Another change to your Facebook account. We can already hear the groans, dragging feet and picket signs going up. We tend to like our Facebook just the way it is, but then the people at Facebook go and change the layout of everything.
Normally, we’re on your side—give us our Facebook back, we exclaim until our faces turn blue. But not this time. It’s time to embrace the redesign. The new Facebook news feed is great for nonprofits, because the new design means more opportunities to be discovered. Here’s why.
1. Tell Your Story Better
People have short attention spans. Plus—wait, what was I talking about again? Right. So, if you had the opportunity to tell your story with a photo or with text, which would you choose? The answer should be a good photo. Although you can still have some text to accompany it.
And now your nonprofit has the opportunity to play up your best stories with beautiful and moving imagery. That’s because the forthcoming news feed will take those scaled back thumbnail images and blow them up to help you captivate your audience.
It also means that any time somebody goes to ‘check in’ at your organization, Facebook will make your location front and center. So make sure your details are up to date.
Finally, any time somebody ‘likes’ your page, Facebook will take a snapshot of your page and make it bigger for people to see. That means you’ll have the opportunity to get your story to more people with every person who ‘likes’ your page.
For your organization, it means you’ll need to pay attention to both your profile picture and your cover photo. If you still don’t have an image in the cover photo spot, people will be turned away from liking your page because it looks incomplete.
2. People Who Care Are Updated
One of the greatest parts about the reorganized newsfeed is that it allows your loyal followers to never miss an update. Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained the reason for the new filtering system.
“At a personal level, we built a service that lets you see and feel the people and friends you care about,” Zuckerberg said. “What we’re trying to do is give everyone in the world the best personalized newspaper.”
While it means that some people could filter out your updates, it also means that the people who truly care about your organization never miss an update. They can simply go to their group tab and see what you’ve been up to while they were away.
3. Unifying Content for All Devices
You know that it’s becoming increasingly important to make content mobile friendly (see point #3), especially with email marketing campaigns. And now, Facebook is going to make sure your content is the same on all social media outlets.
You won’t have to worry about checking each post to see how it looks on a phone, on a computer screen and in the tablet version. Instead, simply upload your content and Facebook will handle the rest.
Overall, Facebook is making it easier for you to tackle your mission in the Facebook universe. You can simply upload, get huge photos, a big logo and easy access to share your information. What more could a nonprofit organization ask for?
