Remember that time small business owners and brands could use Facebook as a simple (and free) form of advertising?
Those days are quite far gone, and Facebook is taking even more measures to stop brands from marketing via users’ news feeds without paying for the space. Facebook announced last week it is going to put a cap on “promotional Page posts” in the Facebook News Feed beginning in January 2015.
The promo posts are not outright ads but are undoubtedly self-promotional and usually include some type of photo or video that makes it appear less ad-like. As a recently engaged individual, I’m noticing all kinds of these promo posts in my News Feed that were not there before — for wedding stationary, decor and photography, mostly. (I’ll say it — it’s creepy that Facebook knows about my upcoming nuptials). It’s no secret Facebook has changed everything about its presentation and monetization strategies since the beginning, and almost never for the benefit of advertisers or users.
Facebook is essentially changing the game for advertisers, who were originally encouraged to build up their “Like” totals on brand Pages so they could share content without needing to pay for reach. Many brands actually paid Facebook for “Page Like” ads over the years, which exist specifically to build up these very audiences.
Now, Facebook is saying that building up an audience — whether you paid for it or not — doesn’t mean you can share ad-style content for free.
For business owners who are not constantly on top of what Facebook is doing, I can imagine their social media strategizing processes being extremely arduous. Let’s just say I’m glad it’s not me.
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