How Facebooks Updated Newsfeed Affects Business?

Everyone’s talking about the latest Facebook update. About how it will affect our news feed, showing more friends posts and less business content. Some people are even copy-pasting statuses about how to show up more on their friends’ News Feeds, by writing a comment about them.

The general perception is that you will be seeing less marketing, more meaningful content on Facebook. How does this affect businesses? Is it good or bad news? What should businesses do to retain their strong connection with their customers? Let’s take a look.

The update, part of a larger plan of revamping Facebook’s News Feed which, in Mark Zuckerberg’s own words, will “encourage meaningful social interactions with family and friends over passive consumption.” In simple words, Facebook intends to improve the user experience by showing more engaging content. This MAY result in less business content being viewed by users.

While the initial reaction of every business may understandably be wary, it doesn’t necessarily have to mean bad news. Smart businesses will understand what this update stands for, which is being genuine and trustworthy, instead of being insincere and scammy. Thanks to the update, Facebook’s News Feed will display less public content such as irrelevant news and anything that users consider nonsense from brands.

Users will see more trusted news, will have more meaningful interactions and take part in active conversations instead of passive consumption. The update may end up decreasing overall time spent on Facebook, but Zuckerberg believes this is the right way to go. ‘It’s a bid to make our time spent on Facebook, time well spent.’

For a Facebook user, businesses will be taking a back seat, while their friends, family and trusted sources will become more visible. First, this tells businesses to rethink their content. It’s always good to create and put out useful content for users instead of just gimmicks.

Second, this is a good opportunity for businesses to appreciate the power of mobile apps. A lot of businesses spend a fortune on Facebook advertising because it’s “the smart thing to do.” But this Facebook update is part of a bigger picture where you can see the need for a more direct link between businesses and customers.

A well-designed app can be that link, that connection, between you and your customers that isn’t hindered by a third party. This is one of those tech assets that will give you an increasingly sharp competitive edge moving forwards.

If you’re relying too much on a platform that’s controlled by someone other than yourself, in this context Facebook, then you’re always running the risk of getting disconnected, even if partially, from your customers. That’s something you don’t want, ever.

So if you haven’t already, build a direct channel of communication with your customers with a business mobile app. This direct connection will be one of your most valuable tools that you use to better serve your customers and connect with them more intimately and personally. Feel free to check out our amazing collection of business mobile apps.