By now, you’ve probably heard about the overhaul of Facebook’s design. You may even be on the waiting list to try it out. Facebook has undergone major redesigns in the past, but this new wave of change signals a significantly different direction for the social media platform that could change the way users interact with it from here on out. Are you and your business ready for the changes headed your way?
As you may already know, a carefully crafted algorithm determines what’s more likely to pop up on a user’s feed. The more often users interact with you through Facebook, the more likely they are to see your content prominently featured in their feed. While the way that developing stories are prioritized in users’ feeds isn’t fundamentally changing, other updates could have an impact on your visibility.
The biggest and most obvious change is that images will be displayed in a much larger format. The new design is also consistent across various devices, which makes sense, since so many users are logging into Facebook from smartphones and tablets now. The move could be a shrewd attempt to recapture some of the younger demographic that has flocked to image-driven platforms like Instagram and Tumblr.
While ads have been a part of Facebook for quite some time now, you’ll now have to compete with ‘super ads.’ They’ll be flashier, take up more space and have the potential to dominate attention if your own content is not up to snuff.
The new Facebook has been described as a personal newspaper, customized for users’ personal tastes, so make sure that what you are putting out there is engaging, visually striking and valuable to your audience. The quality of content you create is paramount to gaining and retaining attention.
With such an emphasis on images, the new Facebook is more visually driven than ever. You want to ensure that images hold up in terms of quality, since they’ll be much larger. Rich media like video will also be prioritized, so it’s good to ensure variety and stay away from content that is solely text-based. Your cover photo will also act as your virtual calling card every time your business is “liked,” so it’s important for it to be memorable and truly representative of your brand’s identity.
Great interaction with customers will remain an extremely important aspect of using Facebook succesfully. It’s more important than ever to connect with your loyal followers, since their interactions with you will spill over into their own friends’ newsfeeds. The more you are engaged with people, the bigger role you’ll play in their newsfeeds, so make sure you have the tools, time and manpower to answer questions and reach out to active users as much as you can.
As always, having a dedicated team developing and staying on top of your social media plan is crucial, especially when platforms change their look and function. You can trust us to stay on top of things and keep you one step ahead of new shifts so you don’t get left behind!
