EdgeRank recently released preliminary data on Facebook’s redesigned newsfeed showing that overall fan page impressions dropped but engagement increased. The new data shows that companies on Facebook need to adjust and reformulate their social media strategies for the new hybrid feed.
The Impact of the “Hybrid” Newsfeed
Facebook’s most visible change has been the hybrid feed which creates a new ranking system for displaying content, as well as combining the previous “top stories” and “most recent” feeds. As with any Facebook change, business owners were concerned with how the new feed would influence the visibility of their content and preliminary data indicates their concerns were justified as content impressions dropped 25.15 percent in the two weeks since the hybrid feed went live.
However the data shows that engagement with content increased indicating that the new system of prioritization improves visibility after initial individual engagement (liking, reposting, etc.) and thus ranks it better improving visibility. On the flip side, poor performing content will fall to the bottom as more popular and recent content rises to the top
Developing more engaging and shareable content
- Create relationships with consumers by giving incentives for their interactions.
- Ask open ended, easy to answer questions
- Focus on posting when users are most active
- Avoid posting mundane / filler updates