In this 2015 issue of our Facebook Updates for Marketers, we’ll focus on the latest changes to this most popular of social platforms that will definitely create a big impact on your social media marketing campaigns for this year and beyond. Thanks to Jomer Gregorio for sharing this article.

Facebook is continuously evolving and there has been a lot of recent changes that will affect digital marketers using this platform. For one thing, Facebook has rolled out a stricter anti-spam policy, deleting posts or banning users who are openly asking for likes. It’s okay to use Facebook for marketing, but overdoing it or using it the wrong way – that’s another thing.

These and other changes to this social media platform did not quell the influx of loyal Facebook users, accounting for 76.22% of the total social media market share making it the most potent social media marketing tool – still. It’s high time you familiarize yourself for these changes at Facebook, so you can get ready and prepare your social media marketing plan – and your business – this 2015.

Facebook News Feed

Probably the most talked about changes to Facebook this year is on the way News Feed is delivered to targeted audiences. Through its official blog site, Facebook announced that it has given way to users’ demand for less promotion content in their News Feeds. Changes center around the reduction of overly promotional posts in the News Feed which Facebook described as:

• Posts whose sole intent is to sell/promote a product or an app
• Posts urging people to enter sweepstakes and promos that are out of context with the page’s content
• Posts that basically have content extracted from ads

Such changes definitely sent ripples across the business community heavily using Facebook Pages to connect with targeted audiences. Businesses who are currently promoting such content through their pages would expect a considerable reduction in organic reach, affecting their overall social media marketing campaigns.

With changes like these, it may appear like businesses have no recourse left but to promote their products and/or services through Facebook for Business – via the Facebook advertising route. There are however several ways that you can maximize the effectiveness of your Facebook presence despite these changes, and you can start with the following:

• Post only according to Facebook’s specified guidelines

If Facebook says something, you better listen. They own the social network after all and you have no recourse but to follow what they say or suggest, just like what they did when they shared their page posting tips and best practices. You can actually get good insights from this guide, helping you maximize the organic reach of your posts and pages. Guidelines include:

• Consistent posting

Posting on a consistent and regular basis, particularly with relevant content, is key to success in content marketing – and therefore social media marketing through Facebook. It would be a good practice to maintain a content calendar and a posting plan

• Post to targeted audiences

Post Targeting is a great option Facebook offers, allowing you certain targeting options for your posts. This will give you better chances of reaching your targeted audiences if you specify certain demographic info like age, gender, location and interests

• Use a good combination of words and pictures

What Facebook recommend when posting content is to make use of short and highly descriptive phrases only, enhances with high-quality images that will attract the attention of targeted users. Avoid hard selling keywords as these will only turn off your audience

• Use Facebook Pages to Connect and Not to Promote

Facebook describes Pages as an “easy-to-maintain online presence for people to discover and learn about a business”. What Facebook is saying here is that Facebook Pages was put up not solely as a promotional tool, but primarily as a customer service channel where brands and businesses can connect with their targeted audiences in social and more personal manner. As much as a third of Facebook users see the social media platform as a customer service channel where they can connect with brands – so use this to your advantage

Facebook Topic Data

As a digital marketer, what would you do if you gain insight as to what your targeted audiences at Facebook are saying about activities, brands, events and subjects? A lot and that’s what Facebook is offering digital marketers when they launched a new insights product called the “Topic Data”. The product is currently available only in the US and UK but will soon be available elsewhere, courtesy of DataSift, a global leader in brand analytics.

This kind of analysis was made available to Twitter a couple of years back. This resulted in a digital marketing spree that allowed analytics providers to help digital marketers take advantage of the insights they can gain from these analytics. But unlike Twitter, data and information at Facebook is mostly private, that’s why the social platform was slow in offering this functionality to marketers.

But with Topic Data, the data collected would be aggregated and generated from anonymous sources so identities and other personal information are kept private. What this means is that digital marketers can have an efficient tool that can help them streamline their content and their Facebook ads closer to the pulse of their targeted audiences.

Facebook Relevance Score

When your Facebook ads are rolled out throughout the vast confines of this social platform, Facebook rely on relevance scoring on top of the bid price to determine what particular ads are shown in a particular user’s feeds. In a bid to help marketers improve on the quality of their ads, Facebook will make Relevance Score information available to digital marketers.

Why Facebook did this? It’s a Win-Win-Win situation for all according to Facebook, benefiting both marketers and audiences. For marketers, their ads will be of higher quality, generating better results and of course better revenues. On the other hand, audiences will be exposed to better ads that are relevant to what they need – thus a good and fruitful connection between brands and audience ensures. According to Facebook, conversion rates from improved ads due to Relevance Score can increase by as much as 20%.

Facebook Mobile Ads

Mobile marketing is hot – that’s what we’re saying here at Digital Marketing Philippines. So, it’s but logical that mobile create a similar impact at Facebook or any social media channel for that matter. Facebook is definitely cashing in with this trend, with as much as 69% of its fourth-quarter ad revenue generated by mobile ads. This is a big improvement from 2012, where Facebook had a mobile ad monetization problem – a fact they openly acknowledged.

With up to 745 million daily mobile users increasing by as much as 34% year-over-year, businesses could not afford to take the power of Facebook mobile advertising lightly if they really want to gain substantial revenues from their social media marketing campaigns. With experts like eMarketer projecting even higher revenues for Facebook mobile ads in the coming year, with the potential of hitting $13.64 billion or 75% of its total revenue by the year 2017, businesses should really consider pursuing mobile advertising. With new apps like the recently launched Facebook Ads Manager, mobile advertising would be easier and more convenient for marketers.

Facebook Shopping Search Engine

Just when you think it won’t get any better, Facebook threw in a shopping search engine in the list of tools digital marketers can add to their arsenal. With their acquisition of e-commerce company TheFind, Facebook ads will provide a better experience for online shoppers within the social platform to get good and relevant information about products and services they want. Facebook has had problems with their e-commerce efforts in the past, but it seems the addition of TheFind will finally put this issue to rest.

Facebook and Slow Internet

Problem with your slow Internet connection? Facebook don’t mind and is actually really excited about it. Wipe that confused look on your faces by learning about the initiative Facebook is undertaking in making the social media user experience better for users in developing countries with relatively slow internet connection.

They call this the Facebook Creative Accelerator which is geared towards helping marketers design mobile ads that would work well with slow internet connection. In developing countries with slow internet connection, many rely on mobile networks to get online. With this tool, brands can get connected with these mobile users through speed-appropriate advertising.

It’s an exciting online world with the presence and availability of great social media platforms like Facebook, connecting people and connecting brands with people. This social network is constantly evolving and each year new changes are introduced that are geared to make the services better. Digital marketers should likewise gear up and get up to date with these changes – and Internet Secrets Made Easy is your partner in helping you trek through this digital path.