#38: Should You Use Click Bait to Increase Engagement on Facebook?

In this episode of the Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, I will be exposing the recent change Facebook made to their algorithm and not only will I explain the reason for this change, I will also give you some tips to help you counteract this change and to increase your brand’s engagement in the News Feed. Although I’m a huge advocate of Facebook’s paid advertising, in this episode, I’m teaching a couple of FREE methods of posting content and reaching more potential customers in the News Feed. Here’s what the recent Facebook algorithm change is all about. They are cracking down on "click bait.” What exactly is click bait? Click bait is when a link is shared in a Facebook post with a title that sparks curiosity but does not really tell people what the article is all about. This essentially teases people to click a link but does not give them all the information so they are not exactly sure what they’re going to find on the other side of that click. Granted, click bait links can be an effective strategy, because people can’t help but click to find out more. And many marketers were finding success in their calls to action; that’s why these types of posts has been flooding the News Feed on Facebook. The challenge is that the click bait strategy is making it hard for users to see content they genuinely want to see and care about. Facebook is viewing click bait as gaming the system to get out into the News Feed. Because Facebook has a viral component built into their Algorithm, these click bait post were gaining a lot of exposure. The more people click on the link, even though they’re not sure if they’re even interested in the content on the other side of that link, the more that post shows up in the News Feed. And that’s why Facebook became concerned with this practice and made this recent change that no longer allows click bait. Your content will be negatively impacted when you use a click bait type of posting strategy. Here’s how to craft your post so that you’re not a victim to this algorithm change and your posts get as much News Feed exposure as possible. Tip #1: Create or Only Share Quality Posts Tip #2: Be Specific With the Titles of Your Facebook Posts Tip #3: Post a “Preview” of Your Content When Posting on Facebook Key Takeaways

Facebook is now paying careful attention to how long people are staying on the webpages your links are clicking through to from a post.

Make your content valuable enough to keep the visitor on the webpage and you will boost your engagement on Facebook (for free!).

The more descriptive you are with your headlines in your post, the more likely people will genuinely be interested in your content when they actually get to your website.

Including a link preview in your post will help you gain more exposure in the New Feed.