What the new Facebook news feed means for content creators

Updates to the Facebook news feed algorithm mean quality content is more important than ever

At first glance, Mark Zuckerberg’s latest Facebook post looks like a death blow for brands.

Social Media Examiner CEO Michael Stelzner described as the “end of days” for publishers and marketers on Facebook.

But we at The Content Lab are glass-half-full types and, instead, see the announcement as an opportunity for businesses, brands, and marketers to focus on creating meaningful content.

You know, the stuff that Facebook users actually want to engage and interact with – organically.

Not the stuff that’s shoved down their throats.

Wait, so how’s the news feed changing?

Zuckerberg announced that Facebook is changing its news feed algorithm to show users more content from friends and family.

Which sounds nice.

But in the same breath, Zuckerberg says that users will be shown less posts from businesses, brands, and media.

He says it’s all about helping users “stay connected and bring us closer together with the people that matter to us”.

The move is based on research that suggests that making meaningful connections with people we care about on Facebook improves our well-being, while passively consuming endless content makes us feel worse.

Zuckerberg says content from brands and media companies has been “crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other”.

So, it seems, Facebook is going to put a stop to that, making it harder for brands to connect with people.

As if achieving organic reach and engagement on Facebook wasn’t hard enough, right?

Right.

How does the new algorithm work?

Zuckerberg doesn’t give much away.

He says:

“I’m changing the goal I give our product teams from focusing on helping you find relevant content to helping you have more meaningful social interactions.

We started making changes in this direction last year, but it will take months for this new focus to make its way through all our products. The first changes you’ll see will be in News Feed, where you can expect to see more from your friends, family and groups.”

It seems the algorithm will prioritise posts from family and friends that stimulate meaningful interactions.

This might mean that you see more photos of your friend’s new baby.

But hopefully it means that you’ll take part in more meaningful, fulfilling interactions. You know, the kind we used to have in real life before Facebook took over our lives.

Facebook should start to resemble a town square – a place where we interact with those close to us and learn information that’s important to us – rather than a stampede of strangers vying for our attention.

What do the changes mean for brands?

It means that reaching your audience on Facebook is about to get a whole lot harder.

Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute, has been warning of this for years.

He said brands shouldn’t build their core audience on “rented land” – social media sites like Facebook.

Instead, brands should be investing in their own websites, blogs, or content platforms.

Because you never know when the landowner is going to hike the rent, or ask you to move out because it’s getting too crowded.

This is effectively what’s happening. Facebook is kicking brands out so there’s more room for friends and family.

So how can brands become a part of this more intimate, family-friendly version of Facebook?

You’ll no longer be able to barge through the front door unannounced. You’ll have to be welcomed in with open arms.

Why the new Facebook news feed is an opportunity for brands

Zuckerberg’s announcement contained a few hints as to how brands can still achieve cut through on Facebook.

“As we roll this out, you’ll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media. And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard — it should encourage meaningful interactions between people.

For example, there are many tight-knit communities around TV shows and sports teams. We’ve seen people interact way more around live videos than regular ones. Some news helps start conversations on important issues. But too often today, watching video, reading news or getting a page update is just a passive experience.”

1. Create meaningful content

The key word in this announcement is “meaningful”. There’s a reason why The Content Lab’s mission is to “make real connections in a digital world”.

It’s because so much of what’s pumped out on Facebook is meaningless. It doesn’t contribute to people’s wellbeing.

Zuckerberg seems to say that content from businesses, brands and media will be more successful if they “encourage meaningful interactions”.

This is a massive opportunity for brands.

Content that encourages meaningful interactions between people is going to be more important than ever.

Posts that generate conversations between people will show higher in the news feed.

Whereas, content that people consume passively and mindlessly is more likely to sink to the bottom of the heap.

“Using “engagement-bait” to goad people into commenting on posts is not a meaningful interaction, and we will continue to demote these posts in News Feed.” – Facebook Head of News Feed, Adam Mosseri

2. Build a tight-knit community

Zuckerberg acknowledges the tight-knit communities around TV shows and sports teams on Facebook.

It seems that these communities are still considered important to people’s wellbeing and won’t be moved to the back of the queue.

People will continue to unite over shared interests and loyalties, so if you can create one of these tight-knit communities you’re going to have more success than those who can’t.

3. Invest in live video

Zuckerberg says that people are interacting “way more” around live videos than regular ones.

The key word here is “interacting”. It seems that Facebook will continue to reward content, branded or not, that people are interacting with.

I’m not sure how Facebook will differentiate between a terrible meme that friends share for a laugh and a live video that encourages meaningful interactions.

But brands that invest in live video – which is inherently more real and personal – are likely to still have a shot under the new Facebook regime.

Conclusion

I think we can all agree that Facebook has become too crowded.

A lot of the content is spam or clickbait that does nothing to better our lives.

Zuckerberg says that the new Facebook news feed is designed to ensure time on the platform is “time well spent”.

If brands are creating content that meets the threshold of “time well spent” I’d like to think at least some of it will be showing up on the news feed.

And if brands aren’t creating content that meets the threshold of “time well spent”, well, they should probably just stop.

Let’s look at this as Facebook demanding a higher standard of content creators, rather than locking us out altogether.

It’s an invitation, and a challenge, to create better content and tell better, more meaningful, stories.