Georgi Roberts | Wednesday 23rd April 2014
Last year it had been proven by many a Facebook update that a sure fire way to get likes and shares was to – well – ask for them. Yes, even those posts that said ‘like if you agree, comment if you don’t’ ended up getting likes.
And guess what those likes did? Not only did they increase brand reach by showing up in friends of friends timelines, they also added brownie points to that company’s Facebook algorithm, and made their posts more likely to be seen.
Let’s admit it. A lot of these posts were quite spammy. Many were fabricated around children, illness, and charities by sites who wanted more likes, engagement – whatever, for their own gain.
Facebook are putting a stop to this, by ‘Cleaning up News feed spam’. They want Facebook to be rid of ‘like baiting’.
Facebook’s research has found that this type of post led to a ‘less-enjoyable’ Facebook experience. To achieve this, they are implementing technology to detect this and those who are using this will see their distribution (reach) decrease.
Google’s doing it with SEO, so it’s no surprise that Facebook are on the case – they want their sites to show authenticity.
So the moral of the story? It’s still the same – be authentic, be genuine, be engaging – and you’ll build your audience.
Pitstop Marketing run Facebook campaigns for clients. We can help drive visitors to websites, increase brand reach, and promote products and services. Contact us if you’d like to find out more.