Saturday, November 08, 2014

Facebook Puts Additional Limits on Branded NewsFeed Posts

AdAge recently reported that Facebook has announced additional user controls on Brand's posting activities. According to Facebook, users will now have a greater ability to adjust their newsfeed content based on the quantity of posts they receive from certain brands. These measures are in line with Facebook's continuous intervention between brands and their followers.

When justifying their actions, Facebook explained that users should have the ability to control how much of a brand's messaging they see and avoid being inundated with content without having to stop following a brand entirely. From the earliest days of brand pages, Facebook has had to walk a fine line between being friendly to advertisers that keep them in business without alienating the same users that brands pay millions of dollars to Facebook to connect to.

These adjustments have some serious implications for brands. Merely having a large number of likes will by no means ensure consumer engagement. While content quality has always been a factor, brands will be forced now more than ever to create compelling content that is relevant to consumers to avoid the dreaded mute button. In many ways, Facebook is both the TV network and cable company, at the same time serving advertising while also giving viewers a DVR to fast forward through the ads that aren't compelling.

These actions inevitably also mean more money for Facebook. Not only can Facebook expect an increase in paid media as brands pony up to achieve the desired impression count, they can also expect advertisers to collaborate more with Facebook's in-house creative agency to create content that is native to the platform and will be consumed willingly by Facebook users. Given how much data Facebook has on its users' behavior, they have a huge advantage in anticipating which content will be engaged with and what won't. There is no reason for them to give that information out for free.

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