When Facebook announced its new design for the Facebook newsfeed, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said it was their goal to to give everyone in the world “the best personalized newspaper.” Who is everyone? The 67% of online adults that use Facebook — 71% of women and 62% of men. Read on to see what it means for consumers and marketers.
What does this mean for consumers?
Larger Images. Well, it means there are larger images in your feed. According to Facebook, photos make up 50% of all news feed stories. So the new news feed takes up more of your Facebook page. They call it putting a spotlight on what friends are sharing. The shared articles also feature larger images and more information like longer snippets. Check-ins are also more visual with large map images, as is content from third-party sites like Pinterest.
Multiple Feeds. Content specific feeds will allow you to sort between a range of different categories: Close friends, all friends, music, photos, games and people and brands you “follow” (as opposed to friend). And you can still see the chronological news feed.
Continuity in Look across All Devices. Instead of a different interface on all media, Facebook has figured out how to incorporate the same look across smartphones, tablets, and laptops.
Okay, how do I get it? Well, there’s a site for that and it’s pretty simple. But don’t hold your breath, it’s a rolling conversion so you may have to wait awhile. First, go to facebook.com/about/newsfeed. Second, click the big green “Join Waiting List” button at the top of the page. Done!
What do marketers need to know?
New Opportunities for advertising. Promoted Posts, Sponsored Stories, and Page promotion ads can be visually engrossing - to flow with the rest of the news feed.
Filters for content are a question mark. Facebook says there’s been consumer demand for filtered content like photos and music. But will users use the filters.
If the filtered feeds are used, it could make for a splintered, hard to reach audience. If people use the feeds, it will fragment the audience. And, if they only use their friends feed, advertising will be lost to them.
Filtered feed might become sponsorship opportunities. No real news here but if the music feeds and other entertainment feeds take off, sponsorships might follow.
