Branded Content on Facebook? Better Be Verified

The News: We talked before about how Facebook was going to introduce a new system for Pages to handle branded content, or the posting of promotions for another brand’s products or services. So if, for example, Brand X wants to promote Brand Y, which licenses IP from them to put on shoes, it would have this new system to make it clear that this was a post resulting from a paid relationship. And everyone involved would get special metrics to track the performance of that post.

Well now there’s a new wrinkle: Sponsored Content is only available to verified pages. So unless your page is Verified you are, it seems, restricted from posting anything about third-party products.

PNConnect Insight: That requirement amounts to an interesting intersection point between what has been considered sponsored content and “core” content, the kind of thing that makes up a regular, everyday part of a content marketing program. Up to this point there’s been no technical restrictions on a company posting about…well…anything. But now Facebook is saying if companies haven’t been adhering to best practices to date, it will put trigger in place to make them do so.

To date, we’ve thought of sponsored content only as paying an influencer or celebrity for a mention, a la ESPN or Kim Kardashian or YouTube stars (or whatever else). But our reading of these latest moves is an extension of that definition to include things like customer case studies, partner announcements, etc. Basically, anything that’s not an organic or self-promotional update about the company itself. Enforcement may begin with pure sponsored content types such as paying an influencer or celebrity for a mention but is likely to expand to the previously mentioned case studies and more eventually.

Facebook offers a process to help get your Page Verified that brands and companies should follow if they don’t already have that nice blue checkmark. If your program has included these kind of third-party posts it’s recommended you get on that process quickly so as not to run afoul of the new requirements.

As always, contact us if you’d like more information on how to make this work best for you.