Happy new year! As soon as the new year came around, we all got the news of more Facebook algorithm changes. For the next week, my business sphere was in a tizzy. What do the Facebook changes mean to you? Let’s have a look.
Notes:
The new algorithm also will favor content that draws a lot of comments over posts that are popular, but don’t elicit comments. (Wired)
There will be more friend content and family content. There will also be more group content. Group content tends to inspire a lot of conversation. Communities on Facebook are becoming increasingly active and vibrant. (Wired)
People who want to see more posts from Pages they follow can choose See First in News Feed Preferences to make sure they always see posts from their favorite Pages. (Facebook)
Engagement-bait tactics that encourage people to comment on posts aren’t considered “meaningful” interaction and pages that use them will continue to be demoted in the news feed. (Social Media Examiner)
In my opinion, the top thing that’s changing is that Pages are fed less into the Newsfeed than before.
A lot may change if you have been doing any of these:
- Comment-baiting
- Urging people to “tag” their friends on posts
- Tricking people to like your page
- Creating videos that look like static memes
So basically not much has changed, and I’m not being facetious. Really, not much has changed if you have stayed the course in engaging, community-driven content that either educates, informs or makes the fan feel good about liking your page, commenting or sharing your content.
Want to try new things like video? Yes, do it. While Facebook has said that video generates passive viewing and not a lot of commenting, it will still pull up on Newsfeed. I believe it. Live video still does well.
Want to create a group to complement your page. Yes, do it. Groups are important; I’ve been seeing nothing but Group posts on my mobile Newsfeed. It’s kind of nuts how much content I’m seeing, but it also makes sense. Groups are closed (usually) communities with a common interest. You truly are talking to individuals than to a company page.
As always:
- Think about your customers, your fans and audiences
- Does your content educate, inform or delight?
- Build awareness before conversion in your custom audiences
What have you seen in your Newsfeeds? What kind of content continues to work for you and your brand page?
