A major problem for small business at the moment is reach. They’re just not able to get their marketing messages in front of enough people. On Facebook, stats often tell them that they’re only reaching a fraction of their OWN fans.

One way to increase your reach on Facebook (and the entire internet) is by switching to a Newsroom Strategy

Facebook announced last month that they will be reducing the amount of overly promotional posts in the news feed. They say:

People told us they wanted to see more stories from friends and Pages they care about, and less promotional content.

‘But what is too promotional?’

For example:

Local Case Study – 577 Views in 7 Hours

Success in moving away from pushy promotional content can be observed at a local level too. Earlier this week I was working with the team at Mick’s Motorcycles, a family owned motorcycle store in Gawler, South Australia. Mick produced a quick and simple news update about new Suzuki models that are due to hit the market soon:

Results after 7 Hours

– 1889 Reach
– 577 Views
– 42 Likes
– 11 Comments
Not bad at all for a small business with 1500 likes.

Why it was successful:

– People are responsive to news updates – they look forward hearing what’s coming up.
– Mick, who they trust, gave away some of his thoughts/ opinions
– It’s off the cuff in his office, not overly produced
– Facebook and its users favour valuable organic content over pushy advertisements.

** View the video on YouTube – Mick’s Suzuki News Update December 2014 **

It also replaces the need for pushy promotional content by:

– Creating excitement and desire around upcoming Suzuki models
– Letting people know they have demos available (if someone demos a bike they are more likely to purchase)
– Allowing Mick to stay in touch with past customers/ friends.
– Engaging with past customers through comments and messages
– Raising additional questions about new models and other brands.

AND you automatically reduce your reliance on paid advertising because people want to share news with their friends

Compare this to their previous “promotional post” = not so good:

Action Step

Go away and produce your own news. Be like a media company for your market. You could cover hot topics in your industry, the release of a new products or services, your thoughts on a particular trend or even answer customer questions that can be packaged up as a ‘news update.’