Three big changes made to Branded Content on Facebook

Facebook has spent a year listening and gathering information, the culmination of which was announced by the company today. Branded Content on Facebook is undergoing three major changes which are sure to scale up Advertising on the platform by leaps and bounds.

As per Facebook, thousands of creators, businesses and publishers are sharing Branded Content on Facebook each month, and the continued endeavours to listen and improve upon what the social network offers have unearthed the possibility for three changes that Facebook is making.

1. Expanding availability of Branded Content beyond Verified Pages and Profiles

Until today, Facebook had restricted the ability to share Branded Content up to Verified Business and Publisher Pages and Profiles, which is now being made slightly more widely available to Pages and Profiles that are not verified.

Pages and Profiles that wish to share Branded Content on Facebook can submit an application to Facebook, acting upon which the social network will provide access to the Branded Content tool. To submit the application, click here.

Also, Facebook is granting access to few Pages that the company feels are likely to use the tool. Such eligible Facebook Pages will receive a notification when they log in to Facebook, and will be able to see the Branded Content tool icon when they are composing a post, in the form of a handshake icon.

Adherence to Facebook’s policies will enable the Pages to share Branded Content on the platform, and this service is being made available to Pages on iOS and Facebook Web users starting today.

Android users can expect the update in the next few weeks. To learn more about how to use Branded Content on Facebook, you can visit the Help Center, and learn about their Branded Content policies here.

2. Branded Content tag updated

Starting today, the word ‘Paid’ will signify Branded Content posts on Facebook, as the company wants people to ‘clearly and consistently recognize branded posts’ to make it explicitly clear that Branded Content on Facebook is nothing but an exchange of value between the publisher and the third party.

“Publishers will still be responsible for complying with any relevant advertising regulations in their markets, including providing necessary disclosures indicating the commercial nature of the content they post,” it says on the official blog post.

3. Policy and Enforcement Guidelines simplified

Facebook has made a few welcome changes to their Branded Content Policy, that publishers, businesses and content creators will cheer for. Logos, Watermarks and Graphical Overlays will now be allowed to persist throughout a video, something which was previously prohibited by Facebook to appear for the first three seconds only.

Also, the company is exercising some restraint with a hint of mercy when it comes to dealing with Branded Content Posts that violate their guidelines.

Posts that violate said guidelines will no longer be struck down by the social networking giant, instead the Page will receive a notification with information about what changes need to be made in order for the post to comply with Facebook’s guidelines.

The violating post will cease to appear in the News Feed, but will exist on the Page, and upon addressing the issue, the Page can restore News Feed visibility of the Branded Content post.

The language in Facebook’s Branded Content Policies has also been updated to make it easier to understand for one and all, through which Facebook hopes to boost the adoption for Branded Content.