This document provides 9 tips for businesses to avoid getting penalized by Facebook's algorithm update in January 2015. The update will punish overly promotional brand posts. The tips include writing with your brand's tone, using intriguing copy to pull fans to valuable content instead of pushing products, sharing interesting facts about products, asking questions to introduce products subtly, keeping copy short, showing products in use, featuring customers using products, and applying a "will fans find this interesting and valuable?" filter to all posts. Following these tips can help brands continue marketing successfully on Facebook after the algorithm change.

1. 9 Tips to Avoid Getting Penalized by the
Facebook Algorithm Update

2. The 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.

3. 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

4. The problem is…
These are pretty subjective.

5. So here are 9 tips to avoid getting penalized:

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 8. Show your customers using your
products
Very 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.

14. 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.

15. 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

16. 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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