Four ways Facebook’s newsfeed has changed in 2016 and what it means for business

Facebook is constantly evolving. What it was just a month ago, is different to how it is now. These changes are important for businesses and digital marketers to stay up-to-date with, in order to be successful in social media marketing, especially on the

One thing everyone can certainly relate to is how we don’t see everything that our friends post in our news feed, as we once did. The reason is that, today’s average Facebook user has gained hundreds of friends and liked hundreds of pages that can enable a single user to be eligible to see hundreds of posts in a single day. Recognising this as a potential issue, Facebook has created a ranking system for posts and indeed does not show all posts to everyone but instead chooses how and when to do so.

This means that if you are a business page with 50,000 Likes, publishing a post does not mean you will reach 50,000 people. The reality is that the organic reach of business page posts is very low and only looks like it will get even lower in 2016. Clearly, Facebook still works for business. However, the approach needs to be adjusted accordingly. Today, it pays more to invest in advertising and generating highly informative and engaging content, rather than worrying about how many Likes your page has.

The Facebook Newsfeed Algorithm has been constantly evolving since its inception, but 2016 has seen some very particular changes, here are four updates any digital marketer or business needs to take into consideration:

Posts from family and friends will be given priority

Facebook’s success as a social media platform is based on the fact that users feel close to their friends and relatives. This was the founding principle on which Facebook was created. In fact, the reduction in frequency of posts from family and friends throughout the years has been frustrating several users, who constantly seem to miss important posts. This update ensures that users don’t miss or need to scroll down to see such posts. What does this mean for businesses? The way around this is to advertise and boost posts more often to ensure that your content gets put before your audience.

Clickbait filter

For a long time, users have complained about spammy “click bait” posts. We’ve all been there and clicked on by, just to be disappointed later have the 30 seconds of our life that has been wasted! Typical examples include links that end with “You won’t believe what he did next”, or an overhyped title that doesn’t deliver the content that it promises. Publishers of such posts are normally paid on a per-click basis to create such content, so they don’t have the reader’s best interest at heart - they are only after that click. Facebook has warned time and again for people to stop doing this and has now set an algorithmic filter to clean out such posts from people’s newsfeed. How to avoid your posts being caught by this update? Avoid cliché click-bait posts, seek to keep users engaged on your page after they click on the link and deliver what you promised in the title - seek to encourage authentic user engagement.

Facebook prioritises live videos

Facebook is more likely to display a live video in the newsfeed than other videos. Live videos up to 90 minutes long, and after their broadcast has ended they remain published on Facebook. This marks a new opportunity for digital marketers to not only achieve higher visibility in the news feeds but also to get creative and have fun. Some best practices when broadcasting live videos are to notify your audience in advance, ensure your internet connection is strong and battery is fully charged to prevent interruptions. Also, if it makes sense, capitalise on broadcasting from special locations that can generate additional interest from your audience.

High ranking posts and engagement

Posts that Facebook deems likely to generate engagement, such as Likes and Shares, are more likely to be prominently displayed in the newsfeed. This is an attempt to display Newsfeed content that users find in- teresting. What does this mean for publishers? It means that effort must be put into the quality of the posts, not just the quantity. Focus must be placed on publishing content specifically created for your target audience. Content that they will find interesting and which encourages engagement. This will ensure your posts get the most out of their organic reach (number of users to which they appear without advertising). Again, the sky is the limit when it comes to creativity here: don’t hold back! The more artistic and visual, the better. Infographics and videos work well.

In a nutshell, the way forward to shout above the crowd is: don’t spam, publish useful high quality content and make full use of Facebook’s lavish advertising platform. This trend in advertising is not surprising given the unimaginable amount of organic content being published every minute.

Furthermore, advertising comes with a wealth of advantages such as targeting and tracking and measuring. Targeting is the key to success in any marketing campaign as it allows the marketer to display the message exclusively in front of the correct audience is most likely to take the desired action, such as making a purchase. Tracking and measurement allow clear insight as to how campaigns have performed and which have met expectations. Although organic content is still important, the outlook for the future is that advertising will be ever more important to get your content seen.