Fake news. Political influence. Hateful messaging. Facebook has been in a negative spotlight for many topics that have changed the overall experience of the social network. It’s not surprising that Facebook has decided to change its algorithm to emphasize more meaningful interactions. After all, that has always been a main purpose of the platform.

Signals that affect the News Feed rankings

Brands and publishers will most likely start to see a significant decrease in organic reach. Facebook will be prioritizing “active” interactions, such as commenting, sharing and reacting to posts.

Comments are going to be a top ranking factor, but it is important to understand that “engagement bait” tactics will actually result in a lower ranking. Avoid using copy such as “Comment YES if you like pizza.” While I’m sure a lot of people would interact with a pizza post, it’s not going to be considered a meaningful interaction if you are telling people how to engage.

Sharing is also going to be a main signal within the new algorithm. Sharing includes both privately sharing a post within Messenger and sharing to the News Feed. If a post is shared by someone, Facebook will also be measuring how friends are engaging with the shared post.
Lastly, we know that Facebook is going to evaluate how people are reacting to posts. If people aren’t sharing or commenting on a post, then reactions will still hold value for how many people the post will reach.

With the diminishing reach of organic content, there will be more competition for ad space within the News Feed. It’s even more important now to make sure that you are getting in front of the right audience to ensure that ad dollars are spent efficiently. This means that ad prices might increase if you are not continuously optimizing your Facebook ads for relevancy and quality. Test different messaging, dig deeper into your audience data, add new placements outside of News Feed to see how you can continue to lower costs.
While nobody knows exactly what the impact of the algorithm change will be, marketers need to focus more on creating personal connections through content instead of just getting the passive attention of their audience on Facebook. In the long run, Facebook’s algorithm change is going to create a better user experience. Now, it’s our turn to develop more meaningful content and drive engagement.