Marketers are scrambling to figure out the implications of Facebook’s announcement in early January that it will overhaul its news feed.
Updates from friends and family will be prioritized much higher than updates from brands. Facebook will emphasize “meaningful social interactions” over likes and shares.
The announcement may be dramatic, but this has been a long time coming. Organic posts have been losing steam for years and marketers have had to come to terms with the fact that Facebook ultimately has a greater stake in the relationships of the audience that congregates on Facebook, not the brands that have invested so much in building those relationships.
One immediate area to watch is the role of influencer marketing, at a macro, micro, and even nano level.
The role of brands on Facebook have evolved in interesting ways over the years. Here’s a cartoon time lapse of some of the twists and turns.
“Friends, Fans, and Followers” September 2010
“The Antisocial Network” October 2010
Antisocial Media cartoon
“Like Us on Facebook” March 2011
“Our Facebook Page” May 2012
“5 Types of Social Media Strategies” August 2012
“Facebook Retargeting” July 2013
“Crash our News Feed” May 2014
“7 Deadly Sins of Social Media Marketing” September 2014
Ashley C says
I say, throw the money which was used on Facebook & invest it back into product/service development, to deliver real, meaningful experiences & relationships with the consumer. Nothing influences more than a product/service really worth talking about.
Ted L Simon says
Here, here! Great point Ashley.
Ted L Simon says
This move by Facebook to address “over-commercialization” and the “hijacking” of news feeds by “bad actors”strikes me, on the surface, as Facebook returning to its roots as an enabler for community connections among individuals who inhabit the platform. On the surface, that seems fine to me and brands (and those who manage them) will need to adapt, as they always have. Of course, that’s an outside and surface level view; there’s significant $$ involved. It will be interesting to see what Facebook’s full plan is as it rolls out.