The old saying “nothing stays the same but change” couldn’t ring more true when it comes to social media. Platforms are always making changes, updating and trying to stay ahead of each other to gain users and growth in the marketplace. Facebook is no exception and their latest announcement is all about story bumping, which will display older unseen content at the top of your News Feed. Oh yeah, and EdgeRank is going away. No big deal, right? Now before you get all in a tizzy about how you’re going to get your super-awesome post seen by your fans, take a deep breath and don’t panic.

Instead of thinking about how Facebook is screwing you out of engagement, focus on yourself and your efforts. Just do you. Instead of trying to game the system, concentrate your efforts on creating fantastic content that your fans want to see. Be different than your competitors and let your company’s personality shine through. Your fans want to see that. We’ve talked before how Facebook is like a backyard barbecue. Play to that. Looking for more than just “be unique”? Use your analytics to determine what kind of posts work well and resonate with your particular fans. Here’s what we’ve found works well for businesses trying to stand out in the crowd:

Say Cheese

You already know pictures are notoriously popular and photo albums are even better. Smart phones have made it easier than ever to snap photos on the fly to capture a moment in time. Snap a series of photos of your event or employees and group them together. Albums display nicely in the News Feed and fans will click through to see all of your photos in the series. Take the extra few minutes to give your album a foundation by tagging people, places and including captions. The more information you provide, the better.

Mix It Up

No one likes to see the same thing over and over again. It’s like your uncle who tells the same story at every single family gathering. Just like you roll your eyes at that, your fans will get bored with your content and stop paying attention to you. So mix it up with a variety of posts. Links, questions, photo albums, polls and thanking your fans (community messages) all drive engagement. Stick to only one of them and you’re missing out tons of engagement.

You won’t ever be able to predict what’s coming next in the way of updates to social media platforms. But by focusing on your efforts and your fans, you can be successful no matter what and you won’t need to predict the future.