The Facebook Algorithm Changes, AGAIN!.. Here’s the Scoop

Facebook made a massive announcement last week and it is going to change the way that we all look at Facebook, especially if you’re a marketer or somebody who needs to market your business to the right audience. The Facebook Algorithm Changes are going to prioritize engaging posts from your friends and hide most Business Page posts and non interactive posts from your friends.

Unfortunately, places like news outlets and other business pages, are going to lose a lot of the traction and engagement that they have been looking for so long.

Mark Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook just the other day, “I’m changing the goal I give our product teams from focusing on helping you find relevant content to helping you have more meaningful social reactions”.

So what this means is that you are going to see less and less of businesses pages in your news feed than ever before.

There are three types of content pieces that appear in people’s newsfeeds:

• Posts from Friends

Firstly, there are the posts from your friends on your personal profile. Then there are posts from business pages and then there are paid ads. Now Facebook has always been a platform that has dedicated itself to the interaction between personal friends, so we’re not going to see that disappear anytime soon.

In fact, that’s what they really want to make more happen. I think Facebook is seeing the fact that people are beginning to leave Facebook or not spend as long as they used to on the platform.

This may be in part because of the proliferation of ads and content from marketing companies or other companies that just doesn’t relate to that person. Facebook want to get back to basics and make sure it’s a platform that shares interactions with each other.

• Posts from Business Pages

The second type of content on your newsfeed is posts from Facebook pages. Now, the reach and engagement has slowly been declining ever since 2014 when Facebook made companies actually pay for this content. The Facebook Algorithm Changes are proving that facebook is not that interested in those posts from businesses. .

• Paid Ads

The other content type that you’re likely to see, of course, is paid ads. Now we all know that there are many ads and more information appearing on facebook more than ever, but Facebook will never get rid of ads because this is how they make their money.

Facebook wants businesses pages to pay for any content that’s seen on a users newsfeed

In fact, if you look at the number of Facebook advertisers , you will see that the number of advertisers has actually doubled in the last year.

 

This is insane. So you will see that one of these three types of content will disappear.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that the Posts from Business Pages will lose out in The Facebook Algorithm Changes.

So what Facebook is going to do is delete or get rid of the feed or the noise in your newsfeed from business pages.

In fact, even the news feed is changing with in regards to personal profiles. If you’re creating posts that are click-bait or link bait, where people need to like something, do something or comment on a post in order to get traction, then you will find those decline in your news feed.

They’re looking for real meaningful engagement rather than just people trying to get people and others to engage with them. They are looking for meaningful interactions between people.

We will also see the possibility of the rise of chatbots, but even that we’re not sure how that’s going to play out in the Facebook Algorithm Changes.

So what you need to start thinking of is making sure that you’re creating good quality content.

If you are using any automation systems like buffer and Hootsuite, you are going to find them absolutely ruled out, so stop using buffer and Hootsuite to post to your Facebook profiles.

Buffer and Hootsuite and those type of services are fantastic if you use them with the right platforms, but Facebook is now NOT the right platform for those anymore. So if you’re posting to Buffer and Hootsuite, you’ll find that your engagement just disappears and nobody will be seeing those posts.

So where does the future lie from here after The Facebook Algorithm Changes?

Well, it could be an opportunity for groups and community building to take place.

Facebook groups have been very dominant in the last year and a half. I think the change in the Facebook algorithm will give rise to Facebook groups in a more meaningful way.

However, you still can’t run ads to groups. So there is still a number of limitations you’re going to find in groups.

Facebook live experiences are going to also be beneficial as long as the content is good. So the key underlining aspect is the content needs to be good in order for Facebook to share it in their algorithm.

If you’re just doing a post for the sake of doing a post, it’s not going to cut it anymore. Some of the biggest losers are going to be publishers who have shifted their resources to invest in really fancy looking videos.

Pre-recorded social video is also going to come under scrutiny because video is a passive experience. And Facebook do not want passive experiences. They want people that are going to interact, they want them to be able to comment on videos. They want people to like them and share them, not just sit there and watch them. You really need to be thinking about how that’s going to change for you.

Mark Zuckerberg also said that he wants to be clear by making these changes, he expects the time people spend on Facebook and some measures of engagement will actually go down.  He also expects that the time you spend on Facebook is going to much more valuable so the message is pretty clear.

Make sure that you are creating great quality content that inspires people to take action and engage with you, and people share it.

Gone are the days of content that is just there to fill a space. If you’re doing that or have been doing that, you’re wasting your time.

It’s time to change your outlook and your strategy, and more importantly, focus on spending some money behind social media to really get the reach that you’re looking for.

Click the image below and listen to a full recap of the news about the latest changes on my podcast, DIGI-KNOW.

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Episode 67 features a big announcement from Facebook. If you own a business and are currently using Facebook for any of your marketing, you need to pay attention to this!

Featuring Andrew McCauley (@andymac71) and Will Hanke (@redcanoemedia)