The People Are Not Happy… [NEW Facebook Update!]

If you read our previous post, then you’ve read about how Facebook is transitioning small business owners’ Facebook pages into the New pages experience.

What you need to know about this transition is that there are some functions we’re gaining…

…and some we’re losing compared to the old pages, or what Facebook is calling “Classic Pages.”

And some people are claiming to see an “organic reach crash” from this update!

If you want to know more about this Facebook New Page Experience, then read this post next.

So we’re going to cover the differences between the old pages and the new ones.

Moreover, we’re going to specifically address some of those complaints about the new Facebook update at the end of this post, so make sure you read it to the very end.

What Is The New Pages Experience Exactly?

Facebook says, “The new Pages experience is a way for you to manage your professional presence on Facebook.

It can help you build your brand or business, grow your audience and connect with followers.

When your Page updates to the new Pages experience, all Page content…

…including posts, photos, videos, stories and Groups your page is an Admin of will automatically move to your new Page.

All of your Page likes or followers will also be transitioned to your new Page. If your Page has a blue verification check, it will transfer to your new Page.”

What’s This New Facebook Update For Pages?

With this new Facebook update, you’ll have a redesigned Page layout with more intuitive navigation.

Moreover, you’ll have the ability to switch between a public-facing Page and an individual profile, so you can manage your Page and profile separately.

You can also follow other public figures, brands, and partners to create a Feed with topics that matter to you. Stay up to date and connect with people and content on your Feed.

Your Page’s Feed is separate from your profile. You can follow different Pages and profiles to curate a unique experience.

Facebook said, “With a dedicated News Feed, Pages can now follow trends, join conversations, engage with fans and interact with peers.

You will also see suggestions for new connections in the dedicated News Feed…

…including other creators, public figures, Pages, Groups, and trending content that you may be interested in.

Comments from creators and public figures will now be bumped to the top of comments sections – allowing Page conversations to reach a wider audience.

People will also have the ability to follow Pages directly from comments and recommendations posts.”

And note that anyone with full control of your Page will see this Feed.

Actionable insights and more relevant notifications and updated Page management tools so you can give other people access to manage your Page.

What Features Will You Have Access To With A New Page?

In this new Facebook update, anyone who had an Admin role on a classic Page will have Facebook access to it in the new Pages experience.

If you have Facebook access to a Page, you’ll have access to:

• Settings: Manage and edit all settings like Page info and the ability to delete your Page.
• Permissions: If you have Facebook access with full control, you can give Facebook access or task access to your Page to help manage it.

When you give other people task access, you can choose which features they can manage (for example: Ads, Insights, or Content).

• Content: Create, manage, or delete any content on the Page, like posts, Stories, and more.
• Messages: Respond to direct messages as your Page in Inbox.
• Community activity: Remove and respond to comments and report activity on the Page.
• Ads: Create, manage, and delete ads on all platforms.
• Insights: Use Page, post and ad insights to analyze the performance of your Page.
• Instagram account linking: Link your Page with your Instagram account to manage communication, cross-post and run ads across both platforms.
• Monetization and advertising: Use tools to help monetize content you create. Create and manage ad campaigns with your Page and Ads Manager.
• Page management: Manage your Page from Meta platform tools, including Meta Business Suite and Ads Manager.

Anyone who didn’t have an Admin or Editor role on a classic Page (for example, Moderator or Advertiser) will have task access to your Page.

If you have task access to a Page, you won’t be able to switch into it on Facebook. Instead, you can use other Meta platforms to manage the features you have access to.

So admin access = Facebook access, and any other kind of role you used to give out on your page now = task access.

What You’ll Lose Access To With The New Pages Experience

Facebook says, “You’ll still have access to many of the features from your classic Page, but you may see some changes in the new Pages experience:

Page likes and followers: In the new Pages experience, your Page may have either a Like or Follow button.

When someone likes your Page, they’ll also automatically follow it, which means they may see your Page’s updates and posts in their Feed.

If your Page has a Follow button, it will no longer have a Like button. You’ll see the number of people who follow your Page and the number of Pages you follow.

If your Page has a Like button, you’ll see the number of people who like and follow your Page underneath your Page name.

Anyone who likes your Page can also choose to unfollow it, which means they won’t see your Page’s posts in their Feed, but will still demonstrate their support.”

But it seems like Facebook is moving closer and closer towards phasing out page likes altogether, and just focusing on followers instead.

This ultimately could be better for business owners because followers are the ones who see your posts in their organic newsfeed.

If someone just likes your page but doesn’t follow it, you’re not going to be getting much engagement from them.

Facebook said, “Page Likes will be removed going forward, and to simplify the way people connect with their favorite Pages, we will focus solely on Page Followers.

This will help give Pages a more clear indication of their fan base since Followers represent people who can receive updates from Pages.”

• Page roles

Classic Page roles, like Moderator and Editor, will no longer be available.

Instead, you can give people Facebook access or task access to help manage your Page, like we just talked about earlier.

• Publishing

The ability to schedule posts, video series, and playlists from your Page on a computer isn’t available in the new Pages experience.

You can still schedule posts on your Page from a mobile device, or from Meta Business Suite.

So you’ll need to get familiar with doing things from your cell phone, from the Meta Business Suite, or both if you aren’t already!

• Appointments

Depending on your access, you’ll be able to manage Appointments from your Page or from Meta Business Suite.

• Page Shops

Facebook Page Shops are not available in the new Pages experience.

Then we have- WAIT A MINUTE. What did they say?! Facebook Page Shops are NOT available in the Facebook New Page Experience.

That is huge news, and for some, devastating news! If you were heavily relying on income from your Facebook Shops, you need to find an alternative strategy, like yesterday.

We would advise you to focus your traffic and efforts on your website so that you have full control over the bottom of your sales funnel.

• Manage from mobile web browsers

You can manage your Page from the Facebook mobile app, but not from mobile browsers.

So again, you’ll need to get comfortable with the app if you’re not already.

So a lot of changes so far with the new Facebook update.

And we’re sure a lot of you reading have questions (or maybe even complaints- honestly it wouldn’t be a new Facebook update without some unhappy people no?)

So we want to wrap up by answering some FAQs regarding the new Facebook update for pages.

But first, let us mention really quickly that if you’d rather have a credible Facebook marketing agency handle ALL of your social media marketing campaigns for you…

…so you don’t have to worry about any of this and you can just focus on running your business while we bring in results.

We do that for small business owners every day. If you want a free custom marketing proposal and quote, contact our team to get started.

Common FAQs Around The New Facebook Update On Page Experience

1. What features do I still have access to in the new Pages experience?

You’ll still have access to these same features from your classic Page:

• Your Feed
• The ability to Link your Page to an Instagram account
• Advertising
• Monetization
• Followers
• Insights
• Tools like Inbox, Stories, Groups, and events
• Meta Verified
• The ability to grant access to manage your Page

2. Who can manage my business presence in the new Pages experience?

You can give Facebook access to trusted people so they can manage your Page. This is similar to an Admin role on classic Pages.

But our advice is don’t get Facebook access to just ANYBODY.

You should know what kind of scams happen when you give everyone a mother admin or Facebook access.

So just give out Facebook access sparingly.

And then you can give task access to people so they can manage your Page with tools like Ads Manager and Meta Business Suite.

This is similar to classic Page roles like Editor, Moderator, Advertiser, and Analyst from the Classic page experience, and it’s a little safer because you’re not giving them FULL access.

3. How do I open my new Page?

To open your Page from a computer: From your Feed, click your profile picture in the top right, then click your Page to select it.

To open your Page on a mobile device: From your Feed, tap your profile picture, then tap your Page to select it.

To switch to your profile on a computer: From your Page’s Feed, click your Page’s profile picture, then click your profile.

To switch to your profile on a mobile device: From your Page’s Feed, tap your Page’s profile picture, then tap and select your profile.

4. Is there any content that won’t migrate with my Page?

All of your previous posts will be preserved on your Page, and you’ll still be able to access insights for previous posts.

Some of your Stories may not migrate.

Information on your classic Page, such as contact info, may not transition to your new Page. Your bio may need to be shortened.

You can edit this information in your Page’s About section. Your messages, ads, and other features from classic Pages will migrate, but may be in different places.

5. How can people find my new Page?

If someone searches for the name of your Page in the search bar, they’ll be able to find your Page. Your Page may also appear in Pages to Follow.

6. What is a Feed? How do I set up my Feed?

Your new Page comes with a Feed that is dedicated to your Page presence, separate from your personal profile’s Feed.

Anyone with Facebook access to your Page can access and view this Feed.

You can follow different Pages and profiles to curate a unique experience for your Page’s Feed.

7. When I had a classic Page, I followed other Pages. What happens to those connections in the new Pages experience?

Your Page will still follow the same Pages in the new Pages experience, and you can still see their updates in your Feed.

8. Can other people see the Pages that my Page follows?

Any Pages that your Page follows are publicly visible by default. You can change this in your Page’s Settings.

Now one FAQ that we’re sure is going around that Facebook did not list on there is…

9. Why is my content getting less reach from the new Pages experience?

You read at the beginning that there are multiple articles being published right now from people who are experiencing this.

One Reddit user said, “Facebook is forcing business pages to the New Page Experience even though they know the change can significantly impact post performance.”

Meta is willfully hurting businesses and it’s totally absurd.

Since being forcefully switched to the New Pages Experience 3 days ago, my page has been significantly impacted and we have no option but to be stuck with this.

We are losing millions in reach and views, as well as ad revenue from videos.

I reached out to Meta Support and was told essentially that I was stuck with the new change, they’re aware of the issue and they’re working to fix it for all pages

From Meta (grammar corrected lol) “We notice that people that did the transition to NPE are having the same issue as you.

We have a technical team checking into the issue to be able to solve it and have all the Pages back to normal”

And that they have no time frame on how long it will take to fix. I’m interested to know if anyone else has experienced this.”

And there were several people in the comments who said they were experiencing the same thing.

The bottom line is Facebook is in the money-making business. If they see that the large majority of small business pages are getting crazy good ORGANIC reach?

They’re going to try to find a way to slow that down so that instead you’ll PAY Facebook for the same amount of reach.

Is that messed up? Yes. Is it surprising? No. Do we think it’ll change? Also no.

We’ve called Facebook a pay-to-play platform for years already, and it’s only going to continue.

A solution or a response to this on your end should include a few things:

First and foremost, diversify your efforts. Don’t put all your marketing eggs in one basket.

Secondly, try your hand at some Facebook ads! We’ve seen some really good results for our clients.

Profitable results, meaning our clients are getting back way more than they’re spending. Here’s a good tutorial to help you get started with Facebook ads.

And lastly, make sure you’re optimizing your new page experience so that you can get whatever organic reach you can get.

Hopefully, all of that helps clarify why things may look a little different on your end marketing on Facebook and how you can navigate it.