FaceBook changes the rules, again. To which I say “good!”

Any posts generated by a brand that appear to look too much like an advertisement will now have their reach restricted by Facebook (Peterson, 2014). The company announced this change last week, but it has not created any panic among marketers (Peterson, 2014). This makes me wonder if they saw this coming. It seems that many of them did. Maybe. I am sure that many marketers understand that the type of posts needed to engage and connect with consumers on social media cannot look like a magazine advertisement or a “buy this!” advertisement. Vaynerchuk (2013) uses his book to explain to the reader that the way to successfully use social media is to understand each individual platform, create content that starts a conversation, and understand the audience.

This seems like easy advice, right? Then why do so many posts still looks like an ad? I am sure that many of us have subscribed to the page of a favored brand only to find that instead of interesting stories or posts with relevant news, we find our newsfeed cluttered with posts telling us to “BUY! BUY! BUY!” When I see these posts I ask myself “Why? Why? Why?” While five years ago the idea of social media marketing may not have been a hot topic, this is definitely not the case today.

Chris Bennett (2014) states that having a social media presence is a “checkbox item” (para. 1) for any company. There, right there is the problem. Companies are looking to check the box that they have a social media account and then use the same advertising content from emails and magazines to fill the void. So the new rules imposed by Facebook are right on track. Many marketers may not have made much noise as they have not realized what this means. It would be interesting to see what grumblings occur a few months from now when the reach numbers are analyzed and compared to previous months.

It is probably safe to believe that the companies spending the money to create a social media strategy, upwards of $100,000, are the one’s who are trying to learn the right way to create an engaging conversation versus a bland advertisement mill (Bennett, 2014). At least I hope they are. The issue is that the companies are not taking the time to comb through the data they receive from social media. Data that Bennett (2014) says holds the key to creating engagement. It always seems to come down to time, which is why many companies have started to employ a social media specialist as part of the brand management team. This person’s job is to upkeep the many social media platforms for the company, look for ways to engage in conversations, and draw in more followers. With this becoming the norm, along with the new rules from FaceBook, I imagine that the amount of money allocated towards social media will increase as will the importance placed on doing it right.

References
Bennett, C. (2014, November 19). Social Media’s Role Will Soon Shift From Driving Awareness to Creating Revenue. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239764

Peterson, T. (2014, November 19). Advertisers shake off FaceBook’s latest reach cut. AdAge. Retrieved from http://adage.com/article/digital/advertisers-shake-facebook-s-latest-reach-cuts/295913/

Vaynerchuk, G. (2013). Jab, jab, jab, right hook: How to tell your story in a noisy social world. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.