News
Robyn Hardman, Digital Consultant
Big Changes are Coming to Facebook’s News Feed
Facebook is making huge changes to its News Feed, which will have a massive impact on brands.
What’s happening, then?
As the world’s largest social network, Facebook has become the go-to site for most of us. The network has over two billion active monthly users, so it’s become a big focus for most brands when it comes to their digital marketing. However, Facebook is making some huge changes to the way it displays posts, and brands are going to be at the bottom of the heap.
In a recent post, Mark Zuckerberg said that “the balance of what’s in News Feed has shifted away from the most important thing Facebook can do – help us connect with each other.”
Simply put, over the next few months, posts from family members, friends and groups will get top priority – but posts from brands are in danger of being ditched.
Will my adverts still appear?
There’s been no distinction between organic or paid posts in the announcement – instead, they’re taking about ‘public content’. With this in mind, it’s likely that it’s all about organic posts, so your ads will still appear. That said, much like Facebook’s previous crackdown on clickbait, ‘engagement-bait’ style posts that explicitly encourage people to tag friends will see a huge downturn in visibility, and if your ads are geared around content like that, you might see a drop in performance.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. Facebook also intend to prioritise posts that, according to their recent announcement, “spark conversations and meaningful interactions between people”. As we predicted last year, live video is going to become even more vital as these generate six times as many interactions as regular videos. Posts from celebrities and media personalities will also continue to burst through, and posts from pages that are shared to groups will also enjoy the same amount of visibility.
What’s in the future for brands on Facebook?
Just like we predicted in an earlier post, the increase of personalisation and individualism leaves little room for brands. Therefore, it’s important to make sure that your posts aren’t just geared up for maximum engagement, but deliver the kind of impact that Facebook and your followers would want you to have – posts that spark discussions and are worth sharing as a result.
Inevitably, the goalposts will continue to change as Facebook perfects their new algorithms. These changes may ripple out to other networks, too, such as Instagram (which is owned by Facebook) in an effort to encourage user retention. We’ll be looking out for the latest changes – be sure to follow our blog to find out what it means for you and your brand.
Craving social success? Read a few of our other blogs:
- #hashtagat10 – what next for the social media landscape?
- The future of PR in a Facebook era
- Feel the love – Facebook reactions now more important than likes
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