Facebook’s warning to SMEs: The number of organic posts in users’ newsfeeds will be dramatically slashed

Facebook has issued a warning to business owners that it is about to slash the number of organic posts that users see in their news feeds in the coming months, in a major blow to businesses that rely on social media marketing.

In a statement on its website, the company claims it has conducted a survey that shows its users want to see more posts from friends and less “promotional content” in their newsfeeds.

The social media giant claims that the main culprit of this “promotional content” is pages users themselves like, or organic posts, rather than its own paid-for ads and sponsored posts.

In particular, Facebook cites posts that solely push people to buy a product or install an app, push people to enter promotions and sweepstakes, or reuse the exact same content from ads.

It is warning small businesses that beginning in January, “people will see less of this type of content in their News Feeds”.

The social media giant also says it will introduce new volume and content controls for organic promotional posts as part of the overhaul.

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