From last week, news came in that Facebook would be prioritizing the postings of friends and families over that of news media and brands. As expected, this announcement drew both negative and positive feedback from users. We at SteerPoint figured we’d dig a little deeper in identifying what these changes mean and whether they’re a good thing or not.
What Exactly is Happening?
Facebook has reported through a series of surveys that its users are seeking more “friend content” rather than posts from newspapers and broadcasters. This means that the likelihood of your friend’s desert from the 4th of July will now likely appear ahead of a post from, for example, the restaurant across the street’s lunch special or your local newspaper’s latest headlines.
Pros
– Friends and Family. This decision reverts to Facebook’s roots when only people, not brands, ruled your feeds. The benefit of this makes sense, as a good chunk of people use the site as a convenient way to keep in touch with friends and family. Amplifying this feature will make that demographic’s experience far more enjoyable.
Cons
– A spoiled autonomy. This change goes against Facebook’s declaration of itself as an open forum for all persons and businesses. If you ‘like’ a company to subscribe to updates, it’s ultimately your choice. The order of what content you subscribed to read will now be, in effect, decided by Facebook and not you.
– Flip-flopping. For the longest time, Facebook has been encouraging brands to build a large following to increase their reach. Now, suddenly, all that work accruing Page likes will begin to feel fruitless, as Facebook will put corporate posts lower on the totem pole. Digital reach is already difficult to achieve, yet this move handcuffs businesses and social media managers. Manipulating feeds clearly shows that at the end of the day that the interests of social media professionals and Facebook don’t align. Yes, your company wants to reach more people, but Facebook wants…
– Money, Money, Money. A well-cultivated content creation campaign can be very effective, but the truth is organic posts never perform as well boosted posts. And how does one boost a post on Facebook? They write checks. So no matter how engaging the content, the reality is that in the race for eyeballs, your brand will fall behind posts from friends, family, and paid ads.
Remember, Facebook is a publicly traded company, and bolstering the bottom line is of the utmost importance. Google similarly adjusted its pages last year to remove sidebar ads in the name of making searches more friendly to responsive design. In turn, the price of individual ads was raised as space was at a premium. Companies know they often must pay to play on Google (hence the importance of Pay Per Click Campaigns), so it’s logical to think that the cost of ads on Facebook will also increase.
In summary, while these changes may make some user’s experiences better, the effects on the social media marketing industry will be affected in many ways.
SteerPoint is a full-service digital marketing agency located in Indianapolis specializing in SEO, Content Creation, Social Media Strategy and Web Development.
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