By João Pedro Andrade
On the second week of 2018, Facebook announced a new policy for its users newsfeeds. From that day on, and in the name of better social interaction, the social network returned to its origins, prioritizing content from users’ families and friends above content from brands and products.
The measure costed Mark Zuckerberg around US$3 million worth of shares and brings new challenges for the companies that use the platform as a marketing tool. With less space on the timelines, public relations professionals, media relations consultants and marketeers will have to make new social media plans – more creative and efficient to be able to capture its audiences and reach new clients.
It is important to remember that one of the reasons for the change was the use of Facebook for the spreading of click-baits and fake news during 2017. For this reason, in this new strategy, marketing actions who transmit truthful information or that don’t exaggerate the efficiency of its products should, consequently, get more space.
Since zuckerberg’s network is a platform for people connecting with people, strategies which motivate the public to interact between themselves can also be good options. Since organic search for brands on Facebook is basically nonexistent, now more than ever it will be necessary for brands to study and understand the actual profiles of their customers and their needs to be able to serve them better.
Lastly, the change can also be viewed as an opportunity. Brands, agencies and professionals who develop campaigns and marketing actions that connect users with its contacts on a more profound level – beyond the brand that they represent – might have found the Holy Grail of this new Zuckerberg era.