You’ve probably seen the new changes in Facebook’s Wall feed over the last two weeks. Basically, Facebook has changed the wall so that the most recent, most clicked or most commented-on posts are on top, then the rest of the posts are underneath it.

These same changes are being seen by your customers too. After two weeks, research is coming out that shows individual post impressions are down by 25% In other words 1 out of 4 folks are reading the top posts and ignoring the lower ones.

If you want your FB posts to be seen, focus on these 3 strategies:

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If you haven’t noticed yet, next to every Google search result is a little button with a “+1″ inside.

This is a preview of a new social networking service called Google+ that started in July. It is designed to compete with the Facebook and the ”Like” button. The folks at Google don’t want to miss out on the social networking bandwagon the way Microsoft was slow to embrace the Internet and web browsers (remember when Netscape Navigator was king?).

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Would you walk up to someone at a party and say that your latest product is now available for $149.95 for a limited time only? Not only would that person walk away, but so would everyone else who overheard you.

In the same way, writing how much your product or services cost in a Facebook post isn’t a good idea. Facebook isn’t about talking at someone, it is best when it builds a conversation with others.

So instead of leading with an offer, try sharing about photography, then ask people to provide feedback and participate. This bridges the distance between you and your clients, and gets them involved with your brand. Ultimately new-found fans will promote you without being asked because they feel included. The fact that you asked and listened goes a long way.

Here are some examples of not-ok, better and best Facebook posts:

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To maximize Facebook marketing, businesses should target the friends of their fans, according to a recent study by Comscore and Facebook.

The free white paper, “The Power of Like” explores the relationship between a business, its fans, and the fan’s friends. By focusing on friends, a business can achieve a much larger circle of views than by focusing on fans alone.

For example, Starbucks has 23 million fans, yet Comscore found that those fans had 670 million friends. By focusing on friends of fans, Starbucks was able to multiply the reach of their message by 30 times.

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A Facebook business page should be one of the tools in your marketing plan. Yet many photographers I speak with still aren’t sure of the benefit of a business page over their old personal profile page. So rather than explain it, here are two examples of Facebook marketing – one done right, and one done…

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If you’ve been thinking about creating a custom business (or fan) page in Facebook but didn’t know how to get started, Tim Ware has created the best “step-by-step” instructions I’ve found on the web. He shows you graphically what changes you can make to your Facebook business page so that it can become a virtual website for your business.

Did I say website?

What we learned during the recent photo contest was that some photographers have started using Facebook instead of a regular website. This is a new, growing trend. While there are good reasons to have both, there is some logic to focusing on Facebook. If you only have the time and energy to keep one site constantly updated with new information, why not use Facebook as your main marketing site?

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If you’ve been on Facebook for a while, you’ve noticed that most personal pages start on the “wall”. The wall is a running list of posts, comments, likes, shares, and links to articles that is constantly being updated throughout the day. The only way you can view another person’s wall is to be accepted as a friend.

Facebook business pages are different. Like a personal page, by default, potential customers see your business wall the first time they look you up. However, folks who don’t already know you or know about your studio won’t be motivated to “like” you and get on your FB business fan list. This is especially true if you are putting ads in Facebook.

To solve the problem, Facebook lets you add a “static landing page” to your business account.

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Recently I was cc’d on an email between a client and one of his suppliers. The subject of the email was “social networking.” Here is what the email said:

As for the social networking stuff, it doesn’t work for everyone, but you have to do it anyway. An hour twice a week should be fine. Mostly I think people don’t do it because they don’t know what to do. A couple of links to articles you find online, a video from your website, new products, contests….really, anything works, just get your name in front of customers on a regular basis, and link back often to your website.

Here was my response to my client.

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If you are like most photographers, you started using Facebook as a personal profile, instead of a business page. The advantages of using Facebook as a business are:

1. You can have an unlimited number of friends

2. You can create Facebook ads

3. You don’t have to manually accept new friends/clients

If you been wanting to create a business page, but were frustrated because you weren’t able to bring all your friends and clients along with you automatically, now you can.

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Marketing folks talk about “push” and “pull” marketing. Push is old-school: you “push” information about your studio to clients and potential customers with newsletters, ads, fliers, etc. Pull marketing is engaging the customer, offering something that interests them, and getting them to seek you out. Examples of pull marketing are Facebook, blogs, tutorials, etc.

You need both kinds of marketing. But as a photographer, your ability to take capture great images can be used to create pull marketing.

Here’s how.

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