Sharing content on Facebook just become a lot more important thanks to the network's change to its newsfeed.

One of the best attributes of social media marketing is that it gives companies the ability to turn their own customers into brand advocates. If a person likes a business or its post on Facebook, that person’s friends will notice. This makes reaching a wider audience a lot easier. Now Facebook is streamlining the process even further. According to a blog post by Product Manager Andrew Song, the platform has tweaked its algorithm to make branded posts and media more visible in users’ news feeds.

Two degrees of content separation

The way newsfeeds shared pictures and posts in the past was simple: You could see whatever a friend published on Facebook, but you could also see posts that friends of friends posted as long as a friend was tagged in them.

Brands didn’t have that option – until now. Companies that mention people who have liked them, and other companies that follow them will see their relevant posts appear in users’ newsfeeds. This extends the reach of content to B2C customers, but it also has important implications for B2B companies.

For instance, if one company has followed a business partner on Facebook and is mentioned in a post that the partner makes, all of the original company’s followers will be able to see the partner’s posts. There is quite a bit of exposure to be gained this way, as commercial networking will open follower groups up to one another.

Share the sharing wealth

One of the possibilities this opens to content marketing is through case studies and testimonials. One company can post a success story about its client on Facebook, and by tagging the client, it will make the content available to a much wider audience. Even simple @mentions on relevant posts will increase exposure, so long as they aren’t abused. The bottom line is that companies can expect their custom content  to be seen by a much wider audience going forward. 

Alex Butzbach is a Marketing Writer at Brafton. He studied Communications at Boston College, and after a brief stint teaching English in Japan, he entered the world of content marketing. When he isn't writing and researching, he can be found on a bike somewhere in Metro Boston.