The world’s most powerful social media platform is again throwing marketers a curveball.
Facebook is once again changing its algorithm to prioritize content from friends and family. As a Facebook user, thank you. As a Facebook marketer, WTH.
So, what does this mean for brands who have invested marketing dollars growing a fan base and building a community? The Facebook game is changing … again. Facebook’s Adam Mosseri, Head of News Feed outlines the gist of the changes we can expect in his post “News Feed FYI: Bringing People Closer Together.”
Social media resource Social Media Examiner posted a live video on Facebook soon after the news broke. CEO Michael Stelzner broke down a few key takeaways:
- Scheduled posts will be dinged. Stop scheduling posts as the platform’s algorithms will not rank them favorably.
- Pages that post and only have limited engagement will be dinged. Stelzner goes as far to say that pages that receive minimal engagement on their posts should stop posting. Posts must prompt conversations. Or else.
- Pages must ask their communities to give them preferential treatment in the News Feed. While many brands hope this happens, it’s time to officially make the ask.
- Using “engagement-bait” to goad people into commenting on posts is not a meaningful interaction, and Facebook will continue to demote these posts in News Feed. (Here’s a bit of insight from Facebook on “baiting.”)
Facebook is doing exactly what it needs to do to continue to lead all social platforms. If users abandon Facebook for new social platforms that better meet their needs, everyone suffers … especially brands that have gone “all in” and shifted large portions of their marketing spends to the platform.
As one of the most sophisticated audience targeting tools in a marketer’s arsenal, marketers must analyze their approach and adjust their strategy and implementation. We will continue to navigate these changes and what they mean to brand pages in the coming weeks and months.
