How to Get Traffic After Facebook NewsFeed Change

Facebook hasn't really taken responsibility for being a media company. It doesn't want to hire thousands of human editors to clean up how fake news and false information spreads on its network. So it's doing something a lot easier, it's changing its algorithm to give more priority to posts from friends, family and your community that promotes human-first comments and engagements.

Facebook doesn't know how to deal with mobile addiction. So it's giving brands, publishers and content producers less of a footprint on its platform.

Organic reach has been dying on Facebook for a very long time, Facebook even did a trial in a few countries where non-promoted pieces from brands and publishers were removed from the feed entirely. This occured in Slovakia, Serbia and Sri Lanka with publications reporting a publications reporting a 60% to 80% fall. Now Facebook is serious, and its mind-bending solution is simply to remove the problem - to take out media from its app.

They've cleverly called this a move for community. It is after all the fake-authenticity era of public relations. But don't worry, Facebook will still force you as a brand or publisher to pay to get views on Instagram and later its WhatsApp for work and the Portal smart screen device.

Facebook is a media company, but it doesn't treat its customers or users like a media company should. So instead of fixing the problem, it's going to ban them and make them obsolete. Because as Scott Galloway likes to point out, Media is collateral damage that would be inconveniently expensive for Facebook. It's easier simply to build new business models, new mobile cash cows that force brands and publishers to pay on its other app empire channels.

It also opens up the possibility that Facebook has such a monopoly that brands will have to pay an arm and a leg just to get an audience in a centralization of the digital media app empire. Facebook as we know it today could erode the social fabric even more, where monetization drives even writing to its grave.

Brands, Publishers and Marketers Need to Pivot Too

Let's just assume that content, media and publishers really are taken out of the equation. So what then?

Reach, traffic and engagement is going to suffer. Brands and publishers will be scrambling for how to make up for the losses. Pages will have to pay even more to even get an audience. SMBs and SMEs will be hurt and likely most impacted.

So what can brands and publishers do until then to get some traffic?

1. Post More Video Content

Video content that curates the top trending innovations in your space with captions in two colours is gaining steam in 2018. Mass produce micro videos, like you once produced blog content. Make no mistake Facebook's New Feed will kill writing and journalism a lot.

2. Leverage LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn is revamping its Groups rolling out in early 2018 with easier access to Groups right from the homepage, with the ability to see the latest content through the homepage feed and notifications. It will also have better conversation tools, including the ability to post videos, @mention the members you want to weigh in, and reply to comments to keep the conversation going. 

3. Leverage Facebook Groups

The Facebook News Feed changes might actually make Facebook groups more relevant as targeted community forums for the best content. Entrepreneurs and brands alike can utilize groups in innovative ways as the way we consume media on Facebook changes in their Newsfeed pivot.

4. Do more Instagram Stories

Smart brands and publishers will also utilize Instagram stories more as teasers for their content and behind the scenes snippets to get good top of the funnel engagement. Instagram has good engagement, but brands need to change the way they do storytelling to appeal to their audience there and optimize it for mobile consumption.

5. Explore Millennial First Channels

Reddit, Medium and blockchain content platforms like Steem. Reddit can drive incredible traffic and engagement on great content, especially if it's optimized to go viral there. The era of GIFs and visual storytelling changes the game in what kind of content goes viral. The Imgur era is replacing Twitter, with tongue-and-cheek content replacing more serious content. Brands need to adapt with these trends to appeal to younger audiences.

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How will your brand, publisher content and marketing strategy likely change due to the Facebook Newsfeed changes?