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Fourth of July fireworks, parades, and parties guide

Fourth of July fireworks, parades, and parties guide

 

Fireworks explode over Sarasota Bay during the Fourth of July. 

Fireworks, parades and parties are all part of the fun taking place on the Fourth of July. At many of these events, bands will rock the crowds ahead of the patriotic pyrotechnics with vendors selling such American classics as cheeseburgers and cold beers. You’ll find plenty of activities for children, too.

From beaches to ballparks, here are the best spots to celebrate Independence Day, including fireworks celebrations on Saturday and Sunday, in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties.

  SARASOTA COUNTY

Bayfront Fireworks
Sarasota Powerboat Grand Pix Festival (here's our complete guide) again closes with a bang, actually a bunch of bangs. The Grand Prix organizers at Suncoast Charities for Children, in partnership with Marina Jack, helped raise the money to produce the Bayfront Fireworks that illuminate the sky off the waters of downtown Sarasota. For an extra-special experience, make a reservation at Marina Jack.
9 p.m. Monday; Marina Jack; 2 Marina Plaza; Sarasota; 941-365-4232; marinajacks.com

All-American Barbecue at Selby
Watch the fireworks in style at Selby Gardens with live music by blues singer Lauren Mitchell and a menu of such American classics as burgers (including a portobello burger), barbecue pork sandwiches, chicken fingers with fries and kosher hot dogs. Beer, wine and cocktails are also available. Regular ticket prices do not include food or open bar but the $150 VIP ticket includes valet parking, open bar and catering by Michael’s on East in Selby’s indoor VIP area.
6 p.m. Monday; Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, 811 S. Palm Ave., Sarasota; $25 (members), $35 (non-members), $150 (VIP), free for children age 3 and younger; 941-366-5731; selby.org

Siesta Key Fireworks Celebration
For the 26th year the Siesta Key Chamber has produced its own fireworks show with our most famous beach again a great spot to watch red, white and blue explosions.
9 p.m. Monday; Siesta Beach, 948 Beach Road, Sarasota; 941-349-3800; siestakeychamber.com

Office Bar SRQ Rooftop Party
View practically every fireworks show in the area from the top floor of the Office Bar SRQ’s parking deck, which puts you about 600 feet above Sarasota Bay. Office Bar is taking up the whole top floor so there will plenty of space in the shade, or under shelter if it rains a little. The Beer Box will be pouring Florida craft brews along with a small wet bar and burgers and hot dogs from Evie’s Catering & Events. Bringing a lawn chair is suggested. No outside food or beverage permitted.
6-10 p.m. Monday; Office Bar SRQ, 1989 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota; no cover charge; 941-955-3843; eviesonline.com/officebarsrq

Freedom Festival Parade
For the 14th year the Freedom Festival Parade will bring family fun to Longboat Key on Independence Day morning with floats and other festivities starting at Town Hall and proceeding down Bay Isles Road.
9-11 a.m. Monday; Longboat Key Town Hall, Town of Longboat Key, 941-316-1999; longboatkey.org

Venice’s Fourth of July Fireworks
Fireworks will be shot from the South Jetty, which will be closed, and can be viewed on area beaches from Caspersen to Nokomis.
9 p.m. Monday; Venice South Jetty; 941-486-2626; venicegov.com

North Port Freedom Festival
Watch a fireworks spectacular choreographed to music at the North Port Freedom Festival, one of the city’s signature events since 2004. There will be live music, an array of food/vendor booths, family activity area, obstacle course, giant slides and a gladiator joust.
6 p.m. Monday; North Port High School, 6400 W. Price Blvd., North Port; free; 941-429-7275; cityofnorthport.com

 

Celebrate the nation’s birthday at the Anna Maria Island Privateers Parade. HT ARCHIVE

MANATEE COUNTY

Bradenton Marauders
Celebrate Independence Day on July 2 when the Charlotte Stone Crabs play at the Bradenton Marauders’ McKechnie Field, where there will be post-game fireworks presented by Bright House Networks and Budweiser. There will also be a patriotic-themed jersey auction and free shirt giveaway for the first 1,500 fans to enter the ballpark. Live pre-game music by Gator Creek Band with gates opening at 4:30 p.m.
4:30 p.m. (gates) 6:30 p.m. (game) Saturday; McKechnie Field, 1611 9th St. W., Bradenton; $6-$10; 941-747-3031; bradentonmarauders.com

Anna Maria Island Privateers’ Fourth of July Parade
If you planned on attending the Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix Parade, which has been canceled, consider a trip to Anna Maria Island. The Anna Marie Island Privateers will once again host their annual Fourth of July parade to celebrate the birth of our nation and the non-profit’s mission statement of “pirates for kids and community.” The parade goes the entire seven-mile length of Anna Mari Island and is open to everyone: businesses, groups, families or individuals who would like to show their patriotism. There's no parade entrance fee although donations are always accepted. Please note that this is a non-walking parade so every entry must be on wheels. Attendees are invited to bring a chair and an American flag and set on the parade route, which is expected to draw 20,000 watchers with over 850 participants. The parade goes from Coquina Beach starting at 10 a.m. and will continue along Gulf Drive to Anna Maria City Pier. The after party will be at The Ugly Grouper, 5704 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach.
10 a.m. Monday; Coquina Beach, 2650 Gulf Drive, Bradenton Beach; 941-209-2212; amiprivateers.org

Sandbar Fireworks Extravaganza
This Monday’s fireworks celebration at Sandbar marks the 30th year the restaurant has hosted its Sandbar Fireworks Extravaganza. While it’s of course free to view the display from any of the surrounding beaches for spectacular dining and VIP options call the restaurant. The Beach House, part of the Chiles Restaurant Group, will again suspends its fireworks this year “with the best interest of our community’s environmental protection in mind, we have decided once again to cancel our July 3 fireworks display to protect the rare and endangered shore birds on the beach nearby,” reads the statement issued by Chiles.
8 p.m. Monday; Sandbar Restaurant, 100 Spring Ave., Anna Maria; 941-778-8709; sandbar.groupersandwich.com

Palmetto Fourth Festival
Palmetto knows how to party on the Fourth of July, once again bringing a free concert to its city and blasting off fireworks to be enjoyed on both sides of the Manatee River. That’s right, Bradenton, thank Palmetto for the patriotic pyrotechnics. Smash Mouth, the laid-back California band who gave us the catchy 1990s hits “Walkin’ on the Sun,” “All Star,” and covered The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” for the soundtrack “Shrek” plays Sutton Park at 7 p.m. The park opens at 4 p.m. with an opening performance and mayor’s Pledge of Allegiance. Fireworks are at 9:30 p.m.
4 p.m. Monday; Sutton Park, 6th St. W., Palmetto; free; 941-723-4988; palmettofl.org

 

Hundreds of people participated last year in the Freedom Swim. HT ARCHIVE

CHARLOTTE COUNTY

Charlotte Stone Crabs
Following the final out of the Bradenton Marauders at Charlotte Stone Crabs there will be a post-game fireworks show illuminating the skies above Charlotte Sports Park presented by Florida Cancer Specialists. Stone Crabs players will wear patriotic jerseys for Independence Day and the jerseys will be be auctioned off during the game.
5 p.m. (gate) 6 p.m. (first pitch) Sunday; Charlotte Sports Park; 2300 El Jobean Road, Port Charlotte; $10-$12 941-206-4487; stonecrabsbaseball.com

Fishermen’s Village July 4th Celebration
Fishermen’s Village will host its annual Fourth of July Celebration starting with the popular Freedom Swim beginning at 2 p.m. on the north side of the southbound U.S. 41 bridge and ending at Harpoon Harry’s. (Call 941-661-5622 for more Freedom Swim details.) The Green Hibiscus Trolley will provide transportation between Fishermen’s Village and the swim starting point. Other festivities at Fishermen’s Village include a lineup of music acts performing at noon and continuing through 9 p.m. Harpoon Harry’s will be offering children’s crafts, treats and face painting, bathing suit and Hula Hoop contests. Viewing of annual fireworks display over Charlotte Harbor begins at 9 p.m.
12-10 p.m. Monday; Fishermen’s Village, 1200 W. Retta Esplanade, Punta Gorda; free admission and free parking; 941-639-8721; fishermensvillage.wordpress.com

Englewood Firecracker Festival
Lemon Bay Sunrise Rotary is throwing its annual block party and fireworks show starting at 10 a.m. on Dearborn Street with burgers, hot dogs and such from local restaurants and vendors plus beer, frozen daiquiris and margaritas. Over 60 craft vendors will be lining the streets plus a kids’ zone with water slides and bounce houses. Three bands will also be performing and locals will know about the “chicken sheet bingo.”

10 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday; Pioneer Park, 300 W. Dearborn Street, Englewood; free; lemonbaysunriserotary.info

Retailers should know that search extends beyond Google!

Retailers should know that search extends beyond Google!

  Retail is undergoing a major change. This change has been on the horizon for years, but 2017 seems to be a tipping point for the industry. Retail stores are closing in record numbers. Week after week, major news outlets report on the trend, highlighting empty storefronts in vibrant neighborhoods like SoHo in New York City, and smaller crowds at shopping malls across the country.

Last year, online retail totaled 10% of retail sales; in the next 24 months, it will surpass 15% of total retail sales -- a massive increase.

 

Perhaps the best indicator that retail is suffering is Amazon's incredible success. Amazon now accounts for more than 40% of all U.S. ecommerce sales. When you consider that Amazon is just one of the many options consumers have for online shopping, you start to wonder how any retailer can catch up.

But perhaps retailers shouldn't focus on catching up. Maybe, instead, they should focus on those things that Amazon simply can't offer, due to its sheer size and plethora of inventory.

Progressive retailers

A distinct brand identity is vital for any retailer looking to attract customers to its physical stores and websites. Increasingly, shoppers are unwilling to buy from stores that don't stand for something. Notice that stores with a distinct brand identity and a powerful social purpose, stores that have invested in building a loyal customer base by consistently offering differentiated products, are still thriving. They're offering something that Amazon can't.

We see three key initiatives that are being undertaken by progressive retailers to thrive in this connected world:

1. A conscious effort to better understand their customers, gaining insights into cross-channel customer journeys.

2. An active effort to build a brand identity that's authentic and stands for something meaningful.

3. The adoption of a mobile-first philosophy that focuses on how customers see the brand through the lens of a mobile phone. Forrester reports that mobile influenced more than $1 trillion of all retail sales last year, or more than 30% of total retail sales! This number will only grow.

 

Rethinking customer search

Search remains a resource for consumers for both online and in-store purchases. However, search is no longer just intent-driven. Thanks to social media, search is now serendipitous as well.

We saw this phenomenon clearly in our data of ecommerce activity around Mother's Day this year. This Mother's Day, we found that last-click attributions increased by almost 18% for Facebook/Instagram from a year ago, with most of the ecommerce activity happening in the week leading up to Mother's Day. This suggests that consumers who were browsing on social media and were reminded about Mother's Day -- either from ads or posts from friends -- almost immediately bought their mother a present they found through Facebook search or on their feeds.

The issue with this new consumer behavior is that most retailers are not yet able to take advantage of it because of departmental silos that exist around specific channels. For instance, a retailer's social marketing team may be working separately from its search marketing team.

We can see how this impacts a major shopping holiday like Mother's Day. A consumer was likely thinking about a present for his mother for Mother's Day before he made that last-minute purchase on Facebook. In the weeks leading up to the holiday, he likely searched for some ideas on Google, but didn't make any purchases. But a week before Mother's Day, he was caught in the "uh-oh" moment on Facebook -- and was driven to make a purchase before it was too late. In that moment, he likely abandoned all his previous ideas. By rebuilding functions around the customer journey, retailers will be better able to seize on these "uh-oh" moments.

Put another way, retailers should think of the search bar as extending across all platforms, not as something that lives on Google. Search also lives on Safari, Facebook, Amazon, Pinterest, etc.

Retailers need to rethink customer search by understanding who their individual customers are, and how to attract them, no matter where they become serendipitously inspired to buy.

 

Shop Local Media is the #1 provider of Social Media Marketing in Sarasota, Venice, North Port, Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda. 

What is LIVE Streaming?

Presidential debates. Car chases. Sketch comedy TV shows. What do they all have in common? They’re all best enjoyed live.

The first televised live broadcast took place in 1951, when then-U.S. president Harry Truman made a speech at the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco. Since then, we’ve seen countless political events, breaking news, and, of course, popular entertainment shows like Saturday Night Live, all in real-time.

A lot of trends have gained—and lost—momentum in the intervening time, but the popularity of live video has endured. Reinvigorated by new technologies, we’ve now moved beyond social video into a world of live social video.

And where better to stream your live broadcasts than the biggest social network of all? No social network is used more—or by more people—than Facebook. The social giant introduced its own live video feature, called Facebook Live, at the end of 2015 and the prominence of video streaming on the platform has only grown from there.

What is Facebook Live?

Facebook Live is the social network’s live-streaming video functionality. Users can broadcast live videos using only their smartphones. It’s available to all Pages and profiles on Facebook for iOS, Android, and the Facebook Mentions app. Additionally, live broadcasts can be streamed in Facebook groups and events.

Facebook explained the appeal of Live video thusly: “Broadcast to the largest audience in the world with the camera in your pocket.”

Image via Facebook.

When the network first introduced live video in August 2015, the feature was limited to Facebook Mentions, an app available to public figures such as celebrities, athletes, musicians, politicians, and other influencers.

Then in December 2015, Facebook began to make the feature public, releasing it to a small subset of users in the U.S. and verified Pages, then to the rest of the country at the end of January 2016. It became available outside the U.S. at the end of February 2016. Facebook has since introduced a number of Live video features.

Why is live video a big deal for marketers? 

Before we dive into why live video matters, let’s back up a bit. To truly understand why live video is a big deal, you have to look at the ever-increasing prominence of social video.

While video has always been popular online, the dominance of social media and the rise of mobile usage has all but ensured social video’s position as the reigning monarch of content. Users continue to produce—and watch—more video at greater rates than ever before.

What you should know about social video:  

What you should know about Facebook video: 

Beyond the popularity of social video in general, Live video brings with it specific benefits.

What you should know about Facebook Live:

 

 

And of course, when it comes to that most critical of Facebook marketing elements—organic reach—live video can be a huge help.

Facebook considers Live video a distinct content type from other video shared on the platform. This distinction is important for brands because it means that the Facebook algorithm treats native video and Live video differently, with Live videos more likely to appear higher in News Feed while they’re live. After the broadcast, the video can still be discovered and viewed, but once it’s no longer live, Facebook will treat it like any other video.

Facebook Live video also has its own notification system. The network explained that when someone goes Live: “People who frequently engage with or have recently interacted with a person or Page going Live may receive a notification.” This feature gives greater prominence to Live videos and helps keep brands who broadcast top-of-mind.

And let’s not forget expectations for Live video. While viewers expect social video to be polished, audiences often enjoy the opposite in Live video. Production value tends to be less professional and more raw, which many viewers perceive as more authentic, a trait that an increasing number of consumers are looking for in brands.

In other words, there are plenty of good reasons to give Facebook Live video a try.

Difference between Facebook Live and other live-streaming options on social media

Facebook Live is far from the only option out there. Here’s a look at the other platforms offering live-streaming options.

YouTube

YouTube has been offering live-streaming since 2011. In 2016, the video giant added 360-degree streaming and the ability to stream directly from its mobile app.

Image via YouTube.

Users have two streaming options:

Stream Now

Stream Now is the simplest way for users to share live video on YouTube because the platform automatically detects the stream resolution and frame rate. During the broadcast, users can interact with their audience via live chat, view real-time analytics, and monitor the stream. Users can choose to archive the footage to save it for later.

Events

The Events option gives users more control over their broadcast. YouTubers can select privacy options, set a start time for their broadcast, and enable a backup stream (for redundancy). They can also create multiple live events and stream them simultaneously.

YouTube live-streaming is the best fit for people or brands whose audience is primarily on YouTube. It can also work well for brands who’d like to share their broadcast across several platforms, as the link can easily be shared on the network of their choosing.

Periscope

Periscope is a live streaming app owned by Twitter and integrated into the platform. It debuted in March 2015 and fought a brief battle with Meerkat for social streaming supremacy.

Image via Periscope.

Users can tag their location and respond to audience comments in real-time. Recent updates to the app give Periscope users the option to live-stream directly from a GoPro camera, save their broadcast, and embed it directly in Tweets. Viewers can also replay highlights. To learn more about how to use the platform, check out our Periscope guide for business.

The primary difference between Periscope and Facebook Live is the network. Periscope is the live-streaming option for Twitter users while Facebook Live, of course, lives on Facebook.

Facebook Live features

Not only does Facebook Live give brands access to an immense audience—potentially the entirety of Facebook, which currently boasts 1.13 daily active users—it also offers a range of features.

Notifications

Because Facebook Live is considered a distinct content type (and one that Facebook is actively encouraging), it has its own notification system. By default, users’ Live video notifications are set to ‘on’.

The network explained that when someone goes Live: “People who frequently engage with or have recently interacted with a person or Page going Live may receive a notification.”

If a user is particularly interested in Live video from a particular broadcaster, they can choose to subscribe, which means they’ll be notified any time that broadcaster goes Live.

Invite friends

When a user is watching a broadcast, they can choose to send an invitation to a friendto watch with them. This option is available from within the Live video. To send an invite, simply tap on the invite icon and select the friend you’d like to invite. That person will receive a push notification.

Image via Facebook.

Maps

For users interested in discovering new content, there’s the Facebook Live Map, which is available on desktop. Facebook users in more than 60 countries have the ability to begin a live broadcast, so the Facebook Live Map provides a way for people to discover those videos more easily.

Image via Facebook.

The map displays all live broadcasts currently happening around the world, each one represented by a blue dot, with larger dots indicating more popular broadcasts. Hovering over a dot pulls up a preview of the stream, including a counter showing how many people are currently watching it, and a timer showing how long the broadcast has been playing. Users can choose to zoom in to explore broadcasts in more specific areas.

Image via Facebook Live Map.

Additionally, a panel to on the left side of the screen features a list of the most popular current live broadcasts. As with the dots, hovering over one shows both where the broadcast originated and where people are streaming it from.

Image via Facebook Live Map.

Live Reactions

Facebook users can, of course, react to any post on the platform using the six emoji-like Reactions to highlight their response. But Facebook Live takes things one step further by allowing a broadcast’s audience to react to the video stream in real-time, with Reactions appearing on the video itself as they’re clicked by the audience.

Image via Facebook.

Filters

Broadcasters have the option to add a filter to their live stream. There are five options to choose from. While Facebook announced on April 6, 2016—the same day they introduced filters—that they would soon add the ability for broadcasters to draw or doodle on their video while live, this feature is not yet available.

Image via Facebook.

How to add a filter to live video

  1. Begin recording a broadcast
  2. Tap the magic wand icon
  3. Scroll left to view all filter options
  4. Tap a filter to select it

It’s important to note that you will be live while selecting a filter.

Masks

In addition to filters, broadcasters can now also experiment with Snapchat-like masksduring their live-stream. Introduced on October 27, 2016, masks are available on iOS to broadcasters in the U.S., U.K., and New Zealand.

Image via Facebook.

How to use a mask in Live video

  1. Tap the Live video icon to begin recording a broadcast
  2. Once live, tap the magic wand icon
  3. Select the masks icon in the creative tools tray at the bottom of the screen
  4. Scroll through the options and tap on masks to have them automatically appear on your face
  5. To remove the mask, scroll to the far left and tap the no mask option

It’s important to note that you will be live while selecting a mask.

Facebook Live API

The Facebook Live API allows broadcasters to “seamlessly incorporate Live into their existing broadcast setup.” This means that publishers who have more sophisticated equipment have the option to broadcast from a professional camera and audio setup rather than streaming Live video from a mobile device.

The Live API also enables features like camera switching, instant replay, on-screen graphics, and special effects. Using the API, publishers also have the ability to stream other sources, like games or screencasts.

For example, video game company Blizzard Entertainment used the Live API to enable gamers to live-stream their gameplay directly to Facebook from within the game.

Continuous Live streaming

Through the Facebook Live API, it’s possible to broadcast continuous live video. This is a tad more complex to set up than the average Live video broadcast, but offers a great option for users who may want to showcase a constant Live feed, such as a museum or zoo.

Schedule Live broadcasts

Using the Facebook Live API, publishers can schedule Live broadcasts in order to build up an audience before they begin streaming. When a publisher schedules a Live video, an announcement will be posted to News Feed letting their fans know the broadcast is coming.

Image via Facebook.

Users who see the post can choose to receive a one-time notification that will remind them shortly before the broadcast begins. Fans can then join a pre-broadcast lobby where they can connect and interact with other viewers before the Live video starts.

Image via Facebook.

Publishers can schedule Live broadcasts up to one week in advance and audiences can join a lobby three minutes prior to the start of the broadcast. Another bonus? Once publishers have scheduled a Live video, they’re able to share a link to the broadcast or embed it in other places, such as websites or blogs.

Facebook announced scheduling and lobby functionality on October 18, 2016. It was made available to Verified Pages later that week and Facebook said they planned to open it up to all Pages in the following weeks.

Ability to share in a group or event

Facebook Live video can be broadcast from a Facebook profile and Pages. It can also be shared directly in a Facebook group or event, giving users plenty of live-streaming options.

Metrics

For Pages, Facebook offers several different metrics to measure the success of their live video broadcasts.

In addition to the metrics available for video through Facebook Insights—video views, 30-second views, top videos, demographic breakdown of minutes viewed, viewer engagement, and more—Facebook provides two Live video-specific metrics:

Peak concurrent viewers

The highest number of viewers who were watching the video while it was live.

Viewers during live broadcast

A visual representation of the number of viewers during each moment of the live broadcast.

 

Ads

In August 2016, Facebook began testing mid-roll video ads in Facebook Live. Facebook told AdAge: “We’re running a small test where a group of publishers have the option to insert a short ad break in their Facebook Live videos.”

It’s not clear at this time whether Facebook will move ahead with implementing this more widely.

How to use Facebook Live

Live broadcasts can be identified by the red icon in the top left-hand corner of the video. The word “Live” will be written next to the icon, along with the number of current viewers.

How to start a Facebook Live broadcast:

  1. Tap on Update Status
  2. Select the Live Video icon
  3. Write a description
  4. Choose the audience you’d like to share with
  5. Go live

During the broadcast, you’ll see the number of live viewers, the names of any friends who are tuning in, and a real-time stream of comments. Once you’ve ended your broadcast, the post will save to your Timeline like any video.

Image via Facebook.

Live broadcasts can be up to 90 minutes long.

How to schedule a Facebook Live broadcast

  1. On your Page, go to Publishing Tools
  2. Select Video Library and then Live
  3. Copy stream credentials, such as stream key and server URL
  4. Write your announcement post
  5. Finalize your scheduled Live broadcast
  6. Click Schedule

Image via Facebook.

For more information and detailed step-by-step instructions, check out Facebook’s guide to scheduling a Live video.

Where to find Facebook Live broadcasts to watch

There are several ways to discover Facebook Live videos. The simplest is, of course, clicking on one in your News Feed. If there’s a particular broadcaster you enjoy, you can tap the Follow button while watching one of their videos to receive a notification next time they go live.

Image via Facebook.

You can also choose to receive notifications from Pages you follow. By default, this setting is set to on.

How to turn notifications on or off

  1. Click the drop-down arrow in the upper right-hand corner of the screen
  2. Select Settings
  3. Click Notifications on the left-hand side of the screen
  4. Click On Facebook
  5. Scroll down to Live videos, then choose your desired setting from the three options in the dropdown: On, Suggestions off, and All off

Image via Facebook.

Another way to find live broadcasts to watch is via the Facebook Live Map, which displays all Live broadcasts currently happening around the world.

Tips for using Facebook Live

Facebook offers several tips and best practices for using Facebook Live on their media site.

1. Plan your broadcast

Broadcasting live, by its very nature, means you can’t plan precisely what’s going to happen. But that doesn’t mean you should just wing it. Like any type of content online, Facebook Live broadcasts should have a purpose.

Before you begin streaming, ensure that you’ve taken some time to think about what your broadcast’s about, what you want to say (or do) in it, and why it makes sense as a Live stream as opposed to some other format of content.

2. Let people know when you’re going to broadcast

You wouldn’t hold a party and not invite anyone, would you? Your Facebook Live broadcast is like any other event: if you want anyone to show up, you’ve got to let them know it’s happening.

 

Hotel company Outrigger Resorts does an excellent job of this, creating 10 to 15 second long mini-trailers for their Live videos, which they share in advance of their broadcasts.

 

Obviously you’ll want to post about your upcoming broadcast on Facebook, where you can encourage people to subscribe to your Live videos. But you can also promote your stream on your other social channels. Just make sure you’re clear about where and when people can tune in!

 

The Facebook Live API makes this even easier by giving publishers the option to schedule broadcasts and share a link to their stream ahead of time.

3. Make sure you have a strong connection

It’s important to make sure you have a strong signal before you begin broadcasting. While WiFi is ideal, if it’s unavailable, a 4G connection works well.

For best results, check your internet speed prior to beginning your broadcast using the Speedtest app, available in the App Store and Google Play.

4. Write a compelling description before going live

Your description tells people what your video is about. A good one captures the audience’s attention and a bad one—or worse, none at all—makes it all the more likely they’ll keep on scrolling.

Use your description to tell a story. Give context about what your broadcast is about and be sure to make it clear why people would want to watch.

5. Tag your location

Add your location to your Live video so it shows up on the Facebook Live Map and gives you a greater chance of having it discovered by new viewers.

6. Ask viewers to follow you

Getting audience members to subscribe to your Live videos is the simplest way to ensure future viewers, because subscribers receive notifications every time you go Live. While broadcasting, take a second to let viewers know about the feature and tell them how they can subscribe to your videos.

7. Respond to comments

As with any kind of social content, engagement is key on Facebook Live video. Facebook recommends saying hello to commenters by name, then responding to their comments.

8. Broadcast for longer periods of time

The longer you continue your broadcast, the more time people have to discover your stream, watch it, and invite their friends to join in.

Facebook recommends going Live for at least 10 minutes. The maximum time limit for a broadcast is 90 minutes, so beyond that, the length is up to you.

9. Show exclusively Live content

While it’s possible using the Facebook Live API to insert previously recorded video into your live stream, Facebook recommends showing exclusively live content during Live videos.

10. Be creative

The more often you go Live, the more likely you are to stay top-of-mind. Try out different types of broadcasts to see what resonates with your audience. And don’t be afraid to get creative with your stream.

Ideas for Facebook Live content

Facebook suggest a number of different ways to use Live. These are a few of the ones that are most relevant for brands.

1. Hot topics

When something’s on everyone’s minds, it can be worthwhile for your brand to dive into the conversation. Though, as with any kind of trendjacking—whether it’s the holidays or the latest craze—it’s crucial to only hop on board if what you have to say is relevant and useful.

At the height of back-to-school season in August 2016, Target took to Facebook Live to chat about dorm room style.

 

The moderator read out questions from commenters, which were then displayed on the screen. The panel of college stylists dished out advice and discussed solutions. The stream has accumulated more than 38,000 views since its debut.

2. Interviews and Q&As

The interactive nature of Facebook Live means the platform was practically made for Q&As.

All brands need to try out this format is a host, a willing and interesting guest, and a mobile phone or camera to broadcast with. The audience can join in and ask questions in the comments, making the experience interactive.

Harry Potter prequel film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them took to Facebook Live in October 2016 for a Global Fan Event. The Page streamed exclusive footage from the upcoming film alongside a Q&A with members of the cast.

 

It received more than 1.3 million views.

3. Breaking news

If you’re a journalist, publisher, or other media organization, then you already know when and how to live-stream breaking news. But for brands, it’s a little different.

Southwest Airlines used Facebook Live during winter storm Jonas to give a look behind-the-scenes at Operations Control, showing how they were coping with the weather and explaining what they were doing to help passengers whose travel plans were disrupted.

 

The notable thing about this stream is how Southwest approached the management of a PR crisis on social media by focusing on transparency and customer service. The video has accrued more than 89,000 views and over 2,700 likes.

4. Performances and live events

Whether it’s a conference or concert, Facebook Live is a good home for events. It opens up the experience to a wider audience, broadening the scope of your event.

In July 2016, Target live-streamed the launch party for their new children’s clothing line Cat & Jack. The broadcast was hosted by Zanna Roberts Rassi, senior fashion editor of Marie Claire and NBC Today show fashion contributor.

 

The stream racked up over 1.2 million views.

5. Behind-the-scenes

Behind-the-scenes content is popular on a number of social channels, particularly when it comes to social video. Facebook Live takes things one step further by giving the audience the opportunity to interact, ask questions, and influence the direction of the broadcast in real-time.

One brand that made good use of the Live format was the Smithsonian, broadcasting a series of six videos, each hosted by a different museum. The broadcasts explored various exhibits within the National Museum of African American History and Culture before its public opening.

 

Another brand that does a good job of behind-the-scenes content is Callaway Golf. In June 2016, the brand broadcast an exclusive tour of golf legend Arnold Palmer’s home, led by the golfer’s longtime friend Doc.

 

What sets Callaway’s livestream apart was the camera operator’s efforts to engage viewers throughout the stream. Around the five minute mark, he thanks the audience for tuning in and puts out a call for questions or requests for what the audience would like to see. Later on, about 20 minutes in, he reintroduces Doc and his relationship to Palmer for viewers who had just tuned in.

6. Demo

Live can be a great way to show off your products and how to use them.

Martha Stewart was one of the earliest adopters of Facebook Live, gaining access to the feature a month before most celebrities. She’s shown that demo-style videos—whether they’re cooking shows or a stream on how to properly iron a shirt—work well on the platform.

 

The broadcasts regularly rack up more than 150,000 views. As Business Insider noted, that’s more eyeballs than some episodes of “The Martha Stewart Show” after its move to the Hallmark Channel.

A recent stream, featuring actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, in which Stewart demonstrates how to make a rhubarb-strawberry lattice pie, accumulated nearly 20,000 interactions, setting a new record for Stewart’s Facebook Page.

Her success on the platform recently prompted Adweek to proclaim that she’s “conquered Facebook Live.”

7. Announcements and campaign launches

Going Live for a big announcement or the launch of a campaign can be a good way to build anticipation for whatever it is you plan to tell your audience. Be sure to tease the live-stream in advance and let fans know to tune in for some big news.

Dunkin’ Donuts became one of the earliest brands to try out Facebook Live when they broadcast a behind-the-scenes look into their kitchen for a Valentine’s Day promotion in February 2016. The stream featured the team preparing a cake made from heart-shaped donuts and introduced a contest.

 

Dunkin’ Donuts’ social media manager, Melanie Cohn, told Marketing Land that the session racked up 21,000 viewers in only 13 minutes. She said the company saw one of their highest average view times ever on their Live video as compared to pre-recorded video.

8. Series

If you have an engaged audience and it fits your marketing goals, one option to consider is creating a T.V. show-style broadcast that you run on a regular basis.

Benefit Cosmetics has done this with their series Tipsy Tricks with Benefit. Tipsy Tricks is a weekly live show featuring a host and a guest chatting about beauty topics (often chosen by the audience), sharing advice, demonstrating products and techniques, and answering viewer questions. And, of course, drinking wine. (This is still the internet, after all.)

 

The show debuted in March 2016 and the first two streams accrued 42,000 and 59,000 live viewers respectively, with an average of 2,000 people tuning in at any given time, according to Digiday. A September 2016 episode featuring special guest and brow expert Jared Bailey racked up more than 189,000 views.

Claudia Allwood, Benefit’s senior director of U.S. digital marketing, explained the appeal to Internet Retailer: “Our Live videos are a great way to showcase our brand and to educate our consumers.”

“It is utility-meets-fun-meets-GF banter. We have a talk-show vibe, but we’re talking to you, not at you,” she told Digiday

Another brand that’s gone the show-route is Outrigger Resorts. The tourism brand streams an #AlohaFridayLive broadcast every Friday, taking viewers to a different resort in the chain, showing off the locales, introducing them to employees, and answering audience questions.

Frequently asked questions about Facebook Live

How do you broadcast live video on Facebook?

To start a live broadcast on Facebook:

  1. Tap on Update Status
  2. Select the Live Video icon
  3. Write a description
  4. Choose the audience you’d like to share with
  5. Go live

How do I get Facebook Live?

Facebook Live video is available to all Pages and profiles on Facebook for iOS, Android, and the Facebook Mentions app. Additionally, Facebook Live broadcasts can be streamed in Facebook groups and events.

How long does a Facebook Live video last?

Facebook Live broadcasts can last up to 90 minutes.

What is going live on Facebook?

Going live on Facebook means beginning a live broadcast that can be viewed by Facebook users around the world.

Pinterest is gaining active users.

October 13, 2016Andrew Hutchinson

Last September, Pinterest reported that it had reached the milestone of 100 million monthly active users. And while, comparatively, that may not seem like much – Facebook has 1.71 billion MAU – as highlighted by Pew Research, Pinterest usage is actually increasing at a significantly higher rate than most other platforms.

While the bigger platforms get more hype, Pinterest has slowly, but surely, been establishing their place in the social sphere, with ambitions to be generating $2.8 billion in annual revenue by 2018. And today, Pinterest has reported its latest growth achievement, reaching 150 million active Pinners – a 50% expansion in audience from 12 months ago.

As you can see from the side notes, along with that MAU increase, Pinterest is also reporting that:

  • 70 million of their users are US-based, with 80 million are outside the US
  • 40% of new sign-ups are now men
  • Over 50% of all Millennials in the US are now on Pinterest

Those are some compelling stats, reflective of the ongoing efforts of the Pinterest team. Within the past 12 months, for example, the platform has improved its buyable pins (there are now more than 60 million buyable Pins on the site) and added advanced image search capabilities, while also upgrading their mobile app and providing new advertising options like remarketing and custom audience tools (including new elements added just this week)

At the same time, part of the platform’s evolution has also seen Pinterest moving away from being a ‘social’ network and more towards an eCommerce solution. That’s not a bad thing, but the focus of the platform is, over time, drifting further away from the social element and more towards facilitating consumer interaction with brands. That shift is also evident in the numbers – 75% of all saved Pins now come from business boards. 

The change in focus has also been underlined by Pinterest’s management – CEO Ben Silbermann describes the network as a place where people go "to find ideas" as opposed to seeing what your friends are doing, while the company’s broader ambition is to create a platform “with the scale and engagement of Facebook and the purchasing intent of Google”.

It’s clear that Pinterest sees itself as something other than a social network, but then again, that framing may also have something to do with market positioning. Pinterest, eventually, is expected to go public, and doing so as a social network will inevitably see them compared with Facebook, something that other social networks - Twitter most notably - have struggled with. But changing their definition could help avoid such comparison – Snapchat has recently taken a similar tack, with Snap Inc. listing itself as “a camera company” not a social networking app.

Among other details released by Pinterest, the platform says it now serves 10 billion recommendations per day to users - the equivalent of 3 trillion a year - while more than 150 million visual searches are conducted monthly. Pinterest also says there are now more than a million businesses active on the network, with “tens of thousands” now utilizing their paid ad options.

It’s a good report card from the Pin network – if your brand has never considered Pinterest, particularly if you’re a B2C, the platform is definitely worth further investigation.

A hundred and fifty million people, innovative search and discovery options and improved advertising tools. There’s a lot to like about the growing world of Pins.

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Social Media marketing in Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, North Port, Venice Florida

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Twitter has changed my life - personally and professionally - in ways that I can’t even begin to explain.

I also understand that Twitter isn’t like any other social network. The quirks and limitations cause many to give up and many others to not see how someone like me finds so much value on the network.

Over the last couple years, Twitter has made a massive effort to add features to not only simplify the user interface, but also to give creators additional options for telling their stories.

I personally believe Twitter is making the right moves - not be a social network, necessarily, or to compete with other social networks - but rather to be a real-time global fire-hose of active conversations and communities for live events and breaking news.

Listed below are my top 6 Twitter power user features that any user, no matter the number of followers, can take advantage of to find massive value on Twitter and standout from the noise.

1. Twitter Lists: Contact and conversation management

Quite possibly one of the most underrated features on the network - Twitter lists enable me to follow over 30k people without worrying about the added noise.

I segment people into different lists based on topics, events or types of tweets. Contact and conversation filtering is essential for all users as they scale their Twitter use.

I’d guess less than 5% of users know about lists, and maybe 5% of those users use them regularly. With all that being said, if you can get over the steps required to create them or leverage tools like Audiense, Buzzsumo, IFTTT or SpiderQube to help you create them, Twitter lists can be a mind-blowing feature that'll hook you into the true power of Twitter.

2. Tweetdeck: Real-time engagement

Twitter for me, when compared to other social networks, is less of a social network and more of a media site - I like to refer to it as a “global, unfiltered firehose of conversations and community”.

Many people find value on Twitter when they're at a conference or watching TV or at a major sporting event. That's because the conversations are happening around a hashtag, in real-time, and it doesn’t matter who's following who because everyone adds to the conversation. The hashtag becomes the glue that links all the tweets in chronological or popularity order, depending on your viewing preference.

Tweetdeck is a Mac and Chrome browser application that Twitter bought a couple years back - it enables me to create columns to easily filter conversations around specific users, hashtags, or Twitter lists.

Being able to quickly navigate and consume conversations ripe for me to jump is the secret weapon that enables me to maintain my reputation of “talking fast and tweeting faster”.

3. Twitter Analytics: Easily monitor what matters to you

I’m a massive geek and marketing technology addict - to say I love data is an understatement.

Approximately one year ago, Twitter granted users access to their profile analytics data on analytics.twitter.com. This dashboard provides a fantastic snapshot of profile insights, including follower demographics, most engaged tweets, trends over the last 28 days and more.

For me this provides incredible value as I can see that my Twitter profile is viewed an average 44k times a month  – which is far more than my website or any other homepage I have on the web.  Because of this data I often update my bio, pinned tweet, and background image to provide the most relevant information to the people visiting my page.  And even though I schedule most of my content via Buffer, I still view my Twitter analytics a couple times a month to monitor trends and better understand my Twitter community.

4. Pinned Tweet: Attract and direct traffic where you want it to go

As mentioned earlier, Twitter analytics enables me to monitor engagement on my tweets and profile views. With so much traffic to my profile page, it’s essential to make a good first impression with my Twitter bio and images.

But let’s face it, people follow you on Twitter for your tweets – for the information you share.

Your pinned tweet is the first tweet a person sees when they visit your Twitter profile. Often times the engagement on the pinned tweet will be much greater than on a normal tweet because it has a chance of being viewed more frequently. I like to experiment and have even gone as far as using Twitter cards, Twitter video, and Periscope live video posts as my pinned tweet.

Expanding beyond a traditional tweet allows me to go provide more than 140 characters of text while still being the first tweet someone sees when they view my page. I often change my pinned tweet to stay current and to drive new engagement to new content.

How often and what you choose to select as your pinned tweet is up to you, but whatever you do, you should update your pinned tweet regularly if you use this option. Don’t leave a tweet pinned from 2013 as that just shows you don’t care about your first impression - and that can deter people from clicking 'follow'.

5. Twitter Embed Options: Make it easy for people to find, follow and engage with you

An important step in every digital strategy is that you need bring your content and story to where your audience is already consuming and engaging media - don't expect them to come to you. 

This includes Twitter - telling someone you’re on Twitter or having a small Twitter logo on your website or in your email signature is just giving them an FYI.

What’s better than telling? Showing.

Twitter recently enhanced their embed options allowing you to go beyond just putting your Twitter timeline in the sidebar of your website.  My favorite new embeds are: Twitter follow button, Twitter DM from anywhere button, Twitter Collection of Tweets Embed, and an embed of a Periscope share tweet that enables the Periscope feed to play inline on your site. These new embed options are a great way to bridge your audience by showing them who you are and to drive them to your Twitter profile to find out more.

6. Twitter Video: Go beyond 140 characters

I’ve built 50+ strategies and will keynote at more than 45 events this year mostly focused on helping brands, leaders and communities tell their digital stories using live video and social media. Given this, it'll be little surprise that I’m also a huge fan of Twitter video  - but I might up the ante by saying that it’s the most valuable, current feature of Twitter. Unfortunately, much like Twitter lists, it may also be one of the most underutilized.

Twitter videos can be created using the Twitter app on your iOS device. One of my favorite use-cases is replying back to those who share my content or thank me for something with a quick video. It’s personalized, they can look in what I call my “digital eyeballs”, and it conveys more in 10 seconds than I can say in 140 characters. I’ve also found great success in uploading videos that are professionally edited or ones that I’ve recorded via Periscope into a Twitter video card, including a call to action, title, description of the video and a custom button to drive viewers of the video to my website for more details or information.

This week Twitter announced a shared revenue plan with Twitter creators that will allow us to place ad content before our videos and receive a share of that revenue. I've applied for this functionality but haven’t used it yet. But the countdown is on - I have about 50 different scenarios where this will be integrated into my Twitter strategy.

What is the difference between a Twitter power user and the average user? Time, strategy, and an understanding of all Twitter options.

Time, like in everything we do, is required to find value and opportunity on Twitter. I don’t have a magic trick or tweet shortcut to get more than 24 hours in your day or to pause the clock while you’re engaging in your favorite Twitter chat. There's no easy button, but I will say that when you start by defining what success looks like for you and your time spent on Twitter, you’re ahead of most.

Hopefully this post gives you insights into key Twitter features that you might not have known were available, and how you might be able to use each to find more value on the platform.

My Twitter Feature Wishlist

This wouldn’t be my post about Twitter features if I didn’t include a personal wish list for future features just in case Twitter is reading this. So here they are:

  • Video & Periscope Live Streaming:
  • Commenting on Periscope from browser
  • Open Stream API for Periscope allowing 3rd party tools and cameras
  • Ability to create user streams into the #GoLive Dashboard for video and hashtag integration
  • Twitter DM filtering giving users dynamic filtering on automated DM’s vs DM conversations
  • Twitter Analytics
  • More than 30 days worth of persona data
  • Ability to see clicks & profile traffic both inbound and outbound
  • Ability to run analytics against a specific twitter list for more focused dynamic analytics of a subset of users
  • Tweetdeck column view on the twitter mobile iOS when the phone is turned horizontal we would be able to see and engage in multiple columns and feeds like we do on desktop tweetdeck today.

-Anthony Denardis North Port Florida

social media marketing in sarasota, ounta gorda, north port, venice Florida. 

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The Ultimate Guide to how Facebook chooses what to show in your news Feed, and how you can get your content seen by more people.

The Ultimate Guide to how Facebook chooses what to show in your news Feed, and how you can get your content seen by more people.

This is the ultimate guide to how Facebook chooses what to show in your News Feed, and how you can get your content seen by more people.

Understanding how the News Feed works is tough because the algorithm is always changing. So TechCrunch launched this research project for today’s 10th anniversary of News Feed, interviewing Facebook’s team members, compiling the company’s announcements, and reviewing a decade of our coverage. The result is this helpful explainer, which we’ll keep updated as new changes roll out so it’s always accurate.

The Goal Of News Feed

Facebook’s objective is to select the most relevant and engaging stories to show in the News Feed. It wants to choose the best content out of several thousand potential stories that could appear in your News Feed each day, and put those in the first few dozen slots that you’ll actually browse through.

These stories get ranked and shown in order of importance, from big stuff like your sibling getting married or a news article that 10 of your friends have shared, to the average links shared by brands to their websites, to boring stories like a distant acquaintance RSVPing for an event.

Facebook prioritizes stories you’ll Like, comment on, share, click, and spend time reading, which we’ll refer to as “engagement”. Facebook also runs both online surveys and offline focus groups to get more feedback about what stories people think should appear.

The more engaging the content, the more you’ll come back to Facebook, and the better it can accomplish its mission of connecting people while also earning revenue from ads shown in News Feed.

 

The Natural Decline Of Reach

Over time as more people and Pages join Facebook and each shares more content, there’s more competition for the limited available space in the News Feed. While people have increased the amount of time they spend on the News Feed over the past 10 years, viewership hasn’t grown as fast as the amount of stories shared.

This causes a natural decline in the reach of what’s posted to the News Feed, in terms of the percentage of people who see a story out of everyone eligible to see it. This is why Facebook Pages see the percentage of their followers who see their content shrinking over time. It’s an inevitable result of people sharing more frequently, rather than some conspiracy of Facebook’s to force businesses to buy ads.

The best way for you to counteract this decline of reach for your own content is to learn what Facebook’s algorithm prefers.

The Main Factors Influencing What You See

So how does Facebook’s algorithm choose what appears in what order? It assigns each story a personalized relevancy score that’s different for each person that sees it, and puts the most relevant stories first. The algorithm takes into account thousands of different signals. But here are the four main factors that decide a story’s personalized relevancy score, and therefore its visibility to that user.

 

Who Posted It – The more you’ve interacted with a post’s author in the past, the more interested Facebook thinks you’ll be in their future posts. This interaction could be engagement such as Liking or commenting, but also clicking or slowing down to read their posts, visiting their Page or profile, tagging them or being tagged together in posts or photos, and many other actions on Facebook. This is why you don’t see post from old friends or Pages you haven’t interacted with in years.

How Other People Engaged With The Post – The more that other people have engaged with a particular post, the more likely that Facebook will show it to you too. Sometimes people and Pages post boring things few interact with, so it lets them sink into obscurity. But if a high percentage of people who do see a post at first do engage, Facebook knows it’s interesting and keeps showing it to more people.

What Type Of Post Is it – The more that you typically engage with a certain kind of post (status, link, photo, video, event, job change, content from another app), the more Facebook will show you posts of that type. Different people enjoy different kinds of posts. I might love reading news articles, you might love watching videos. Facebook matches people to post types so if you never watch videos, you won’t see as many.

When It Was Posted – The more recently a story was posted, the more likely you are to see it. However, Facebook also detects when you last checked the NewsFeed, and will rank older, good posts higher if you haven’t logged in since they were posted and haven’t seen them. Check every few minutes or hours, and Facebook will prioritize very recent posts. Go offline for a week and Facebook might surface a big story like your best friend having a baby even if it was posted 5 days ago.

 

Combined, these factors have a heavy influence on how high up in the News Feed a post appears. Over time as you interact with the News Feed, Facebook learns what you care about and evolves that understanding if your behavior changes.

There are also several other significant factors that determine what you see in the News Feed, though not as heavily as those above

How Many Others Have Posted the Same Thing – Facebook creates highly-ranked aggregations of posts when lots of friends or Pages post the same thing. If a dozen friends have all posted the same news article or video, Facebook assumes it’s a big deal and displays a “Josh Constine and 11 other friends shared…” story higher up in the News Feed.

New Facebook Products – When Facebook releases a new product such as Live video or Slideshows, the company needs to test how much people want to interact with it. It may initially show too many or too few News Feed stories about the product until it receives enough feedback to learn the appropriate level of visibility.

 

How Ads Get Inserted

Facebook also injects ads into the News Feed. These don’t replace any naturally visible post but instead just get injected in between them, pushing down the ones that come after.

Facebook uses a similar but separate ranking algorithm to determine whether you’re likely to be interested in a Page or business’ ads. Facebook limits the number of ads you see, and therefore wants to maximize the likelihood that the ones it shows you will get you to click, since clicks earns it more money.

The more Facebook knows about you, the more relevant the ads will be. If you fill out your profile and Like the Pages of things you care about, Facebook’s ads will become more personalized and relevant, informing you about products, apps, events, and more that you’re truly interested in.

Controlling Your News Feed

Facebook gives you both implicit and explicit ways to teach the News Feed what you want to see.

Implicit signals come from your normal behavior on Facebook. If you keep Liking stories from a certain friend or about a particular topic, you’ll see more of them. If you always skim past someone’s posts or never click on the stories shared by a Page, you’ll see less of them. That’s why it’s important to actually Like things you like, and not pity-Like things you don’t really care about just to be nice to someone.

 

Facebook also provides explicit tools for directly telling News Feed what you do and don’t want to see. Every story has a little drop-down arrow in the top right corner that lets you:

  • Hide a post so you stop seeing it and see fewer stories similar to it
  • Unfollow the author so you don’t see any more of their posts
  • Save the story for later, which tells Facebook to show you more posts similar to it
  • Turn on notifications, so you’re alerted of future posts by that author

There’s also a See First option available in the News Feed settings. This lets you pick people or Pages whose posts you always want to see at the top of your News Feed, which can be useful for staying informed about a loved one, best friend, favorite brand, or your own business.

An Updated List Of News Feed Algorithm Changes

Facebook is constantly tweaking the News Feed. It adapts to prevent people from gaming or tricking the system, embrace new media types, and correct flaws that lead people to see things they don’t care about. Facebook publishes News Feed FYI blog posts to be transparent about the changes.

 

This article will adapt too. As Facebook publishes more FYIs, we’ll add them to this list with a short summary of what each means. That way you can keep referencing this article and share it with friends or colleagues that don’t understand how News Feed works. Here are all the News Feed change announcements so far:

High Quality Posts From Pages – Timely, relevant, from a source you trust, you would share it or recommend it, genuinely interesting and not trying to game the News Feed, not low quality or a meme, wouldn’t complain, doesn’t get hidden, complete Page profile, fan base overlaps with other high quality Pages.

More Relevant Ads – Fewer ads that other people hide, Fewer ads similar to ones people have already hidden

Higher Quality News – More links to high quality articles, Fewer links to meme photos, related articles to ones you clicked, highlighting stories with new comments

More Status Updates From Friends – More text status updates from friends, fewer text status updates from Pages, more link share stories from Pages, fewer text updates with embedded links from Pages

MoreStories About Topics You Like – Page posts that tag another Page may be shown to followers of the tagged Page

Cleaning Up News Feed Spam – Fewer Page posts that explicitly ask people to Like, comment, or Share. Fewer Page posts that have already been shared by that Page, fewer spammy links that use inaccurate language or formatting to trick people into clicking

Focusing On Explicitly Shared Stories – More explicitly shared stories from third-party apps and fewer implicitly or automatically shared stories

Showing Better Videos – More videos people watch and watch for a long time, more videos to people who watch videos and fewer videos to people who skip videos

Fighting Click Bait – Fewer links that don’t tell people much about what they’re clicking to, fewer links to web pages where people don’t spend much time and come right back to Facebook, more links to web pages where people spend a lot of time, more links to web pages people talk about after visiting and fewer links to web pages people don’t talk about after visiting, more stories with links shared with the link format and fewer stories with links in the description or caption of a photo or video.

Incorporating Feedback About Ads – Using surveys about why people hide ads, fewer similar ads to ads someone hid because it wasn’t relevant to them, fewer ads shown to anyone that people hide because they were offensive, more heavily weighting the hides by people who infrequently hide ads

More Timely Stories – More stories that reference current Trending Topics, more stories shown soon after they’re posted if people Like them soon after they’re posted but Like them less later

More Control Over What You See – When you hide someone’s story, you can select to see less from that person in the future without completely unfollowing them

Reducing Promotional Page Posts – Fewer posts that solely push people to buy a product, install an app, enter a sweepstakes, or that reuse the exact same content from ads.

Minimizing Hoaxes – Fewer posts that people flag as hoaxes or delete after posting because they are scams or deliberately false news

Showing More Content From Friends More posts from friends instead of Pages, fewer stories about friends Liking or commenting on a post, more posts from the same sources for new users without much content in their News Feed

More Stories You Spend Time Reading – More stories that other people spend significantly more time looking at in their News Feed than other stories.

The See First Feature – A new feature lets you choose friends or Pages whose stories you want to see first at the top of your News Feed

Accounting For Differences In How People Hide Stories – People who hide an extremely high number of stories in their feeds including ones they’ve Liked and commented on will have their hides taken less into account by the News Feed algorithm

Incorporating Actions Taken On Videos – More videos that people turn on the sound for, watch full screen, or watch in high definition.

Improving News Feed For Slow Connectivity – Fewer videos and more status updates and links shown to people with slow Internet connections, re-showing stories you’ve already loaded if you have no Internet connection

Incorporating Reactions – More stories similar to ones you react (just as with Likes)

Surveys To Reduce Low Quality Viral Stories – Fewer viral stories that surveys say people would rather not see

Offline News Feed – When someone has slow connectivity, Facebook will re-rank previously downloaded stories by relevance and display them instead of a loading symbol

Incorporating Qualitative Feedback – More stories that surveys and qualitative research show people would be likely to both rate highly and engage with

Matching Reactions And Stories – Over time, Facebook hopes to show people more stories similar to the ones they React to in a certain way, so people who often use the “Haha” Reaction see more funny stories

Showing Live Videos When They’re Live – More Live videos shown while they’re currently Live

Incorporating Time Spent Viewing Sites – More links to Instant Articles and mobile web pages loaded inside of Facebook that people spend more time viewing, fewer posts in a row from the same Page

Prioritizing Friends And Family Over Pages – More stories from humans you care about, and fewer stories by businesses and news outlets

Punishing Clickbait Headlines That Mislead Or Withhold Information – Fewer news stories purposefully trick people into clicking by omitting or exaggerating core details

Promoting Personally Informative Stories –

We’ll add more News Feed FYIs as they’re published to keep this list up to date.

News Feed Strategy

The best tactics for appearing prominently in the News Feed end up being quite straight-forward: share things that are interesting, authentic, and resonate with your audience. That typically means visually compelling media, funny or emotional content, and important news that’s fascinating to a wide audience.

Avoid overly self-promotional spam, dry or long-winged content, and boring looking media that only appeals to a fraction of your audience.

So before you post, ask yourself, is this actually interesting or entertaining to other people? Or are you just vainly bragging about your life or greedily marketing your business?

Facebook’s News Feed algorithm is complex, but the humans it serves are still pretty simple. We all just want to be stimulated. Do that, and Facebook will share what you have to say.