Making good content on Facebook is really not easy.
Even less so for businesses.
And 2018 is shaping up to be the end of branded content (content with an intention to promote one’s brand or product) on Facebook.
Mark Zuckerberg, announced on January 11th that the Facebook News Feed would undergo a drastic change.
After admitting that passively reading articles or watching videos is bad for your mental health.
So Facebook is shifting its current focus (emphasis on time spent on the platform) and rebecomes a platform that helps users have more meaningful social interactions.
This is ideal for the user experience, but very bad for (most) companies or content creators.
As I told you, Facebook is moving from “helping you find content” to “creating meaningful social experiences.” But what does that mean?
Companies and pages that pollute much of your News Feed; sites that post memes, make misleading statuses for likes/shares/comments, sell products, will have much less space on your feed. The content will be more updates from your friends, family and groups.
But that doesn’t mean that ads will disappear. They will simply be less present.
Those who still want to receive content from their favorite brands and pages will be able to do so. The options in the News Feed tab on Facebook will allow you to choose the Pages (and friends) whose posts interest you the most.
In his post “Bringing People Closer Together,” Adam Mosseri, Facebook’s head of News Feed, outlined the changes in more detail.
“Since there is limited space in the News Feed, more posts from friends and family members are being shown, which means we are showing less public content, including videos and other posts from publishers or businesses.”
So what can you do as a brand to convince your subscribers to actively choose to see your content? You’ll need to improve what you do.
Limited space in the news feed given to businesses will be given to those whose content creates meaningful engagement.
Live videos, posts from public figures, private groups and other types of engaging posts will be among those highlighted in the new News Feed.
Neither Zuckerberg nor Mosseri mentioned advertising in their respective posts. Facebook generated more than 10.3 billion from ads in the last quarter and Facebook still needs to make money.
In fact, the competition for the best placements will only increase as the News Feed becomes a mix of family, friends and uncomfortable updates from an old acquaintance.
The competition (and cost) for ads will increase rapidly in the coming months.
So those who have a good grasp of Facebook optimization techniques will be able to stay competitive. And those who manage their ads more or less well will end up stopping due to lack of results.
With their audience network, Facebook and Instagram offer many alternative ad placement options.
They include:
You can no longer be satisfied with the status quo!
If, for most businesses, organic content will die, the importance of doing good advertising on Facebook will increase exponentially. As the quote says, adapt or die. Pay close attention to your ROI and test new formats and messages.
