Latest Facebook Trends & Updates

Always keeping business owners and digital marketers on their toes, it’s never a dull period when it comes to Facebook updates and trends. We’re diving into some of Facebook’s latest announced changes, and what you need to know when it comes to best practices.

Changing Image Ratios

When it comes to organic posts and advertising, generally a square (1:1) image ratio has been best when it comes to reaching audiences and capturing a large chunk of the news feed. Now, that’s changed.

To follow closely with what Instagram has done, the maximum image ratio that will now be accepted (without being cut off by the preview) is a 4:5 ratio. This is important for businesses to note, as it means captivating content will take up more of the news feed and, in turn, could garner more impressions.

Trim That Text

For years, Facebook has been trending toward a “less text, more content” approach when it comes to ads and organic posts. In October, Facebook took another step toward this shift, by trimming the amount of text seeing before a “read more” badge is displayed. What used to be four lines of text before getting cut-off will now be three lines, and not a single word more.

Moving to “Creator Studio”

In the past, scheduling posts or updates was as easy as going to your company’s page and beginning to type. Alas, that is no more — although, if you’re looking to just make a quick post, this will still work.

Scheduling future posts or ads now requires page administrators to utilize Facebook’s new “creator studio.” To learn more about the creator studio, click here.

Algorithm Updates

As always, Facebook is toying with the news feed algorithm — and it usually means bad news for business pages. The latest algorithm update was no exception.

The algorithm changes go closely in-hand with the aforementioned “less text, more content” approach. More emphasis will be placed on engagement, such as reactions, comments and shares (although, not likes, as Facebook looks to do away with those). The best way to ensure engagement, such as comments? Organic content, with little text.

Testing New Photo Layouts

Always experimenting with different formats, layouts and styles with their news feed, Facebook is apparently testing new image-formatting options for multiple images that have been posted in the feed.

Need help with your Facebook marketing strategy? At SmartSolutions, we are passionate about utilizing the power of communication to bring people and businesses together — and we are equally as passionate about your story. Our team of expert marketers bring their unique perspectives and diverse experiences together to provide a one-stop, full-service marketing solution to help your business thrive. Click below or call us today to get your free consultation!