Your church Facebook page just got demoted even more on the Newsfeed. Now what?

Facebook changed the algorithm that dictates what shows up on a person’s Newsfeed and pages are pulling on the shorter end of the stick.

To some, it feels like the end of their social media efforts. But it actually just encourages us to up our game.

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, wrote on Facebook: “I’m changing the goal I give our product teams from focusing on helping you find relevant content to helping you have more meaningful social interactions.”

A few years ago, followers would see all the posts of a Page. Facebook then changed it so some of the posts could be seen by followers. This latest change is just the next step in throttling Pages’ content even more.

Practically, this means that you either have to start paying to promote your content or that you will need to create more content that is discussion-worthy. In the context of ministry, this isn’t a bad thing. The Holy Grail of social media is authentic engagement from the people we are trying to reach. This latest change just forces us to up our game and create content that is relevant and relational for our community.

(The quick-fix option, that will work until you get your content discussion-ready, is to ask your followers to change their settings for your page to See First. This prioritizes your content on their Newsfeeds. You can find instructions on how to change the setting here).

So what does this mean for your church Facebook page?

It means that you’ll have to focus on creating conversations around your content. The more people engage and comment on your content, the higher up it will rank. It means that your pastor engaging from his personal page isn’t a bad thing. It might also mean that equipping your staff to share content relating to their ministry on their personal profiles is a way to reach the community.

This change opens up paid advertising. In the past, it might have felt wrong to advertise ministry, but with the power of Facebook’s demographic and interest-based ad targeting, you can actually see an influx of people to your church if you do it right.

It might take us some time to figure it out. Our views will drop a bit and our efforts have to doubled, but we will come out at the other end better eqquiped to use social media in God’s Kingdom.

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