They say that IPOs kill innovation. Facebook went public back on May 18 and it tanked, but that's not the story here. The largest social network has made multiple small updates since its first day of trading that point to the changing philosophy of Facebook. For non-profits and community organizations, we want to bring your attention to the changes and show how they affect you as brand page owners:1. Each post now shows what percentage of your fans were reached
- Motivation: Empower brand page users
- Impact on you? Positive/Negative
- Who wins? Organizations that track social analytics
The average Facebook post from a brand page only reaches 16 percent of fans and now you'll be able to see that number under each post you make. That's why this is a positive and negative for you: you'll notice that about 80% of your fans are disengaged, but also get stats to help you understand what drives engagement.2. Five new admin roles can be assigned
- Motivation? Improve page management
- Impact on you? Positive
- Who wins? Admins
You can now have a hierarchy for your admins. This is good for organizations who have multiple people involved in the social media process. If you're all by yourself, there's not much impact. On your admin panel, click on "Edit Page" and then "Admin Roles."3. You can schedule posts right from Facebook
- Motivation? Make third-party applications less relevant
- Impact on you? Positive
- Who wins? Content planners
Facebook doesn't like losing people to HootSuite and other third-party posting applications. This addition renders those third parties less relevant and turns people back to Facebook itself. If you want to schedule a post, click on the clock in the bottom left corner.
4. Facebook promoted posts are available
- Motivation? Increase Facebook sales
- Impact on you? Negative
- Who wins? Big companies + Facebook
Originally, it was thought that your number of likes was your reach but now you need to pay to get there. Whereas Facebook was supposed to be the great equalizer for non-profits to market with the big boys, this post favors organizations with money. To try this, click on "Promote" in the bottom right of the post you want to promote (but I suggest waiting for some results to come out first).
5. Facebook's first mobile-only ad product has been launched
- Motivation? Increase Facebook sales
- Impact on you? Neutral
- Who wins? Big companies + Facebook
Nearly half of Facebook's 900 million users access the social network from a mobile device. When Facebook decided to go public, investors saw the fact that it made no money from mobile as a major problem. Now you have the ability to launch a Sponsored Story exclusively distributed through mobile devices. If they work well for advertisers, this product will stick. I suggest, as a non-profit, that you wait and see.6. The old-fashioned like button is gone (and so are some of your fans)
- Motivation? Less clutter for users
- Impact on you? Too early to tell
- Who wins? Facebook users
The like button now has some hidden options behind it. You can add a page to an interest list, or you can choose to show posts in your news feed or not at all. A like no longer holds the same weight with these new options. Encourage your fans to make sure they have checked to see your posts in their news feeds.Let's be real. Facebook desperately needs to increase revenue now that it is public. You'll continue to see more changes: some good, some bad, but most based on capturing value for stockholders. Understand what the motives are behind each new update and evaluate if it will help or hinder you in your pursuit of reaching social media goals. A saving grace is that personal and organizational users need to be kept happy in order for shareholders to be happy. If Facebook fails to see that, it's a house of cards. If it gets that, you'll see more updates that will help you as an admin.
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