How Facebook Successfully Pulled a Bait and Switch

The social media universe changes as often as the seasons. Countless social media platforms have sprouted up and withered away since the establishment of this communication medium. AOL Instant Messenger chat rooms, and some of the first blogging sites first emerged between 1997 and the early 2000’s. They helped give a form, and shape to social media.  In 2003 the first social media website emerged as Myspace, which paved the way for the emergence of Facebook.

To really understand where Facebook is going, one must look at the past. Facebook has evolved and reinvented itself many times.  In only a few years’ Facebook successfully converted organic messaging to paid messaging. They accomplished this transition by convincing brands to invest in building Facebook communities, and then turning around, and charging those brands for access to those same communities they helped build.

2012 - Facebook wants you to build your audience and brand organically

2014 - Build your audience and Brand with Boost

2015 - Pay to play

This transformation shouldn’t deter marketers from Facebook.

Facebook is the platform people of all ages spend the most time on. Reports of Facebook waning in popularity among young people are nonsense. With 1.55 billion monthly active users, and 1.39 billion mobile monthly users, brands must consider shifting more marketing dollars to Facebook, particularly if they’re interested in capturing an audience that uses mobile over desk top.

Facebook has evolved into a listening organization.  They listened to what their business partners and end users had to say about their social media browsing activities. They know that users are leveraging Facebook as a tool for discovery.  As brands, local businesses, news outlets, friends, and family fight for space in your newsfeed, Facebook continued to grow.  They were faced with a challenge to make sure they put the right content through your newsfeed.   

Think for a moment about your own newsfeed and what you often see in your stream today. You may have noticed more content from news outlets. While everyone is jockeying for position in the newsfeed, Facebook has been giving news and information outlets like Buzzfeed, Business Insider and WSJ the inside track.  That's because Facebook users look to Facebook more and more to discover news and information.  This fits with Facebook’s strategy as they strive to continue giving users reasons to keep coming back three, four, or ten times a day. Facebook has scratched an itch with curated content from media outlets hungry for an audience, and it doesn’t cost them a dime.   

So, how does Facebook direct this complex thoroughfare away from information overload? According to Facebook the best way to police the content is by placing measures and control in place for advertising.  The added value to Facebook is their ability to charge for posts that are advertising in nature. Let’s face it, Facebook is no longer a social media platform, but rather an advertising platform, and a damn good one too.

Regardless if Facebook is trying to advance the user experience or creating an enticement model to buy advertising on their platform, businesses of all shapes and sizes need to continue promoting their brand here.