9 Tips to Avoid Getting Penalized by the

Facebook Algorithm Update

On November 14, Facebook announced an

update to the News Feed algorithm that

could impact businesses’ social marketing

efforts starting in January 2015.

Essentially, they are going to punish

brand posts that are overly-promotional.

The Algorithm Update

According to Facebook, they’ll penalize:

• Posts that solely push people to buy a product or

install an app

• Posts that push people to enter promotions and

sweepstakes with no real context

• Posts that reuse the exact same content from ads

The Algorithm Update

The problem is…

These are pretty subjective.

So here are 9 tips to avoid getting penalized:

1. Write with your brand’s tone

Fans follow brands that they want

to associate with, so don’t give

them something generic...give them

the experience that is unique to

your brand. And that’s done

primarily through your tone.

2. Pull your fans with intriguing copy

The real value of your posts’

content often isn’t on Facebook,

it’s in the link--the product, blog

post, video, etc. The Facebook

post is just the gateway. If your

post is intriguing, it pulls people

into the valuable content, rather

than pushing it on them, which is

what Facebook wants to filter

out.

3. Share an interesting fact about your

product

Fans want to connect with the

brands they like and with the

products they purchase. Sharing

interesting tidbits about products

accomplishes both because it

demonstrates that the brand

really cares about their products

(thoughtful and mindful enough

to share the product’s backstory)

and it gives fans deeper insight

into the product and why the

brands sells it.

4. Share a post about a collection of

products

A great way to do this is to work

the collection into a blog post or

it’s own landing page. It informs

fans about several products at a

time and gives you an

opportunity to share more than

just a product description about

each. They’re even better when

they correspond with a time-

relevant event, like the holidays.

5. Ask a question

Questions are great ways to

introduce a product without

overtly pushing it. Customers

will read your question, ask

themselves and then answer

it without even realizing it.

6. Keep your copy short

We recommend a 100 character

limit. Every post needs to do two

things to be successful: it has to

get people to stop scrolling as

well as give them a reason to

click. When you limit the copy of

your posts to 100 characters or

fewer, you force yourself to

come up with something

creative and intriguing.

7. Show your product in use

Nothing online looks more

salesy than product on a white

background. Showing it in-use

automatically gives the post

more value as it can be

inspirational to your fans. Make

your point by showing them the

value, not telling them about it.

8. Show your customers using your

productsVery few things convince people

to buy as well as a peer

recommendation. It’s a great

way to promote a contest or

promotion while not getting

penalized. Why? Your customer-

generated content inherently

adds context and demonstrates

an engaged social community,

which is exactly what Facebook

wants.

9. Use the “will my fans think this is

interesting and valuable?” filter

Lastly, this filter should really be applied to everything you do as a marketer.

“Valuable” can be anything from a moment of laughter to giving them the final

reason that nudges them into making the perfect purchase. If you run every

post through this filter, you will never have to worry about Facebook’s

algorithm.

How to post about products without getting

penalized by Facebook’s algorithm is just

the tip of the iceberg. For more information

on how to successfully sell on social media,

check out our ebook on:

Driving ecommerce results via social media

About Inside Social

Inside Social is a social marketing platform that helps companies measure and

increase their social ROI by focusing on the metrics that matter, not the vanity

metrics you’re used to on social.

We built a share tracking technology that connects social sharing to

downstream conversions, such as a download, subscription, or purchase. By

measuring, attributing, and optimizing social based on conversions, we help

companies do better social marketing.

We are based in Seattle, WA.

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