The jig is UP! Your company is officially unofficial :(

As Facebook removes gray badges, find out what urgent updates your marketing team must make

A feature that Facebook introduced almost five years ago is now gone from the social media platform. You could once identify verified business pages by their small gray check mark; however, as of October 29, 2019, that feature is no more. Why now? Don’t Facebook users want to know which companies are credible?

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of the social media giant, is making several changes to Facebook’s privacy practices and business pages due to legal actions hitting the company. The company is moving toward better ways for companies to present their authenticity on the platform. An interesting aspect of this recent update is that while the gray check marks are gone, the tiny blue check marks that authenticate celebrities, public figures, and well-known brands will remain.

Verified companies earned this gray check mark embellishment by either confirming a company line via Facebook call bots or by providing information, like taxes, that authenticated a company and its products and services. This was a simple thing business pages could do to stand out on Facebook.

Now, to help show authenticity, Facebook recommends that company page admins ensure all fields are complete. Another of Facebook’s recommendations is to have both a profile picture and a banner in place on your business page. Additionally, Facebook suggests that companies follow the “best practices for Page visibility and engagement.”

As public relations professionals, we understand how hard it is to capture a company story and bring the people behind the organization to life through social media strategy. If following best practices for Facebook’s business page visibility and engagement is something you need help with, schedule a 15-minute consultation with our CEO, Jason Mudd, to uncover where PR can fill in any gaps in your company’s marketing plan

Hannah Feran is Axia’s shared media strategist. Clients appreciate Hannah’s attention to detail and passion to exceed their expectations. She works closely with clients to ensure their social media efforts are getting the attention they deserve from a carefully chosen audience. Hannah joined the Axia team in August 2018.