Importance: [rating=3]
Recommended link: Facebook 7th March announcement
At Smart Insights we aim to only cover the major updates to Facebook that are likely to have a big impact on marketers using Facebook. It’s now around around a year since we covered the marketing implications of the new Timeline - still worth checking to see whether you are using all of the 9 features we cover to the maximum.
We weren’t expecting this update to be as significant since it doesn't directly relate to company pages, with rumours suggested it would cover the Newsfeed, so would have an impact on advertising and visibility of updates from company pages.
As always Facebook’s design team faced a delicate balance between increasing average ad revenue per user against improvement to usability and experience. One of the main aims was to make the experience more effective and consistent across devices as the example shows.
Facebook also sought to improve the visual impact of updates:
“We’ve completely rebuilt each story to be much more vibrant and colorful and highlight the content that your friends are sharing. Photos, news articles, maps and events all look brighter and more beautiful”.
In the announcement, no mention is made of ads or how ad visibility will be affected, so this is "one to watch" as it rolls out. So currently it seems this is mainly a user experience enhancement and won't have affect companies using Facebook greatly.
As with many releases, it will be rolled out gradually and isn't yet generally available to all users. If you need to see more examples and get an earlier preview join the waiting list here.
By Dave Chaffey
Digital strategist Dr Dave Chaffey is co-founder and Content Director of online marketing training platform and publisher Smart Insights. 'Dr Dave' is known for his strategic, but practical, data-driven advice. He has trained and consulted with many business of all sizes in most sectors. These include large international B2B and B2C brands including 3M, BP, Barclaycard, Dell, Confused.com, HSBC, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, M&G Investment, Rentokil Initial, O2, Royal Canin (Mars Group) plus many smaller businesses. Dave is editor of the templates, guides and courses in our digital marketing resource library used by our Business members to plan, manage and optimize their marketing. Free members can access our free sample templates here. Dave is also keynote speaker, trainer and consultant who is author of 5 bestselling books on digital marketing including Digital Marketing Excellence and Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. In 2004 he was recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as one of 50 marketing ‘gurus’ worldwide who have helped shape the future of marketing. My personal site, DaveChaffey.com, lists my latest Digital marketing and E-commerce books and support materials including a digital marketing glossary. Please connect on LinkedIn to receive updates or ask me a question.
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