Facebook recently announced a new design of the Facebook News Feed. The design reduces the left and right sidebars and expands the main News Feed to show full-size vibrant images, offering more real estate to visual content and a set of new sub-feeds.
According to Facebook, the same stories will appear as did before, meaning that Facebook has not adjusted Edgerank, the algorithm that determines what content is posted on your News Feed. However, the design will be much more vibrant and colorful, centering around larger images.
Facebook says that this change will provide a more seamless experience between mobile and desktop viewing, but we surmise that this is an attempt by Zuckerburg to position Facebook as the premiere advertising platform for digital marketers.
With the redesign, companies’ promoted posts and sponsored stories that use images will be given more real estate in individuals’ News Feeds. So what does that mean for marketers in charge of managing organizations’ Facebook page?
Up until now, many marketers have seen huge ROI in promoted posts and sponsored stories, partly because of Facebook’s lower-than-market-value advertising rates.
Advertising experts expect that Facebook’s shift in focus on visual content will allow them to gain higher ad prices in the future. This means that the days of cheap advertising on Facebook will likely be coming to an end. We expect ad costs on Facebook and other social networks to significantly rise in the future, so plan your budgets accordingly.
Facebook already favored visual content, but this News Feed redesign further reinforces that focus. When planning your editorial calendar, try to figure out how you can share your information visually, through a photo or photo album.
Infographics are a great way to share information (and have high virality), as are images with overlaid text (think memes). If you are using text in your images, make sure you follow the <20% rule!
With the new sub-feeds, Facebook users will now have the ability to choose to filter content more heavily. As with many of the changes to News Feed, this will positively affect some marketers view rates and negatively affect others. Among other options, users can now view content posted by only their friends, effectively opting out of content from organizations who they aren’t friends with but may follow.
Users can also see content posted by all the pages they follow, content just relating to Games or Music, as well as a variety of other filters. You’ll be able to advertise in any of these feeds, but you’ll want to be mindful of the context. For example, an advertisement that shows up in the “All Friends” feed may be viewed as more disruptive as one that shows up in the “Pages You Follow” feed.
Regardless of these changes, competition for space on Facebook’s News Feed is becoming more and more cutthroat. Not only do you have to compete with other organizations, you now have to compete with larger and more prominent ad spaces integrated into the main News Feed.
On average, about 15% of your followers will see the content you publish for any given post. That means that the chances of spamming your followers is nearly impossible, unless you are posting more than 10 times a day.
Social Driver’s Anthony Shop will serve on a panel at The National Press Club on Tuesday, October 30th discussing how social media has been used as a part of presidential campaign strategies, the role of social media in future elections, and why it’s important for communication executives to pay close attention to these trends pertaining to your the goals of your clients. Audience questions will follow. Get your tickets to attend this event now!
SIGNUP: The Online Election – Social Media & The 2012 Presidential Race
The election is now two weeks away and our Facebook news feeds, Twitter feeds, and YouTube channels are exploding with opinions, facts, disagreements and discussion. Digital media is more important to the election than ever before, and we’ve got some numbers to show it.
Blogger Devon Glenn at SocialTimes shares an incredibly revealing infographic created by iProspect to give us a “Digital Summary” of the election. From Obama and Romney’s Facebook fans and Twitter followers to your friend’s very opinionated political posts, social networks are affecting how we talk about the election, as well as what we are talking about. It’s no wonder why the online campaign budget jumped 616% from 2008.
Non-Profits are often faced with a unique challenge when redesigning their websites. Like other websites, they need to clearly communicate the mission of the organization, have a clear call to action, and engage their audience. We’ve selected 19 best non-profit websites that we think best accomplish this goal. Some of them use innovative design, some use multimedia, and some use humor. All of them accomplish the most important thing: When you leave, you know what they do and how you can help.
Interested in seeing more than just 19 examples? Download our list of the 38 Best Nonprofit Websites of 2013 and be inspired!
The Acumen Fund has one of the most innovative designs we’ve seen. The homepage clearly tells their story, with sections on “What We’ve Accomplished”, “What We’ve Learned”, “Where We’re Headed”, and “How You Can Help”. Each section features information told in an infographic style to keep the visitor engaged throughout their entire story. And most importantly, the big black Donate button follows you the entire way down the page. We love this site.
Pine Ridge Story uses photographs to tell the story of the Pine Ridge Reservation. Their interactive timeline lets visitors dive deep into the history of the Oglala Lakota and Teton Sioux.
Counterspill recently won three Webby awards and it’s no surprise. Upon landing, you are greeted with a dark, almost foreboding map that highlights the worst non-renewable energy disasters in the world. Users can also watch a featured video that explains the cause of the website. The average time spent on this site must be enormous.
Livestrong’s bright yellow and black branding is instantly recognizable by millions of people around the world, so it makes sense for that to be the main design element of their homepage. We like that there are very clear calls to action for visitors – Get informed. Find Support. Take Control.
Girl Effect uses an infographic feel and video to quickly communicate their message, mission, and what you can do to support. We love the landing page of this website because it immediately invited us to participate and engage with the cause.
Invisible Children uses film and social action to end the use of child soldiers in Joseph Kony’s rebel war. Their message is clear and the gritty design of the website completely complements their mission of raising awareness of a tragic and disturbing reality in Africa.
I Had Cancer is a social network for people fighting cancer, cancer survivors, or supporters of people affected. The homepage is clear, with a video explaining how the website works and easily paths for visitors to join.
Who doesn’t love Sesame Street? Sesame Workshop uses Sesame Street to promote education in over 150 countries. We loved the large image scroller and fun, quirky design that stays true to the Sesame Street brand.
Amnesty International’s yellow and black color scheme is different from most other websites, and that’s why we like it. The call to actions are clear: Donate, Join, or Take Action.
Charity:Water’s website has all the essentials right above the fold. Without scrolling, you are able to read a paragraph describing what they do, share the website on your social networks, signup for the email newsletter, and dive into more stories about the organization. We can tell that this organization clearly thought about who they were trying to reach and what action they wanted them to take.
AYPF is a nonprofit that supports policy leaders with resources and professional development opportunities. The design is professional without being stodgy and the navigation is easy to use.
While Change.org isn’t technically a non-profit, they help non-profits spread their message through an intuitive petition engine. We like that they clearly lay out the process of using their website: 1) Start a Petition, 2) Mobilize Support, 3) Win Change. Who knew it was so easy?
Kiva utilizes crowdfunding to support people around the world. Many websites make the mistake of talking too much about themselves and not enough about the people that they are trying to help. Kiva dedicates the largest area of its homepage to the people, with a wall of head shots and stories.
Greenpeace is known for their aggressive stance on environmental issues and their website is consistent with that message. Their design is clean and simple, with most of the focus on a large slider that directs visitors to learn more and take action against environmental transgressors.
ONE is a grassroots advocacy and campaign organization. The modern design uses lots of white space and a well-designed slider to highlight its most important initiatives.
The MacArthur Foundation’s website is simple and that’s why we like it. Users are immediately drawn to their most important press releases and news items and can easily navigate their grantmaking by program, topic, and location.
SHOFCO is a non-profit organization started at Wesleyan University that combats gender inequality and extreme poverty in the Kibera Slum. Their homepage features infographics, clear buttons to Donate, and an animated video that tells their story.
Messages for Japan used Google Translate to help thousands of people send videos and messages to Japanese tsunami victims. The approach was innovative and the website lets users see the messages on a world map.
Gasland is a film that documents the boom in domestic natural gas drilling or “fracking”. We love the action center on the homepage and right sidebar that lets users contact elected officials, take part in protests, and donate to the cause.
