Working within Facebook's new promoted paradigm

As a marketers, are you worried by the Facebook's newly announced Newsfeed Tweaks?Starting from January, the social media giant says it penalise "overly promotional page posts" which include:Posts that solely push people to buy a product or install an appPosts that push people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real contextPosts that reuse the exact same content from adsBelow are some of the top local Facebook brands and how the new measurement metric will affect them should they continue using the current strategy in 2015.(The top five pages here are ranked according to the number of local fans. Data from Socialbakers.com)BEECRAZY 蜂買PostContentsEngagement RateClicksBio-Care medical warming blanketsolely push people to buy a product0.001%16SEGA Sakadachi Robot Puppysolely push people to buy a productreuse the exact same content from ads (TVC)0.004%16KODAK PIXPRO SP360solely push people to buy a product0.000%7Hung Fook Tong herbal tea couponsolely push people to buy a product0.003%138Selected items for Christmassolely push people to buy a product (doubt if Facebook would treat it as merely a link share)0.003%124Group Buyer 團購家PostContentsEngagement RateClicksGroup Buyer Tasting Toursolely push people to buy a product0.002%---Sashimisolely push people to buy a product0.001%41FHCAN Windproof Jacketsolely push people to buy a product0.004%280Hong Kong Top 100 Cruisine Awardspush people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real context0.002%---Vivienne Westwood scarfsolely push people to buy a product0.002%63Groupon HKPostContentsEngagement RateClicksMovember charity activityNot a overly promotional post.0.000%39Pet Burger Pillowsolely push people to buy a product0.000%4La Mod x Groupon campaign winner announcementNot a overly promotional post.0.000%---Spicy Chicken Claypot Ricesolely push people to buy a product0.000%25Christmas @ Grouponsolely push people to buy a product (doubt if Facebook would treat it as merely a link share)0.000%---7-Eleven Hong KongPostContentsEngagement RateClicksOffice casual chatNot a overly promotional post.0.078%---Discount for Nestle drumstickssolely push people to buy a product0.074%236Handset accessoriesNot a overly promotional post.0.031%821The International Photos & Digital Life Show 2014Not a overly promotional post.0.010%21Products for winterNot a overly promotional post.0.112%---Samsung MobilePostContentsEngagement RateClicksShowing its phone like a visual artNot a overly promotional post.0.019%---Samsung Gear S Experience Appsolely push people to install an app0.028%3,765Magisto Mobile Appsolely push people to install an app0.024%1,056Introduce a feature of the handsetNot a overly promotional post.0.042%---Introduce photo quality of the handsetNot a overly promotional post.0.008%---The few group buying pages suffered the most, as we can see from the above table. They will need to review the content strategy as soon as possible. Actually those contents scored very low engagement rate (Total Interaction / Fans Number x 100%).However, not all directly push of purchase failed to drive engagement. 7-Eleven drumstick promotion was a popular offer to consumers on Facebook.Post by 7-Eleven Hong Kong.Under the new Newsfeed measure, even for posts which scored a decent engagement rate, the organic reach is likely to be reduced. Eventually, interaction will be affected.Facebook's current Newsfeed system already has a algorithm to show more engaging content; while content with less interactions will be delivered to less audience. This performs just like the supply and demand law in any market. Group buying services which compose content in the most straightforward and promotional way are already long-time victims under the system. In 2015, these pages will receive "double penalty", as the new measure will further reduce organic reach from them.On the contrary, 7-Eleven runs its Facebook Page with a more conversational approach and is rewarded with better reach, and help to gain likes and shares for even promotional contents.As 2015 is approaching, it's time we inspect our Facebook content strategy to see if it fits the new measure, no matter if we like it or not.Jansen Lu is director, social business strategy at GroupM.