Five Facebook Tips and Trends for Audiologists in 2023
By Katie Armatoski, Au.D
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However, Facebook keeps making changes to their platform and unfortunately, most of these changes impact how businesses like ours are seen on the site. Unless you want to put a bunch of money behind boosting and advertising, there are certainly some challenges to overcome.
That’s why I thought it would be beneficial to put together a post like this. You’re likely starting to think about and plan your social media strategy for the new year anyway, so let’s get things started on the right foot by going over some of the tips and trends to keep in mind for 2023.
Five Top Facebook Tips and Trends for 2023
#1 – Create a Posting Strategy That Prioritizes Frequency
One thing that Facebook really likes is frequency. If you only post once or twice a month, those posts are going to get very little “love” by the algorithm. However, if you post every day, or every other day, your posts are going to make it on people’s feeds a lot more often. Consistency pays off… but only if you are able to ALSO focus on quality.
In years past, you could get away with being on multiple apps and only posting sporadically when you had time to do so. It’s different now. You are much better off picking one (or maybe two) platforms to focus on and putting more of your energy into consistent content creation rather than trying to grow multiple platforms at once. Which leads us to tip two…
#2 – Cross-Post Content with Caution (With One Exception)
Maybe you’ve already built accounts for your practice on multiple platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and even TikTok. Surely you can just create content on one of these platforms and then cross-post it everywhere else to save time and effort, right? Well, not really.
The thing with algorithms is they are notoriously and frustratingly secretive. We don’t know what they “like” and what they “don’t like” but I have done some testing and I know that Facebook, for example, really doesn’t like it when you share a YouTube link. They would much rather you upload your raw video file and post directly on the platform. It makes sense! They want people to stay ON Facebook rather than leaving to go to YouTube.
Unfortunately, this means that cross-posting your content from one app to another isn’t really a great idea. The only exception is Instagram. Since Facebook and Instagram are both owned by the parent company Meta, you can crosspost content between these two platforms without taking a hit from the algorithm.
#3 – Video Will Be More Popular Than Ever
When you hear “video content” you might think of TikTok. But for most audiologists, TikTok isn’t going to make a lot of sense. Not only is it time-consuming to follow trends and then make and edit videos, it’s also extremely difficult to find and grow a local following. It makes more sense for businesses that don’t require their customers or clients to be local, like an online business.
However, I have noticed an increase in views when we post our Instagram Reels to Facebook. You can do this by just tapping on the “Share to Facebook” option right before you publish your Reel on Instagram. In 2023, video content will be more popular than ever, so incorporating it into your overall content strategy, especially on Facebook, will certainly pay off.
#4 – Using Your Own Images Will Lead To More Engagement
Another thing I’ve noticed recently is that user-generated content has been performing around 5x better than images created in Canva. I’m confident that the same is true for stock imagery. People just respond so much better to visuals that are authentic, even if they’re not as polished.
I strongly recommend scheduling an office photoshoot with a local photographer so you can get plenty of photos and videos to use during the year. Or, you can try taking your own! This may sound overwhelming, but in The Content Crew, we give daily prompts to make it really easy.
Here’s an example Longmont Hearing shared of an everyday hearing aid cleaning. They could have used the image provided, but they saw better results by creating their own short video!
Facebook is a social media platform, yes, but it is also a customer service tool. If you’ve just been passively using Messenger to respond to questions you get from people, now is the time to dive into some of the automations that you can set up. It’s actually really awesome!
For example, you can set up an automated message that goes out after someone first reaches out to you. This ensures people get a response right away instead of waiting. You can also set up responses to common questions (like “what are your hours?” or “how do I set up an appointment?”) and you can even proactively ask your audience for feedback.
You can visit this page to learn more about the free Facebook Messenger tools that are available and how to set them up!
I know that I just threw a lot at you, but most of these suggestions are going to be pretty easy to integrate into your current strategy. If you want to dive even deeper and level up your social media marketing in 2023, I invite you to watch my virtual training! Check out the link below!