April 28, 2015

Facebook Newsfeed changes are here! How should you respond?

April 28, 2015

Facebook Newsfeed changes are here! How should you respond?

Facebook Newsfeed changes are here! How should you respond?

Facebook have announced they will be implementing changes to the Newsfeed algorithm in coming weeks in response to user feedback. Online marketers have been sent into a panic, unsure of how it will affect Facebook business pages. In short, the Facebook newsfeed will give higher priority to content that is more relevant and interesting for Facebook users.

  1. Facebook is relaxing the rule that has previously prevented multiple posts from a single user showing up one after the other

This change won’t have a huge impact for marketers as it is purely about giving those that want more, more. If users with fewer connections want to spend more time on the social media platform, their feed will continue to be updated irrespective of companies showing up in immediate succession. Previously, Facebook attempted to prevent posts by the same user one after the other appearing in a Newsfeed, limiting the time someone could see new content in their Newsfeed.

  1. Content posted by people a user interacts with will be far more likely to show up, in lieu of brand-aligned content

Someone ‘liking’ your page doesn't guarantee that your posts will show up in their Newsfeed. Unless they are regularly engaging with your content by liking, commenting or sharing you will fall out of their newly tailored Newsfeed, which will prompt brands to post content of higher quality that encourages engagement.However, this gives brands the opportunity to use opinion leaders to break through the new limitations. If you write content they want to share with their community, then this information will be given more weight, more credibility and users won’t be fatigued from bombardment by other marketing messages whilst on Facebook.

  1. Users will no longer be notified about their friends’ activity

This change is expected to have the biggest impact on brands using Facebook to distribute content and relying on second hand reach to boost reach. The reach of your post will be limited when it isn’t showing up in friends’ Newsfeeds for every person that liked or commented on your post.New potential for niche companies or communities that use Pages to share information may surface in light of these changes. For example, people in LGBTIQ groups may be more likely to engage with a post if they know their involvement won’t be broadcast to everyone they know. Or for people that fear their secret hobby is too embarrassing to announce to their friends, they can now feel safer to like the post about Dungeons and Dragons and improve your engagement metrics.While these changes will have an impact on who engages with you and how they do so, it will lead to better, more interesting content that people are interested in, and give you the type of quality following that converts to sales.This response from Facebook indicates that people were getting annoyed at having irrelevant, branded content forced into their Newsfeed. This improvement will preserve your brand equity and decrease the disdain felt when your brand appears in the Facebook Newsfeed of someone that doesn’t have any reason to care about what you offer, regardless of how high quality the content.