It’s hard to believe that the first month of 2018 has already come to a close. Algorithm updates seem to be the trend for the new year, and they have content creators and business owners alike unsure of whether to celebrate or run and hide. Don’t worry! Our team has assembled the latest changes in the leading platforms and is sharing the ABC’s behind the algorithm changes to help you keep your content in front of an engaged, real (no-bots allowed) audience!
Have you noticed that your Facebook newsfeed looks a bit different? Many users are already noticing a shift in the types of content they are seeing and the ads that they are being shown on the platform. How will this impact your Facebook strategy?
That infamous term ‘fake news’ is suddenly becoming so real on Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg is serious about changing the content that we all are about to see in our news feeds. In a January announcement, he said, “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.” If you haven’t noticed already, you may already be seeing exactly what the Zucks is referring to – posts from your friends and family, and groups that you are in – appearing at the top of your news feeds. This algorithm change is a shift towards engaging content. Remember that term, ‘engaging content‘. With this update, Facebook will begin to prioritize posts that spark conversations and meaningful interactions between people. Facebook states that higher-ranking posts will be those that inspire back-and-forth discussion in the comments and posts that users may want to share or react to – whether that’s a post from a friend seeking advice, a friend asking for recommendations for a trip, or a news article or video prompting lots of discussions.
You may be asking yourself, what does this mean for business pages on Facebook?
If you already are seeing a decrease in engagement on your page, this update may make it even harder to get your posts seen. If your posts prompt conversations amongst friends, this update could potentially increase your engagement. The impact will vary from page to page, so it is important to consistently check your insights, and routinely audit your account to see what content performs best for your audience.
Have you seen the spammy Facebook pages that post content like ‘LIKE this for x, LOVE this for y, etc.’?
Facebook is cracking down on posts that use engagement bait to take advantage of the algorithm. While this tactic works great for short-run campaigns, pages that consistently use tactics like this over the long term will see a decrease in their algorithm ranking. Tip: Focus on authentic, genuinely engaging content. We predict that Facebook Live broadcasts will continue to cut through the social noise for brands. Experiment with different types of content – photos, videos, live videos, links to brand created contents, links to third-party/outside content, plain-text posts, polls, notes, etc. The only downside to experimenting is not measuring what actually works.
The most recent update to Facebook’s algorithm will prioritize local news to be high-ranking content for users in the surrounding geographic area. They promise that stories from local news publishers may appear higher in News Feed for followers in publishers geographic areas. This change is paving the way for a new feature called ‘Today In‘. Currently being tested in six U.S. cities (Binghamton, NY made the list!), this feature will be a filtered news feed made up entirely of local news, events, and announcements. Between the introduction of Marketplace, which is the platform’s Craiglist style marketplace, news feed changes, and the latest features currently under testing, it is safe to assume that Facebook wants to give users a customized, local, engaging experience. While this sounds great, it may pose a risk to advertisers on the platform. Our team predicts that, gradually, the costs of Facebook ads will increase and the types of content that will convert will vary.
Worried that your content won’t get seen? While these updates may have many users questioning what they are doing right or wrong organically, you can always encourage your audience to click ‘See First’ on your Facebook page so they see your posts at the very top of their News Feed. To do this, make sure you instruct your audience to like our page, then under the ‘Following’ tab select ‘See First’. Tip: This may be more challenging but your true followers may be inclined to do so if your content resonates with them.
Want to learn how to take your Facebook page to the next level and get a content strategy that will survive the algorithm change? Contact us to learn how our team can help!
With the addition of Instagram Stories in 2017, Instagram isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Just recently, Facebook announced that they are taking baby steps to address a major concern of business owners and social media agencies – scheduling posts on Instagram. However, this feature will only be available through using third-party content schedulers, such as Hootsuite, Planoly, Grum, etc., as of right now. Instagram promises that this addition to their API will not only allow business accounts to schedule posts but, also view posts they’ve been tagged in and view other business profiles.
Did you know that there are 25 million businesses on Instagram? If you are using Instagram on behalf of your business and haven’t yet converted your account to a business account, you are missing out on some of the great features already rolled out last year, such as insights, connecting your Instagram account to your Facebook Business account, etc. These added features allow for better content planning and secure account management, removing the need for employees to share login credentials to gain account access to insights or monitor comments on posts. By linking your account to your Facebook’s Business Manager, your in-house team and marketing agency can have access to your Instagram account without hassle.
In review, these are the updates that will be coming soon to your favorite Instagram planner app:
- Post Scheduling – On business accounts, there will be one dashboard (we’re thinking similar to Facebook’s Business Manager) that will allow users to manage and post on multiple accounts from one hub.
- Business Discovery – Discover and read the profile info and media of other business profiles.
- Mentions – Read public media that a business has been photo tagged or @mentioned in. Post comments on a business’ behalf on media it was tagged or mentioned in.
