling.

35. Photos are still a smart play
• Photos get 120%
more interactions,
says Facebook.
• Because they’re
flat-out easier to see in
people’s News Feeds.

36. Photos with text are catchy
• Use these tools to place
text on top of photos:
• PicFont.com
• PicMonkey.com
• PicResize.com is handy!

37. Pay to play: Facebook ads
• Outstanding targeting system, gets right to
the audiences you need to reach.
• News Feed ads that look like regular posts
and mobile-only ads work the best.
• Boost your posts to maximize reach for cheap.
• Never pay more than your allotted budget. Facebook won’t charge
you more than $100 if that is your limit.
• Instead of paying $100 on one ad, spend $50 on two ads, then use
the top-performing ad for the next campaign.
• Facebook ads are cheap, and they work!

38. Target the right people
From all of Facebook
To people in your
geographic area.
To fans in your target
market based on age,
gender, education, etc.
To people who like specific
topics and pages.

39. Case Study: 2014 year in review
• Kicking off 2015, we purchased
$100 of Facebook ads to promote
our year in review slideshow.
• We also posted to our regular pages.
• It was a great example of how
Facebook has changed.
• Facebook ad:
• 1 post  15,709 people reached
• 313 clicks to our slideshow
• $100 spent ($0.32 per click)
• Regular posts:
• 16 posts  just 3,791 people reached
• 53 clicks

40. Case Study: Strategic Plan update
• King County’s Strategic Plan
update in 2014 asked residents
to tell us their priorities.
• MindMixer was chosen
for gathering online public
feedback.
• Advertising strategy:
• Ethnic media
• Traditional media (online)
• Facebook
• 3-month outreach campaign gave us an apples-to-apples
comparison between traditional media websites and Facebook
ads. The numbers are striking!

41. Case Study: Strategic Plan
• SeattleTimes.com Ads
• Impressions: 1.8 million
• Clicks to website: 2,232
• Total spent: $12,000
• KIROTV.com Ads
• Impressions: 5.3 million
• Clicks to website: 2,740
• Total spent: $12,000
• Facebook Ads
• Impressions: 1.9 million
• Clicks to website: 2,658
• Total spent: $1,500
Same number of clicks to our
survey page for a 10th of the cost.

42. Case Study: Strategic Plan
• SeattleTimes.com Ads
• Impressions: 1.8 million
• Clicks to website: 2,232
• Total spent: $12,000
• KIROTV.com Ads
• Impressions: 5.3 million
• Clicks to website: 2,740
• Total spent: $12,000
• Facebook Ads
• Impressions: 1.9 million
• Clicks to website: 2,658
• Total spent: $1,500
$5.38 per click
$6.50 per 1,000 impressions
$4.37 per click
$2.25 per 1,000 impressions
$0.56 per click
$1.19 per 1,000 impressions

43. Resources
• Slate – The hard truth about how the Facebook
News Feed works now
• Advertising Age – Facebook cuts brands’ reach
once again
• Forbes – Facebook puts everyone on notice about the death
of organic reach
• Moz – Make Facebook’s algorithm change work
for you, not against you
• Buffer – 9 ways to work with Facebook’s big algorithm change

44. Thank you!
Derek Belt
Social Media Specialist,
King County (Wash.)
Contact me:
derek.belt@kingcounty.gov
@derekbelt
Key takeaways:
• Facebook has changed, and
not in our favor.
• What has long been viewed
as a strong tool for “push”
communications is no longer so.
• Time to rethink what we’re
doing on Facebook:
1. Customer service
2. Market research (ask questions!)
3. One of the best advertising options we have, and the cheapest.
4. Move to an email list or e-newsletter  Would you rather
reach 10% of your audience on Facebook, or 100% via email?