Facebook’s Algorithm Change and What It Means for Brands

On June 29, Facebook announced it would be changing its algorithm associated with users’ newsfeeds. The change will prioritize posts from family and friends over posts from publishers, brands and other pages. The idea behind the change is that the platform was “built on the idea of connecting people with their friends and family.” The social media giant says it has received concerns from its users that they are missing important updates from their family and friends, and that the algorithm change is designed to push posts from family and friends higher up in the newsfeed.

According to Facebook, this change will only have an effect on page content that is not frequently liked, shared or commented on by friends. “The specific impact on your Page’s distribution and other metrics may vary depending on the composition of your audience. For example, if a lot of your referral traffic is the result of people sharing your content and their friends liking and commenting on it, there will be less of an impact than if the majority of your traffic comes directly through Page posts. We encourage Pages to post things that their audience are likely to share with their friends.”

What Does This Mean for Brands?

Social referral traffic will likely decline. If your site currently receives a large portion of referral traffic from Facebook, your numbers are likely to take a hit. If the majority of your social referral traffic comes from users sharing your content on their own personal Facebook pages it will still be prioritized in the new algorithm change. Content coming from your brand’s Facebook page that receives low engagement will have reduced visibility, which will hurt your site’s traffic.

Content strategists will need to up their game. With the visibility of your brand’s content in jeopardy – and that visibility relying heavily on user interaction – it will become increasingly important for your brand’s content strategists to come up with unique content that will drive engagement.

Facebook is continually moving toward a “pay to play” model for marketers and publishers. With increasingly limited visibility, marketers will need to boost their posts in order for them to be seen by the same amount of people as before. Unfortunately, with more marketers and publishers buying in to get their content seen, the cost of ads is predicted to rise.

What You Can Do

Concerned about the change? Want to know more about how you can increase your visibility – and create compelling content that will boost engagement? Contact The frank Agency today! Our team of social media experts and digital content strategists can craft a winning strategy to combat these changes.