Breaking News: How To Avoid Facebook’s New Feed Spam Trap

By Jim Gilbert

Changes have been rolling out on the top social media networks: Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter. For Linkedin and Twitter, these changes are beneficial; for Facebook, they will help in the long run, but for many marketers it will be an adjustment.

As I write this, Facebook is changing its business pages to look and feel more like our personal news feeds. As part of this change, Facebook Pages is tweaking its feed algorithm.

Here are three ways to get in trouble with your Facebook business posts. Make sure all admins in your organization are aware of these ASAP:

1. Facebook feed spam: In an effort to create more relevance within its network, Facebook is changing its EdgeRank algorithm for business pages to downplay some types of posts.

Posts with "spammy links" (e.g., a link to a squeeze or sign-up page, a link to a page with little or no content, a link that has nothing to do with the posted content) will not get many eyeballs from fans.

2. Repeat postings also come under fire: We all have content we love to share over and again. Now Facebook will ding you on views if you post your favorites too often. Be careful with repeat content and, more importantly, keep finding (either curating or creating original content) information that's relevant to your target audience. Sounds a lot like direct marketing 101, right?

3. Viewers don't like "like bait." Posts with "Share This," "Like" or "Please Comment" will be downplayed by Facebook. Through research, Facebook found that while these kinds of posts get more eyeballs, they tend to be less relevant than other content.

Want more details? This article I found from Facebook goes deeper into its changes.

In the second part of this series, I'll go over Twitter's new profile page change (love it). And in part three, I'll examine how the new Linkedin publishing platform (also love it) will be a game changer for content publishing and thought leadership.

Your comments, ideas, criticisms, etc. are always accepted. Go ahead, I dare you to comment below …

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Jim Gilbert Author's page Jim Gilbert has been creating direct marketing programs that drive superior ROI for almost 30 years. Fluent in consumer or B-to-B, creative, operations, and analytics, he marries the strategic and tactical sides of direct and social media marketing in a seamless fashion that gets results. He's CEO of a multidiscipline direct marketing agency, Gilbert Direct Marketing, Inc., which focuses on direct mail, catalogs, DRTV, telemarketing, print, alternative direct marketing media and social media marketing. Jim has been involved in start-ups, expansions and turnarounds, and is an expert in helping multichannel marketers get to the "next level." He's a former adjunct professor, teaching direct marketing at Miami International University, and is President of the Board of Directors of the Florida Direct Marketing Association. Jim loves to talk direct marketing, and has done many lectures on direct and social media marketing.

How to Avoid Facebook’s New Feed Spam Trap