What implications will Facebook’s latest updates have on marketers?

facebook eyeballFacebook has made some new changes to its News Feed. The changes are so subtle that, like a gentle breeze, you may not have even noticed.

In an effort to improve overall user satisfaction, Facebook asked thousands of people daily to rate their experiences and make suggestions on how the News Feed can be improved. The survey was called the “Feed Quality Program.” After collecting and analyzing the data, Facebook discovered that what people share, comment, click on or like on their News Feeds doesn’t always tell the whole story as to what they are interested in viewing.

For instance, if a family member dies or there’s been some horrific natural disaster, those stories will be meaningful and important to a user; but he or she is not going to “like” the content. This does not mean the person won’t want it on their News Feed.

In an effort to better determine what stories, posts and articles are important to users Facebook is now factoring in the amount of time a user spends reading a post.

To make the process even more streamlined, Facebook can also take into account the time between clicking on an article and reverting back to the original News Feed. For example, if that time is a matter of seconds, that would suggest that the article wasn’t what he or she expected.

In addition, the clock doesn’t start ticking until the post or video has loaded to better gauge how much time is actually spent on one post. With all this data, Facebook will give users more of what they’re actually reading and watching.

Users will no longer need to weed through the uninteresting posts to find something appealing to their own personal tastes. Everything of interest will be there from the moment a user logs on.

The update could have positive and negative implications for marketers, as well. For one, marketers can rest easy knowing that information pertaining to their products or services is only being viewed by those who actually care about it and are interested in it. In short, marketers will be able to target their specific client base.

Here’s the caveat: marketers could be losing out on potential customers. There will be some people who will never hear about your product or service, people that might have turned into customers if only they saw your post.

If you want Facebook users to see your post, we suggest creating an enticing and eye-catching headline complete with rich content. This will not only get users to click on your post, but also continue reading. It’s easy to get clicks, not so easy to get people to keep reading.

That’s why at McKenzie Worldwide we work hard to develop content for our clients that is interesting to readers and compelling enough to promote brand engagement.

Bottom line, the longer people read your Facebook posts, the more news from you they will see.

Jessica Bettendorf

Author: Jessica Bettendorf