How to Overcome Facebook’s Recent News Feed Changes

Recently, Facebook has come out with the announcement that they will be changing their News Feed algorithm. This is the latest in a series of changes put in place to streamline Facebook’s key social feature. The updated News Feed will favor posts from friends, family, and pages of interest instead of businesses and advertisers. This means that a company’s ads and messages might not reach as wide of an audience now. These changes make boosted posts and sponsored content that much more important for your business. Over the past few years, Facebook was a great tool for businesses to increase their overall brand awareness. The algorithms that Facebook used to operate the News Feed prioritized advertisers and publishers over friends and family. Now, Facebook is pulling back on that and putting emphasis on featuring posts from the top people that you interact with. Posting to the News Feed is still a good way to get messages to a diverse audience, but now businesses are turning to new methods to reach the numbers that used to be possible. Boost Your Posts One way to overcome these new challenges is by boosting your posts. For a fee, Facebook lets publishers “boost” their posts, putting them higher up in the News Feed. Theoretically, the more money the publisher puts down, the more people the post will reach. The feature allows you to choose your specific audience and determine how long the boost will last. Sponsored Content Another method to keep your business on top of the changes to Facebook is the addition of sponsored (or branded) content. Clare Rubin, Facebook’s product manager, wrote, “We’re offering a new tool that makes it easy for publishers and influencers to tag a marketer when they publish branded content. Publishers and influencers must use this tag for all branded content shared on Facebook.” In plain English? If you abide by all the guidelines listed here, you can post branded content onto your page and any of your affiliates’ pages to increase exposure of your post. Post Photos and Videos Facebook gives top News Feed priority to photos and videos. Rather than just posting text updates for your company, include aesthetically appealing photos and videos to draw your audience in. Videos, especially, will be featured higher in people’s News Feeds, and Facebook is encouraging companies to produce quality videos to promote their products and services. Go to the Experts There is no shortage of competition among businesses these days. With millions of companies vying for consumer attention, it can be extremely difficult to set your brand apart from the rest. One way to ensure you can reach your target audience is by turning to a professional team. Business Builders has provided excellent marketing, branding and web design services throughout St. Augustine and the surrounding areas for 17 years. Our friendly and experienced staff can help your business stand out above the crowd and overcome the challenges you face in the modern world. Contact us today to get in touch with our team!