By Aimee Lennox
Facebook is changing…again. Before you lose your mind completely, here are a few things you need to know.
What has changed?
Facebook is taking the news out of your News Feed and turning more personal, with a new tweak that will show users more content from friends and family than organic posts from businesses and publishers.
Why has it changed?
With growing criticism that social media is having a negative effect on users’ well-being, CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained “posts from businesses, brands and media – is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other”. Basically, calling news a downer, the change up is aimed to ensure that the time people spend on Facebook is ‘well spent’.
What does this mean for our restaurant/café/alcohol clients?
Small businesses and companies that rely on Facebook’s algorithm for organic reach (non-paid posts) to raise awareness for their brand won’t be getting the same exposure. How much will depend on how well those businesses are able to adjust (pay) to the changes, as they roll out.
Facebook’s paid advertising will remain unchanged, shock. We aren’t going to see less ads – that just goes against everything about Facebook.
What can you do to counter potential reach declines?
Generate page posts conversations between people. For example, live videos often lead to discussion among views on Facebook.
Captions will need to promote communication in the comments section.
Implement budgets to create sponsored and boosted posts.
