This year has not been too kind to Facebook, with the news that Cambridge Analytica and Mark Zuckerberg have been invited to testify in front of Congress. Zuckerberg and his team used it as an opportunity to change Facebook’s algorithms, again, and this may still bode well for your nonprofit if you’re smart about it.

The big news was that Facebook decided to focus on local news and events. Facebook’s Alex Hardiman and Campbell Brown announced, “People around the world will now see more news on Facebook from local sources that cover their current city and other cities that may interest them.”

The reason this was done was that after the disastrous press and scrutiny they received on user data and privacy, the focus on more local news content for their users was seen as a smarter approach to ensure that their AI could better root out low quality and “fakes”. “news” content. It remains to be seen if this, in fact, occurs. However, it’s a change that can benefit nonprofits if they’re smart enough to make headlines in their local areas.

In addition, there was also a change to Facebook’s algorithms that Zuckerberg announced in the first month of 2018 indicating that the social media giant would go back to basics. He was going to prioritize posts from friends and family over brands. Initially, this announcement sent shivers down the spine of brands, until they figured out how to capitalize on the changes. You can also do the same for your non-profit organization.

How to make Facebook work for you

We know that over the years, Facebook has been tweaking its algorithms to make organic reach harder for brands to achieve. In the old days, your brand could have a high level of organic reach about the work of your nonprofit. Today, organic reach is in the low single percentile and declining, and some experts argue that Facebook and other platforms will continue to have their AI reduce any organic reach to zero, forcing all brands to “pay to play.” .

• 85 percent of videos on Facebook are viewed with the sound turned off. When you’re creating video content, keep that in mind. How can you leave a visual impression?
• Create content that is specific to Facebook using best practices for generating engagement. For Facebook, it means keeping your copy short and simple, using great video or photo images, and if you’re using one hashtag, not using more than one. This is not Instagram!
• Be smart about being on people’s newsfeeds. If you have essential value-added information that people might want to see, it’s probably worth paying to get it into people’s news feeds. You have the opportunity to sponsor posts and place ads, so be prepared to spend money, but do it smartly and plan as much as possible so you get the most bang for your buck.
• If you have more news about your organization, including new staff, location changes, successful completion of fundraising events, create a press release and present the news to local media. Remember, Facebook is prioritizing local news and if you get the chance to be featured in a media story, that’s a great way to let people know about your news!
• When you’re creating video content, figure out ways to tell a story. When you’re broadcasting a story or narrative about your organization, you’re increasing the chance that people will want to see it. 80 percent of decision making starts with emotion followed by rationalization.
• Most nonprofits have a great story, and if they can translate it into a live video, that’s even better. Mark Zuckerberg clearly stated that brands “should encourage meaningful interactions between people… We’ve seen people interact much more with live video than regular video.”
• Leverage Facebook with other platforms. For example, if you’ve seen in your Facebook analytics that your videos and live streams have a high level of engagement, don’t just stay on Facebook. Consider sharing that type of content on Instagram as well.

For nonprofit organizations, most of which have limited resources, it’s important to always stay on top of the latest on social media and digital marketing. It’s also essential to come up with creative ways to promote your organizations without always having to rely more and more on spending marketing dollars for content about your group or organization.