What the Facebook news feed update means for content marketing

Keeping up with the continual updates to Facebook can be a full time job. The latest change, announced last week, will significantly affect the way in which fans engage with brands and their content on the network. In case you missed last week’s news feed update, here is a breakdown of what the changes are and how they will impact on content marketing strategies.

 

What’s the latest Facebook update?

Last week, Mark Zuckerberg announced some major changes to the news feed, largely focused on design and functionality. Perhaps the most important revelation came in the opening moments of his announcement, when Zuckerberg said that almost 50% of News Feed content today is comprised of photos and visual content. In response, Facebook has overhauled the design of the feed to be far more visually focused.

 

Change 1: ‘Rich Stories’ – photos and images take centre stage

 

The focus is on “bright beautiful” stories, with the redesign ensuring that photos and visual content are displayed prominently. The updated feed highlights the content being most shared on Facebook, with larger, more vivid photos now taking centre stage.

 

What it means for content marketers: Now that an entire feed has the potential to be solely comprised of images, it’s imperative to create visually compelling content. This can require a modicum of creativity. Brands more comfortable with text-based posts could think about making jazzy text-based visuals – prioritise design to ensure your messages stand out from the crowd. More »

How to promote a blog

Corporate strategy and plan in place? Check. Relevant, regularly updated content ready to go? Check. Smooth technical functionality? Check. Creating an informative, intelligent and glitch-free blog means nothing, however, if it doesn’t attract readers. Start proactively promoting your business blog following these simple steps, and in time the traffic will flow.

Create sticky headlines

Make sure headlines are compelling and super-shareable with some tried-and-tested formulas, such as this crop published by Copyblogger.

Leverage your blog via social media

Assuming your company already has a solid presence on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media channels, leverage your fans, followers and contacts to help promote your blog posts.

Every time a new post is published, create a tweet with a short link back to the post and link from your Facebook page. You’ll also want to think beyond Facebook and Twitter to other online communities and forums where you can create more exposure for your blog. More »