Reeling off a year ripe with controversy surrounding profile privacy, Facebook had a lot to contend with as it entered the new annum and the wheel is still turning today as they try to appease both shareholders and the most important stakeholders – the end users. And no, we’re not going to rehash the significant changes to business page advertising that occurred in January. You can review those updates here. Instead, there are enough stories taking place here in the late spring season that will ask your business to do things differently for the rest of the fiscal year and beyond. Let’s review.
Four Spring of 2019 Updates Your Facebook Page Manager Needs to Know About
Facebook Video Ranking Update
In the first week of May Facebook Newsroom announced a series of updates to their video ranking algorithm. The updated algorithm will now consider three ranking factors, including i) loyalty and intent, ii) video and viewing durations and iii) originality. The latter two are fairly self explanatory, but the first ranking signal may require some clarification. Essentially, “loyalty and intent” refers to the fact that Facebook will apply more weight to videos that users and followers seek out and return to week after week. Video duration and originality will clearly impact that. Long story short, if you expect the videos you post on your brand page to perform, you will need to get that trifecta in order or the videos and the resources used to create them will get lost in the algorithm shuffle.
Facebook Messenger Updates Promote Better Business Communications
At the end of April, important updates to Facebook Messenger were announced, with two of them being of benefit to your business.
For one, businesses can now enjoy a desktop version of Messenger, which will allow Page managers a greater opportunity to respond to questions posed by users, followers, and prospective customers (who must initiate the conversation). This is also a plus for businesses that have a strict policy against bring-your-own-device (BYOD) in the workplace for cybersecurity (or other) reasons. It can also help your Page manager communicate with other Page managers/admins from their cubicle/office.
The other important Messenger update is directly related to Advertisers. Facebook is making it easier for your business to connect with potential customers by adding lead generation templates to Ads Manager, and you can create an ad that drives users to a Q&A campaign in Messenger to learn more about them as potential customers. In addition, the update will make it easier to book an appointment with your business as communications occur through the desktop and mobile app.
Promote Brand/Business Events on New Events Tab Feature
In the same late-April session, Facebook announced the creation of a new Events tab feature that will allow users (your current and potential customers) the opportunity to view up and coming events around them. If your business is holding an event (i.e. grand opening, product launch, pop up shop, etc.) it can help users discover your local businesses, and will also prompt them to coordinate attendance (and spending!) with fellow Facebook friends.
More Transparency Regarding Page Management
News also came down the pipe in April, stating that in an effort to enhance the transparency of business Pages, users and followers visiting Pages will begin to see more insightful information about what’s going on behind the scenes, including the primary country locations of people who manage your business Page. At press, this will only impact larger enterprises and content publishers, as they typically outsource content and social media management overseas. Eventually it may be enacted for small to medium businesses. However, for a local business using a local Page manager, this won’t matter. In fact, it may help. If a customer in Calgary comes to your business Page and sees that it’s primarily managed in Alberta it can only help the whole “support local” mantra that is becoming more prevalent in today’s marketplace. However, if most of your existing Page Roles, including individuals, agencies, and advertisers/marketers are located in an entirely different country – it may negatively influence consumer perception. Some regions of origin are associated with “spammy” business practices, such as India, the Philippines, and Eastern Europe, so if you’re a Canadian business it may be best to keep your Page management team “local”.
Stay tuned for further updates to Facebook, as in their renewed effort to regain user confidence there will certainly be more business Page updates to come in the very near future. Contact us today to discuss how we can help you manage your business Page.
