Facebook is making the change because its research shows that’s what users want. Facebook said:

“People told us they wanted to see more stories from friends and Pages they care about, and less promotional content.”

According to people surveyed, there are some consistent traits that make organic posts feel too promotional:

1. Posts that solely push people to buy a product or install an app
2. Posts that push people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real context
3. Posts that reuse the exact same content from ads

Here’s one example Facebook sited as the type of organic (meaning, not promoted) post that people don’t want to see, even from Pages they have liked. As you can see, it’s overtly promotional and reads like an advertisement.

Impact on authors

What does this mean for authors with either author or book Pages? Will it make this marketing tool even less useful for your book business?

Not necessarily.

Your goal with your Page content is to do what you should have been doing along:

• Sharing information that is helpful and not overtly promotional — as in “Buy my book!”
• Always providing context for whatever you’re posting — if it’s a Rafflecopter contest, add descriptive text rather than just saying “Enter this contest!” with a link.
• Never posting content that you’ve pulled from your Facebook ads.

Read and follow Facebook’s “Page posting tips and best practices.” It has lots of helpful information and advice that will make your Page work harder for you.

Remember: People are on Facebook to learn more about what’s happening in their friends’ lives, not be bombarded with content that looks to them like ads. Give them more of what they want and they’ll see, and engage with, more of your Facebook Page content.

What do you think of the new plan? What are you going to do differently with your Facebook page now?