Facebook is constantly changing.
This means there is always a new update. It’s either the algorithm taking a shift, an update on its interface or some new features popping up.
While all these create a better user experience for Facebook users, they also affect how business owners market on their platform.
These updates are made very frequently, and the effects could be positive or negative, depending on a lot of factors, especially how savvy the user is and how quickly they can adapt to these changes.
Recently, I took a break from Facebook advertising, and when I wanted to launch new ads for one of our new brands, I realized that a lot had changed – and within a short time.
As usual, I had to quickly get used to these new changes.
So, today, I will be sharing some of those updates and how they affect your business.
Let’s get started already!
1. Video ranking factors have been updated
Facebook has released new updates on video rankings.
Videos on Facebook (especially if they are ranking) are a cost-free and effective way of increasing brand awareness and getting people acquainted with your products and services.
When your videos rank, they are featured on News feed, Facebook Watch, and the “More Videos” recommendation. Being at the top of these features gives great exposure to your brand.
There are three factors that determine how your videos rank, and they include:
- How frequently people repeatedly view your post. If people go back to your videos over and over again, your videos will rank.
- How long your video captures your viewers’ attention. Your videos should keep your viewers viewing for at least a minute.
- How original your content is. Unoriginal or repurposed content from other sources with little value can limit the distribution of your video.
If you can successfully create videos with content that abide by these rules, then your chances of ranking will be greatly increased – which means, more people get to see your brand and become aware of what you do.
2. Facebook uses surveys to make feeds personal
Facebook is known for striving to give users a personalized experience.
In as much as there are business pages and ads, they ensure that people only see what they care about or are interested in.
In that light, they introduced surveys that will help them predict what people find worthwhile and they show them on their news feed.
With the information gotten from the surveys, combined with other factors like the type of post, who it’s from and the engagement it has received, they can determine if a link is valuable to a user or not.
This brings us back to the need to always give your customers valuable content.
If your customers find your posts valuable and interesting, it is easier for your page to get to the top of their news feed.
This means that they can easily see posts from your page, stay connected to your activities and get better acquainted with your brand.
3. Comments on public posts are ranked
Facebook ranks comments on public posts from people or pages with large number of followers.
If your business page has a lot of followers, this feature is automatically turned on for you.
This way, whenever you make a post, comments that are most relevant to your brand or content are ranked higher and get to be seen first.
This boosts engagement with your customers, and helps you get relevant feedback from them.
Facebook has been using surveys to help them understand the type of comments pages want to see, so they can rank them higher.
They also put into consideration whether people like, react to or reply to a comment. You can moderate the comments on your posts by deleting, hiding or engaging with them.
This is great for brands, especially if you have numerous comments. You get to see the most relevant ones first and engage with them as you wish.
4. Any exaggerated or misleading health claims will be demoted
This should be a warning sign for health care brands.
The distribution of your post will be reduced if:
- Your post about health is exaggerated or misleading.
- Your post promotes a product or service based on a health-related claim.
If your page stops posting these contents, your post will no longer be affected by this. You have to be really careful what health claims you make.
Anyone advertising on Facebook most likely already knows this. What you might not know is that it affects even your organic posts too.
While posts in this category get disapproved in ads, they get demoted in organic posts. You automatically get reduced distribution.
To read more about this update, click here.
5. Mobile ad formatting has been updated
Facebook released an update on the format of their Facebook ads – not just only the ads, but page posts also.
There are now fewer lines of the primary text shown on Facebook News Feed on mobile. Only three lines will be shown, and people will be asked to click on the “see more” button to see the rest.
The maximum height for images without links and videos has been reduced to 4:5 on Facebook mobile feed.
When creating your ads, put these in mind.
Make sure that the essence of your message is captured in the first three lines. Make these lines compelling and captivating, so people will be interested to see more of what you have for them.
6. You can now create collection ads
Gone are the days when you can post only one picture or video per ad. Now, you can create a collection.
You choose an image or video to feature in your ad, and then more images of your product to it. So, when users click on the ad, the full collection expands.
This is basically like a catalog and an opportunity to display more of your products in your ads and give customers more options to pick from.
Now, you can get more products out there at a lesser cost.
7. Facebook will be changing how they calculate impressions
Facebook is making some changes on how they calculate reach and impressions.
They will be changing the way they filter repeat organic page impressions. They will be updating the time frame in which they filter out repeat impressions from one person.
You might see fewer organic impressions on your posts, but it will not affect the distribution of your posts.
So, when you notice this, there is nothing to be worried about. This is just Facebook changing its algorithm, again. (And it’s a feature that already existed with ads.)
8. Post topic tags have been introduced to groups
Groups are one of the platform’s popular features.
If you have a group related to your brand, then things have been made easier for you.
Now you can categorize the different types of post you have, which makes them easier to find.
So, if you are a skincare brand, you can create topic tags like products, skincare tips, DIY, etc.
This way, when people want to find specific content from your brand, they can quickly find those most valuable to them.
Not only are you building relationships with your audience, leveraging these groups for marketing purposes become easier with tags.
9. New features have been added to stories
This is one of the fun changes Facebook has made.
Now you can collaborate with other people and brands, even on Facebook.
This is how it works: Multiple accounts you select can share their own images or videos to your story.
Your followers can even follow them from your story.
This is another way to make your stories more engaging and to increase brand awareness.
You can collaborate with influencers and brands, and let them give you access to post on their stories directly. That will be great exposure for your brand.
You can also create a clickable call-to-action that asks users to share their photos or videos. This is a great way to source for user-generated content, and his helps to build relationships with your audience and make them feel like they are a part of the brand.
Bottom line
Facebook constantly releases updates for better user experience.
You have to be on top of these updates, to know which of them affects your business and how to leverage them to fulfill your goals.
If there are any recent updates I didn’t include, please share it in the comments. I would love to hear from you.
