See a change in your News Feed? Starting this year, Facebook tightened its rules regarding promotional posts after an “on-going survey” with users reporting that they “wanted to see more stories from friends and Pages they care about, and less promotional posts.”
As a result of the survey and further research, Facebook found that much of the content that users considered “too promotional” on their News Feed came from Page posts and not actual advertisements, according to a release posted by the company. Supporting this idea, Facebook’s “News Feed has controls for the number of ads a person sees and for the quality of those ads (based on engagements, hiding ads, etc.), but those same controls haven’t been as closely monitored for promotional Page posts.”
In other words, some Pages are using their posts as free advertising while spamming the News Feeds of the users who follow them.
As such, Facebook is providing updated volume and content controls for users so that they get more of what they want from Pages.
Surveyed users found the following traits common among promotional posts:
“1. Posts that solely push people to buy a product or install an app
2. Posts that push people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real context
3. Posts that reuse the exact same content from ads”
According to the release, “by making News Feed more engaging for people — with Page post creative that is more relevant to them — [Facebook is] also creating a better platform for businesses to reach their customers and find new ones.”
Facebook claims that users will see these changes beginning in January 2015. Ultimately, due to these changes, Pages that publish promotional creative will see their organic distribution significantly decrease.
But, this doesn’t mean get rid of your Page. Pages still play a large role in a business’ Facebook strategy by offering companies free online presence and by providing a central hub for current and potential customers. However, this does mean businesses who use posts as free advertising will have to go back to the traditional advertising routes…or, get more creative.
Source:
Facebook
