Facebook’s News Feed is changing. How can social media marketers cope?
In an exemplification of the cultural prominence that social media carries, Facebook was a subject on multiple news outlets last week. It wasn’t restricted to the marketing or social media focused outlets either; even Global News and other, more traditional media outlets picked up on it. It was reported that the social media giant was making changes to their platform. Facebook’s News Feed, moving forward, is said to start focusing more on posts from members of a user’s friend list rather than the videos and links users have grown accustomed to (and frustrated about).
These changes are actually an instance where Facebook is returning to its roots. As company CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote, Facebook was built “to help people stay connected and bring us closer together with the people that matter to us. That’s why we’ve always put friends and family at the core of the experience.” In the social media platform’s infancy, Facebook’s News Feed was a reflection of what Zuckerberg is referring to here. But, as it grew in prominence, companies and organizes saw the potential and reach that Facebook had. This coupled with the growth of Facebook as a company, bringing us to the busy News Feeds users see today.
Facebook’s News Feed, as a result of this busyness, has less in the way of personal content: posts from friends and family members. Thus, the company wants to change that. But, what does this mean for social media marketers? How can they continue to use Facebook to their benefit? Marketing Land has some ideas, including the creation of long-form video as well as the avoiding of bait-and-switch and engagement-required posts (for example: Like, Comment, and Share to Enter this Contest”) As the latter is something you should never do anyways, focus on the former: videos. What’s the best way to do this for social media marketers? Livestream!
There are a few reasons why Facebook Live is your best bet in the wake of Facebook’s News Feed changes. Firstly, in terms of the social media platform as a whole, Facebook Live is relatively new. This makes it an important tool to the company itself. Facebook even notifies users when a livestream is occurring, thus helping engagement for you. Secondly, livestreaming has a more personal feel than traditional videos as it is “in the moment.” This more closely aligns to Facebook’s hopes of a more personal offering for their users. Then, lastly, social media marketers can build a campaign around the livestream, a way to increase engagement in a justified setting.