Facebook Changes Its Newsfeed: What Now?

Facebook’s recent announcement to enable its “new” News Feed to prioritize conversations between friends and family will undeniably bring communities closer together — but some brands that depend on News Feed traffic for marketing purposes are freaking out. I encourage those brands to keep in mind that the algorithm update might actually prove beneficial, creating new opportunities. As I mentioned last week, brands will have more insight into moments that matter for customers and can respond with an approach that prioritizes deeper engagement.

Only time will tell how the changes will impact us as consumers and workers, but we have some initial thoughts.

Insights for Facebook's Newsfeed Change

• Behavioral analytics are about to get a lot more interesting – Marketers will have more insight into moments that matter for their followers and customers.
• Higher-quality brand content – We think this algorithm change will ignite an investment in higher-quality content that earns and deserves consumer engagements, instead of buying them.
• Higher-quality brand engagement – While users’ time on Facebook may decline, the time they spend with brands on the platform will become more meaningful — a huge opportunity for brands to rise to the occasion and generate dialogue.
• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket – Brands must focus on their objectives and develop a balanced content and channel strategy. If you built your brand on Facebook, you might want to start thinking about how you build value-based touchpoints for your followers and customers on other platforms.
• Smarter spending – The development of more quality, worthwhile messaging will lead brands to focus on delivering hyper-targeted messages through Facebook-paid platforms. If you’re going to spend the money, make sure you’re putting in the time to target the message accordingly.

We’re eager to see how brands will create more meaningful Facebook content to engage with their customers. Undoubtedly there will be additional changes ahead as this rolls out, and we’ll be keeping a close watch and monitoring analytics and trends closely. What are your thoughts on the changes? Leave a comment below.