While many content marketers are rejoicing the news of Facebook’s updates to the platform’s branded content restrictions, the rest of us are busy scratching our heads and wondering what exactly this means? In recent years, brands have relied on Facebook, the largest social network, for means of expanding content marketing campaigns, which leads me to believe that these updates would be of high importance. Unfortunately, a statement released by Facebook left much to be desired – including questions surrounding the implications of the change and best practices moving forward. It is my hope to translate these murky terms into layman’s terms in order for brands to best utilize the changes and boost branded content on Facebook.
To understand branded-content policy updates, it is important to start with the foundation – what is branded content? According to the Branded Content Marketing Association, “Branded content is any content that can be associated with the brand in the eye of the beholder.” Branded content is one of the most effective ways for brands to stand out and make deeper, more entertaining, connections with consumers. By incorporating social media, including Facebook, into branded content campaigns, brands have been able to deliver multi-channel campaigns, providing a reminder of brand image no matter where you look. When branded content is successful, consumers are entertained and educated while brands remain top of mind, creating a symbiotic relationship for success.
Breaking Down the changes to Branded Content on Facebook
Facebook defines branded content as posts that specifically mention or feature a third party product, brand or sponsor. After recently purchasing a new, faulty garage door, my father decided it was most practical to take to every social media channel to express anger and frustration with said garage-door company. By Facebook standards, this is an example of branded content. However, while the average Joes of the world could post about both positive and negative interactions with brands, verified pages have not had such luxury – until now.
As of April 8, 2016, all of the pages with the little blue check mark next to the name can sell sponsored, branded content to partnering companies via their personal Facebook pages without having to first receive permission from Facebook. In other words, brands will have an easier time making money on branded content and branded content can now be seen as advertisements via publishers and marketers.
In the past, verified pages, or publishers, were denied the ability to run branded content because of Facebook’s desire to limit the amount of advertisement-based posts on newsfeeds. However, an undeniable shift away from traditional marketing toward content marketing, specifically focusing on social media platforms, has lead to “media companies, public figures, influencers, and marketers” asking for an update to Facebook’s ad policy[i].
Facebook points to the fact that they wanted to limit the overly promotional content on users’ newsfeeds because many see them as distracting and uninteresting and the reason why the change did not happen sooner. In order to limit the interference of promotional features, there are still limitations within the branded content policy that should be understood before implementing the branded content tag. Users should also be aware of any updates that Facebook roles out in order to tune out branded content.
So, what should we expect now?
Although Facebook’s foundation is in social networking – think stalking classmates and keeping in touch with distant relatives – it has transformed into today’s largest online advertising tool. With Facebook’s recent update to branded content, the path toward a platform run by advertising and sponsored posts is only becoming more prominent. As mentioned, rules have been enacted to accompany this update in order to ensure that users are not bombarded with advertisements, however, only time can tell how exactly the ratio of sponsored-to-organic content will be affected.
The strongest ties to the update lie in Facebook’s potential new revenue stream. Because publishers must tag their branded content with the product/company via Facebook’s Branded Content tool, Facebook can collect more comprehensive analytics regarding the post. Facebook can in turn charge fees for insights into how posts are performing, as well as to boost posts. This is an attractive deal for advertisers, seeing as they usually pay influencers and publishers depending on the user-interaction with branded content posts. It is beneficial for advertisers to know concrete metrics to ensure proper ROI. This also presents the opportunity for the publishers of verified pages to receive their own hefty chunk of change by posting branded content.
While there has been speculation around whether or not the update will hold up to Federal Trade Commission advertisement guidelines, we should expect to see a whole lot more celebrity endorsements and branded content popping up in newsfeeds as the floodgates have been opened.