Business experts give views on Facebook revamp

Graeme Parton +

Facebook’s recently announced redesign of its News Feed has led some business owners to ponder how their social media marketing campaigns could be affected by the changes.

Reflecting the 50% of its content that it generates, Facebook is to increase the size and prominence of videos images posted on its News Feed, which should give less emphasis to the ads on the right-hand side of the page. This will standardise its look by bringing the desktop version in line with the feel of its mobile app.

Perhaps most crucially of all to those using the site to advertise, users will be able to weed out unwanted content from their feeds through the new option of filtering by category. With a specific ‘friends only’ tab as one of the options, users who choose this option are likely to bypass all brand updates.

Seth Simonds, of marketing group the Interpublic Group of Companies, believes this could be the beginning of the end for Edgerank (the algorithm used by Facebook to determine how content is featured) as it will be rendered redundant as users’ own customisation comes to the forefront. Facebook, however, has denied that Edgerank will be changed.

The co-founder of the American performance media group Acquisio, Marc Poirier, sees things more positively. He says:

“Brands don’t want to advertise with these tiny text ads and little images.

“All of the brand money is currently sitting on the sidelines. I believe Facebook is preparing itself for richer and larger ad formats, both in video and pictures.”

To ensure that the attention of Facebook users is maximised, companies using Facebook for marketing should consider the importance of using images, video press releases and infographics. With Facebook known – and in some cases criticised – for the regularity of its changes, businesses who keep a keen eye on its developments are sure to be the ones who reap the greatest benefits from using it as an advertising medium.