GroupM Study on Facebook Algo Change Reveals Significant Decline in Consumer Reach

Last September, Facebook changed the algorithm that decides what a user sees in their newsfeed. The social networking giant said it made the change to reduce the amount of spam users find in their feed. However, many advertisers have said the change has hurt the amount of views their brand pages receive.

Media investment management firm GroupM recently looked into advertisers’ concerns. The firm analyzed 25 Facebook brand pages in a recent study into the new algorithm.

Among the major reveals in the study, GroupM found that brand pages saw a 38 percent decline in consumer reach following Facebook’s recent changes. For specific postings brand reach was reduced significantly. Brand page’s photo postings saw a 40 percent reduction in reach. While postings with links reported a reduction in reach of over 68 percent.

The only postings that saw an uptick in reach were posts that featured status updates. Status update postings’ reach jumped over 19 percent following Facebook’s switch.

Not everything soured following Facebook’s algorithm shakeup. Engagement was reported to be up, according to GroupM. The study found that engagement for individual posts was up 96 percent following the new algorithm implementation.

The firm concluded that the uptick in engagement was a direct result of the new algorithm’s ability to only show brand posts to users who consistently interact with a brand’s page. Meaning, if a brand can get a consumer to continually engage with a multitude of posts it will increase the potential for them to be seen in a user’s feed.

Following the data, GroupM says that advertisers should start considering ways to bring more overall engagement to their brand page.

“What brands can do now in the new Facebook environment, and in light of deeper insights made possible as a result of the change, is better understand the impact post types have and marry that data with a publishing schedule and content creation plan,” GroupM said in its study.

GroupM also recommends that advertisers consider using Facebook’s recently released paid advertising options.