Facebook is an ever-changing landscape.

With consumer trends determining the next big change for the social magnate. The most recent change is Facebook’s update to its News Feed Algorithm, which aims to help users enjoy more meaningful social interactions, aligning with its original focus – to bring people closer together.

Facebook believes these changes will make the time people spend on Facebook more valuable. We think this is a good thing for consumers and we believe it will be good for business’ too.

At Insight Social Media, we nerd out on the latest data and white papers, carefully pick through Facebook’s benchmarks and loopholes to stay afloat in the tempestuous world of social media. Whilst the impact will vary Page to Page, here is a quick summary (without the marketing jargon) of key changes expected to hit your News Feed:

• Content with external links will be deprioritised – Facebook want us to stay within the platform

• Videos that do not trigger meaningful conversions or capture your viewers within 7-10 seconds will be deprioritised

• Spam Content and Digital Junk is no more – expect to see a lot less of the “tag your friend and say nothing posts”

• Likes and shares alone will not boost your post on the News Feed. Instead long form comments are the new key metric for well-performing posts.

If anything, this new formula is a boon for your ROI. If your content appears on someone’s Feed, it’s almost guaranteed that they are a faithful follower. This update also doesn’t affect paid advertising, so your plan to drive awareness, leads and sales through Facebook Ads is still solid.

Your posts are-a-changin’! The focus now is to create content that encourages conversation. Look through your post Insights – what are your best performing content posts? What do your consumers engage with? These top performers are what you should be posting more often. But as with sweets, all in moderation! Try to stick to 2-3 quality posts per week.

Added to this, we have identified that working on your community through the Facebook Groups feature and encouraging meaningful interactions between people will have a positive impact.

Influencer marketing has gained huge traction on Instagram, and this will now become a go-to resource for Facebook marketers. From film stars to athletes, fashion models to yogis, people are establishing themselves as celebrities online, commanding tens, even hundreds of thousands of followers and charging businesses a tidy sum to post content featuring their products. In many cases, this works superbly for businesses, as it is crucial direct marketing. Facebook users will follow the people they admire, to whom they aspire and who embody the lifestyle they wish to lead. If your favourite fitness guru recommends FitQuick protein powder, you are far more likely to take their word for it than believe a paid ad directly from the FitQuick’s Facebook page.

While the game may have changed, the playing field remains the same. As with all Facebook updates that went before it, the effect upon your page will vary, pay close attention to your reach and engagement and adapt your content strategy to continue reaping the rewards which Facebook marketing can deliver.

For our clients, we will be changing the way we work, encouraging a closer connection with your company, targeting influencers appropriate to your customers and further optimising the allocation of your marketing budget, but we always view change positively. Facebook may have shifted the posts, but Insight Social Media will still be kicking goals for your business.