With the new change to Facebook’s layout, the updates from your Facebook business page may be getting lost in the news ticker. Where once the Most Recent view on your Facebook newsfeed would give a chronological listing of every action and every update from all of your friends plus the business pages you like, now that option is gone. Your business page may have just become invisible!
Facebook’s new layout uses the Edgerank algorithm to determine the top stories like it always has, but now the recent stories are being filtered as well. As a result many business page updates are only visible in the fire hose of the news ticker. Unless the business page update generates likes, comments or shares, it’s not going to have what it takes to escape the ticker and make the main news feed.
Does this mean Facebook business pages are no longer relevant? Given the way many businesses treat their business page updates, the answer would be yes. Posting information that does not encourage interaction is going to be lost. Creating a post just to be seen will no longer work. Unless someone is watching the news ticker when a post is made, like Twitter, the update will flow out of sight quickly.
To escape the confines of the ticker, the business page must become truly social. Businesses should focus on experiences rather than sales messages. Where once it was only possible to “like” something in a post, now any action verb can be used. Now it’s possible to “try” a product or service, “read” a book or an article, “watch” a video or any other action. By integrating action into status updates, they become more shareable and interactive.
As Facebook continues to evolve into the social destination of the web, more and more emphasis is being placed on applications and advertising. Apps will become the interactive link between business pages and the news feed of those following them.
Will Facebook become like Google where the ability for a small local business to compete will be so complex or costly that it’s no longer effective? While that remains to be seen it is most definitely a case for diversifying marketing efforts rather than solely concentrating on Facebook.
What are your thoughts?
Gary Wagnon is the Sensei of the Ninja Marketing Dojo, a comprehensive online marketing course designed to relieve the frustration business owners and manager face when trying to understand online marketing. Using a martial arts model, students will build on foundational principals, mastering each level before advancing.