Facebook-blocks-news-stories-in-australia-rev-Branding

Has your business been impacted by Facebook’s News Ban in Australia?

As Facebook blocks Australians from viewing or sharing news due to the restrictions in place from the Australian Government Media Ownership Laws, learn how to mitigate the risk to your business by implementing a sustainable omnichannel marketing strategy.

In response to Australia’s proposed new Media Bargaining law, Facebook will restrict publishers and people in Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content. 

This has meant that thousands of Facebook pages used by media and news-focused organisations has been converted to a simple Brand Profile Page, containing necessary company information and company contact details.

Has your business been impacted – or soon will be?
Do you need help to combat the Facebook ban on news?

rev™ Branding is a specialist digital brand agency helping companies to integrate their brand with digital technology and marketing. 

For more than 20-years, we’ve helped some of the world’s leading brands to connect with their customers using digital brand experiences and high-performance omnichannel marketing campaigns, which are strategic, creative, and inspire actions.

Our experienced team can help you mitigate the risk and migrate your Facebook brand marketing and communications to a strategic and sustainable digital program that is NOT reliant on a single platform.

How to mitigate the risk of the Facebook News Ban in Australia

If you have not heard of Omnichannel Marketing, NOW is the time to make yourself more familiar, and learn more about it.

Omnichannel marketing refers to the multichannel sales approach that provides the customer with a seamless way to integrate with your brand using desktop PCs, mobile device, eMarketplace, social media, and brick-and-mortar locations.

We can show you how to implement an Omnichannel Strategy and Marketing program.

Firstly, let us help you to resolve your Facebook news ban challenge…

Update your Facebook Profile Settings

RIGHT NOW, you can reduce the impact of the Facebook page restrictions to change your profile set-up categories from being ‘news or media’ to a brand or personality page.  It’s also a good idea to review and update your company profile and contacts while you are here…

Create Brand Ambassador Pages

Move a portion of your content marketing to employee pages or engage brand ambassadors/affiliates to do this for you?  Utilise these pages to publish business updates e.g. what is on, events, new products and services. For example: if you are Radio Station, invest in content marketing using your show host’s brand profiles.

Encourage the use of Facebook Messenger

Static brand profile pages can still utilise the Facebook Messenger service to stay connected with your community. Ensure that you’ve got this set-up and working correctly, and check that you are using some of the messenger automation tools to provide a more efficient way of supplying alternative communication options e.g. providing website details.  

Create a Website (and make sure it’s up to date)

If the Global Pandemic has taught us anything, every business MUST have a robust online presence. Whether its for branding, communication, or even sales, its ESSENTIAL that you have a Website.  We can build a brand page for as little as $995 +gst

 Build a Mobile App

I don’t recommend this for all business types, but if you provide a regular service to a group of people or community e.g. Energy service provider, then having an app is the perfect way for customers to engage with your brand and receive information updates regularly.   

Already have a Mobile App?

Make sure that you ask your users to ‘turn on notifications’ so they receive real-time updates and communications.  Think about ways to expand your communication channels to the people who use the app e.g. provide links to websites and other business tools you provide.

Implement an Email or Text Message Updates

There are numerous tools available that allow you to send out real-time news updates, marketing offers and promotions via email or text message.  Use this to move people who require urgent or real-time updates from traditional social media platforms to a direct communication channel.

Utilise Alternative Social Media Platforms

Rather than being so reliant on a single ‘free-to-use’ platform like platform, it is a good idea to spread your content marketing across multiple channels (Better Google SEO also)

If you are business-focused, think about boosting your online presence on LinkedIn, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, eMarketplaces (eBay, Amazon etc) PLUS industry-specific websites and portals.

More consumer-focused? Try Pinterest, YouTube, Snap Chat, TikTok, YouTube to name a few.

Use a Masked URL for your Posts

Use a tool like Bitly to shorten and mask your shared URL for Facebook posts and articles (It’s a bit naughty).

Keep your Customers Updated

One of the MOST important things that you can do is communicate how the Facebook restrictions to sharing and viewing news impact your business and your customers. Learn how to design a focused email for your customers.

Need Some Help?

As Facebook blocks Australians from viewing or sharing news due to the restrictions in place from the Australian Government Media Ownership Laws, we can help you mitigate the business marketing risk with a structured, focused, and sustainable omnichannel marketing strategy.

Our experienced digital transformation team can help you to build a digital brand communications experience that will be robust, independent, and personalised to your customer’s needs.

If you want to discuss the potential implications to your business brand, please contact us on 03 9863-7444 or email [email protected]