The latest algorithm change from Facebook to put "things posted by the friends you care about are higher up in your News Feed” sounds good for users.
It’s a return to why we all signed up with Facebook in the first place. Thanks Facebook! But there is also a negative side for brands and publishers, namely reach and referral traffic declines.
The “noise” or random video content I’ve recently experienced much more of in my feed has been fun at times, but has also made Facebook feel more like an entertainment site than a social network. It's been turning people off the network in favour of those with closer real-time friend connections, like Snapchat.
Facebook guards its numbers closely, but if the platform is seeing a drop-off, then it needs to make sure it’s making a positive change in the type of content we typically receive, to keep the user experience as compelling and addictive as ever.
So, what does this all mean for how we develop our digital, social and content strategies now? Firstly, we have to recognise we all have a duty to stop simply pushing out ads supported with Facebook spend. The strength of the paid media component of Facebook has meant that if we really had to, we could get around producing ‘made for Facebook’ content and instead run with content we already have. It was easier, but that just won’t work anymore.
Then we need to get back to thinking about people and our emotions around why we share. This is something we used to talk about a lot, before the days of guaranteed, targeted reach through media spend. What could we bake into ideas to give them the best possible chance of being shared?
Understanding ‘sharing behaviour’ is a very soulful activity. When any of us choose to press that share button, the piece of content we’ve seen has inspired us enough to do so from a place deep within. The infamous Chewbacca Mom made us laugh uncontrollably, in a way that made our soul happy. So of course we all want to share that experience within our own worlds.
It’s always hard to know how much impact a change to Facebook’s algorithm will make until it happens, sometimes it’s quite drastic and other times it just feels like much ado about nothing. This time around it’s a matter very close to Zuckerberg’s
non-commercial heart and that Facebook is clearly talking about reverting to its core values. I believe we will see a very noticeable change.
In these times, when there is a very clear shift from advertising to content, I think it is just another reason why brands and agencies alike need to think harder about how they can communicate to people in a way that will actually make them care. It may not be as easy as it was before, but it should be a hell of a lot more fun.