CHICAGO — Facebook has long been a part of many dry cleaner’s social media marketing strategy, but staying on top of the changes made to that platform can sometimes be challenging. Earlier this year, the media giant began to roll out several changes designed to streamline the user experience. One of these changes involves a metric that many depended on to judge the popularity of their posts.
In the future, users will no longer be able to “like” posts.
In a release Facebook posted detail this change, along with many others, the company explained it this way:
“We are removing Likes and focusing on Followers to simplify the way people connect with their favorite Pages. Unlike Likes, Followers of a Page represent the people who can receive updates from Pages, which helps give public figures a stronger indication of their fan base.”
With this change, Facebook says that businesses will have a more accurate way of measuring popularity. Users might, for instance, “like” a post but then unfollow the account later. By using “Follows,” a company can judge its reach on a continually updated basis. And, since users don’t receive updates from an account they don’t follow, this new method will give the account’s owner a better idea of how many people are receiving their posts.
Other updates are coming to the Facebook platform, including what the company says are more intuitive page design, dedicated news feeds, a new Q&A format, easier navigation between personal profile and Pages, more actionable insights and new safety and integrity features.
For companies who use Facebook as a major component of their marketing efforts, the company also announced improved Page management tools:
“We’ve added new Page management features — like the ability to more clearly assign and manage admin access permissions based on specific tasks. For example, you’ll now be able to grant varying levels of access to manage specific tasks including Insights, Ads, Content, and Community Activity & Messages. This will also ensure account safety and integrity.”
These changes should roll out in the coming months. For more information about the changes to “Likes” and other updates, you can visit Facebook’s announcement here.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Dave Davis at [email protected].