Solid Creative is the Real Clickbait

In the age of the ever-changing online algorithm, it can be difficult for marketers to get on firm footing when it feels like the digital rug is continually being pulled out from under them.

And yet, for the consumer, most often these algorithm shifts are a good thing. For example, Google’s recent “Fred” update, which was said to be aimed at sites that have low-value, ad-heavy content (i.e. some affiliate marketing sites), made it so that such sites experienced a precipitous drop-off in traffic and caused major downward shifts in rankings.

In other words, low-value content = lousy search results for spammers, but better results for those who provide to the public quality content.

Facebook, like Google, has done its fair share of algorithm shifting, with the goal to provide a better experience to its users. And the most recent update has the goal to make it “so people see fewer posts and ads in News Feed that link to [these] low-quality web page experiences.”

Just as they are focusing on stopping the barrage of “fake news,” Facebook is now also doing all they can to “help reduce the economic incentives of financially motivated spammers.”

Quality storytelling is what people want, and I applaud Facebook for making a commitment to fill our News Feeds with worthwhile posts and ads from thoughtful brands that have integrity and take their customers’ best interests to heart.

There’s no more gaming the SEO system with clickbait and other shallow tactics to get results from Google, Facebook and other leading drivers of search and discovery. The algorithm shuffles tell us undeniably that quality, honest, creative content is the variable that brands need to calculate into their marketing equation every single time.