Facebook News Feed change: how it will impact your Page

Facebook has unveiled plans to change how its News Feed works, prioritising status updates from friends and family and displaying fewer articles from businesses and publishers.

The social network says the revamp is due to concerns that “public content — posts from businesses, brands and media — is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more”.

The update to the News Feed algorithm could mean Facebook Pages see their reach, video watch time and referral traffic decrease.

For many small businesses, who rely on Facebook for reaching new customers, the concern is that shrinking audiences will have a dramatic impact on their ability to connect. And, that the only way content will get seen is if you pay for people to see it.

But if you take a look at Facebook’s News Feed change announcement and its other recent blog posts in closer detail, it doesn’t mean small businesses necessarily have to start their jump from the Facebook ship just yet.

What Facebook says about Pages & the News Feed update

• People who want to see more posts from Pages they follow can choose ‘See First’ in News Feed Preferences to make sure they always see posts from their favourite Pages
• Pages that make posts that people generally don’t react to or comment will see the biggest decreases in distribution but those who create posts that prompt conversations between friends will “see less of an effect”
• Page posts that generate conversation between people will show higher in News Feed. Many creators who post videos on Facebook prompt discussion among their followers

So, essentially what this means is that finding the way to capture the interest of Facebook users just got a lot more important – it’s now about carefully planning your marketing and getting smart with content.

At Pixelwave Creative, we know that informative and entertaining visual storytelling can build brand awareness, improve lead generation and help you create a buzz online.

And, this is supported by Facebook’s blog post in December, where the company explains that watching video on the social network “has the power to drive conversations” and that “engaging videos that not only bring people together, but drive repeat viewership and engagement, will do well in News Feed”.

Good quality video content will have your target audience captivated in your content immediately. It will succinctly show who you are and what you do visually.

Here’s our TOP 5 TIPS for creating
successful Facebook Page content in 2018

1. Spend more time producing genuinely relevant and engaging video content
2. Videos that are part of a series will create active communities and drive repeat viewership and engagement
3. Longer-form videos will work better than short clips (according to Facebook, video content that viewers have sought out or are from creators they care about tend to be longer, with more narrative development
4. One of the best ways to reach new audiences on Facebook is when people re-share your videos. Make sure your videos are easy to understand, relevant to your target audience and include a call-to-action
5. Facebook will favour live video as it generates more engagement. People also spend more time watching a Facebook Live video on average compared to a video that’s no longer live. If you’re hosting an event, why not broadcast live? Boost the production quality of your live broadcasts by streaming from external cameras.

As Facebook rolls out the update to its News Feed algorithm, we will bring more tips on nailing your video content for Facebook.

Sign up to our Newsletter for the latest updates

using the Sign-Up box below.