How it Works: The Facebook Algorithm
At Squirrels&Bears we believe in simplicity, and we like to provide clear answers to your questions. In our #howitworks series we focus on simple explanations of various aspects of marketing, highlighting the basic facts, what works and what doesn’t work. And we hope to make your life a little easier.
The Basics:
Facebook is one of the easiest social media platforms on which to grow a large following. It is focused around the concept of sharing and being the most share-friendly platform, it allows you to quickly scale and grow your audience.
Content is the most critical factor when it comes to growing and engaging with your Facebook followers and the best way to learn what works best is to test and measure how people are responding to your content in real time.
Facebook continuously collects feedback to improve, meaning there is constant iteration based on the audience’s preferences. It also has a ‘ranking signal’ which considers the usual posts an individual user interacts with, the type of content and post popularity, which creates a custom feed.
Facebook is also the most social platform and prioritises friends and family above all else. You will always be shown posts from your personal contacts first.
Do:
Start conversations that get people talking by using posts to ask questions that might spark a discussion, without seeking controversy. You want to boost engagement however, Facebook can be used as a divisive platform in some cases and it is best not to engage with antagonistic opinions.
Make video content the cornerstone of your marketing strategy. This bodes well with the algorithm and video content can be more eye catching on your Facebook feed, which will in turn increase the its chances of being reshared.
Leverage Facebook groups that are meaningful to your audience. This offers an additional opportunity to get your page and business in front of a new group of potential customers and followers that share common interests with your existing audience.
Empower your team to become your Facebook advocates, as mentioned above Facebook prioritises friends and family and utilising your employees to share content will generate more organic engagement.
Don’t:
Post disinformation or mislead your followers. This is not only bad for your reputation but it also puts you in the bad books with the Facebook powers that be. This also includes posting using engagement baits.
Focus solely on promotional posts. Facebook has great reach when it comes to their paid ad platforms, however, if this is used in excess it can appear fishy to Facebook users. Particularly with the older generation that use this app they will be more inclined to report your ad thus damaging your reputation with Facebook.
Broadcast instead of engaging, the content you post will only reach on average between 2 and 5 percent of your audience, so make it memorable and worth sharing.
Ignore replies, comments or messages. These won’t always be positive, as said previously Facebook can be divisive and negative feedback can arise. Try to always respond professionally and take the conversation to a more private place where possible.