Hey there, my gorgeous listener, welcome to episode 277 of the Small Business Made Simple Podcast.

Thank you for lending me your ears today – I know you have lots of choices, so I sincerely appreciate me being one of them, especially at this time of the year.

If you’re a first-time listener, super super welcome, I am so pleased to have you here.  Excited to have you on the journey too.

Don’t forget you can get the show notes for this podcast at www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au/277

Did you have a listen into last week’s episode? It was the first one for 2024 and I talked all things “getting ready for a new year”. If you haven’t already listened in, to and do so after this podcast! www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au/276

Before I get into today’s episode, I just wanted to share with you a webinar that I’ve got coming up soon.  It’s about what marketing in 2024 is going to look like.  What’s new? What’s old? What you should be doing and looking at and what you should be leaving in 2023.  Keen? It’s on Thursday 18^th January at 1 pm NSW time.  Yes, it will be recorded so if you can’t attend live, I am happy to send you a recording. If you’re keen to come along, register here: https://bit.ly/marketing2024Jenn

There’s no sell, no course it’s leading into, etc I’ve got nothing to sell, it’s just a sharing of knowledge webinar so you get the best of 2024 from the get-go!  I’d love to see you in there. 

But if you did want to buy something – don’t forget that my book Small Town Big Impact with 107 Simple Marketing Strategies is available on my website 24/7 and I’d love to send you a copy.  Just go to www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au and you’ll see it there!  AND whilst you are hanging around on my website, you might notice, under the “Freebies” tab that there are THREE brand new freebies for you to help you with your marketing in 2024 – feel free to download one or all of them!

Okay, into today’s episode – three Facebook trends that will shape your 2024 Facebook strategy.

Loads of people will try and tell you that Facebook is dead, but honestly, they don’t know what they are talking about.  Yes, if your target audience is probably under 25, it’s not the best place for you to marketing your business, but other than that, it still a fabulous place to market.  And believe me, I would love nothing more than to have Facebook disappear like fairy floss in water, but alas it’s here to stay for now.  In fact, Facebook hit a new milestone in early 2023, reaching 2 billion daily users for the first time. In a constantly changing social media landscape, the world’s largest social network continues to hold its ground.

So, what are the three trending strategies for 2024 you need to be aware of:

One

Reels – they are here to stay on Facebook.  They took off like a frog in a sock on Instagram and no one really knew if they were a “Facebook” thing – but now that enough time has passed the verdict is yes, they are a Facebook thing.  Reel plays on Facebook doubled last year and that’s on pace with growth on Instagram.  Now is that humans causing such big growth or the algorithm pushing more Reels in front of us to watch – I’d say it is a big mix of both.

It’s not coincidence that if Facebook wants to make something successful, it gives it more algorithmic time and energy and kpow – it seems to work better!  And remember TikTok are stealing their eyeballs – so they need to do something!

And as the platform strives to make more money from Reels content, watch for new opportunities to advertise through short-form Facebook video (aka Reels).

So, on your to-do list given this should be:

• Start thinking about Reels as part of your Facebook strategy, rather than only an Instagram surface.
• Carve out some of your ad budget to test ads on Reels and to create your own paid Reels.
• Keep an eye out for updates on new opportunities to advertise with Reels.

Two (and this is what I’m currently working on in the background and will be investing time and energy into in 2024)

Chatbots! Chatbots will take over front-line customer service. Chatbots have been able to answer the most basic customer service questions for some time now, but conversational AI is taking their capabilities to the next level.  Customer will no longer have to wait for business hours to get their answers.  Messenger is only going to get bigger and better in 2024 for customers.

But for me, it’s not been so much about customer service as trying to find a “do-around” for the fact that Instagram has no clickable links in their captions or comments – it is VERY annoying, and I wish they would change that! So, I have been working on some chatbots that will trigger when someone writes a particular word or phrase on a particular post.  It may or may not be working by the time this goes live!

To give you an example, say I want you to sign up for my 2024 Marketing Webinar which would mean you giving me your email and name to sign up and I post about it on Instagram.  Rather than saying something like ‘link in bio” or “DM me for the link”, I could say something like “comment 2024 in the comments and I’ll send you the link” and like magic a DM appears in your Instagram inbox from me saying “here’s the link, you can register now, see you soon” – or something like that.

I have always thought it’s been too hard to get leads, get engagement and to get people from Instagram to an email list (which is the whole purpose of being on social media remember) and Chatbots seem like a pretty good solution right now.  I’ll keep experimenting and let you know what I find out!  But if you tag me in an Instagram Story, you will see my first bot working – give it a try and watch the magic! I know this episode is about Facebook – but this is how I’m using them on Instagram.

So, on your to-do list given this should be:

• Doing some research on Chatbots – I’m using ManyChat – I think they have loads of ads on socials at the moment – so follow them, watch some YouTube videos or reach out if it’s something you want to chat with me about
• Think about the journey of your customers – can a Chatbot help their experiences within your business?
• If you’re not already using Facebook Messenger for customer service, aim to implement a Facebook customer service strategy this year.

Three

AI – artificial intelligence – it is absolutely freaking everywhere right now.  Billions upon billions of dollars is being spent by big companies on AI and Facebook or Meta is no different and probably almost leading the charge in many ways.

AI isn’t new to Facebook or Meta but keeping a close eye on what changes are coming in 2024 is a good idea.

AI is helping the algorithm (or is really THE algorithm) to decide what is show in what order and to whom – which we already know, right? But if you think of Facebook like a business, then they need to be getting better at this stuff to make more money – so they are instantly prioritising content that we’ll watch longer, and we will shower with comments and reactions.

So, how can you bet the 2024 algorithm aka AI? Well, the same way you’ve been told to do it in 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 and so on.

• Have a reach out strategy – spend time on the platform commenting, liking, giving some social love to others (including those who you are target audience – be a bit strategic about it!)
• Reply to those who have comment on your posts (don’t leave them hanging) – especially if your post gets some good comments going straight up – keep the love going by answering them back and when asking more questions to promote more engaging conversations
• Ask open ended questions – like “When it comes to marketing _________, is more important than ever” – or questions in your niche – not mine!
• Look at your insights – post when the best time is for you and your business – your insights tell you that stuff!
• Be consistent
• Have CTAs – calls-to-action on posts so your reader or watcher knows what action to take next after reading or watching your post – don’t leave them hanging
• And don’t do what you’ve always done and expect a different result! Change things up a little.

And lastly, just a fourth Facebook 2024 prediction – Facebook will continue to move away from being a “news content’ platform and more towards an entertainment platform – which means those CTAs I spoke about above will get less algorithmic love and perhaps a Chatbot and a comment prompt will need to take its place.  Watch your insights for changes in your reach, it might get to the stage where a Chatbot is now necessary rather than a “nice-to-have”.

But without sending you down a rabbit hole (you might see me down there!), if you are going to invest in Chatbots you need to work out the RIO of them as opposed to the ROI of a Facebook/Meta ad – which is more profitable and has the best ROI? Something to think about – sorry!

Okay, there’s three or actually four trends that will shape your 2024 Facebook strategy. If you have listened and are thinking, Jenn I hardly use Facebook anymore, then I would seriously encourage you to look at your Google Analytics and see what social platforms are pushing traffic to your website and look at your insights and see whether your current social media strategy is actually working before you brush off Facebook again in 2024.

I’d love to hear from you in the Like Minded Business Owners Facebook group. You can join the group here and then come tell me what your thoughts and feelings are about Facebook are — https://www.facebook.com/groups/LikeMindedBusinessOwners

But that’s it for episode 277. If you loved this episode and found it valuable, please take 30 seconds out of your day to leave me a rating and review if you want where you are listening.  One more goal of mine is to reach more people with this podcast, and you can help me achieve that, by leaving me a review!  Thanks in advance.

See you next week on the podcast for episode 278.

Remember my offers at the top – the marketing webinar – get the link in the show notes, my book you can buy anytime and also all the new amazing freebies available on my website – check them out!

But in the meantime, let’s hang out on social and get social on social – you’ll find me on Instagram, Facebook and my fav LinkedIn.

But whatever you do,

…….. remember small business peep, as my opening song says, there’s no point in dreaming small!