The Facebook Algorithm Explained
Over the last few years, the average organic reach for Business pages has dropped from 6% to as low as 2%.
In 2018, Facebook adjusted its algorithm to show people more updates and news from friends and family and the content they might enjoy, instead of promo content from businesses. This was based on feedback that people were getting frustrated with SO MUCH marketing spam, which was totally valid! What’s the point of sharing those baby photos if no one will see them at all?
Between this major change and the level of misinformation and politically-charged vitriol in the comments on so many posts, it’s hardly surprising that organic reach has taken a serious hit. Add that to the 1500 posts a user might see on her feed on an average DAY, and as a marketer, you can understand the challenges we’re up against to reach our peeps with quality stuff in this dense jungle of crappy content.
Lots of people have given up on Facebook entirely, especially if they don’t have big advertising budgets, but there’s hope if you’re still willing to make it work for you. Here’s what you need to know:
Video
Facebook still prioritizes video content because it keeps people on the site and it gets high engagement rates.
To take advantage of this, you don’t need professionally-produced videos. Using Facebook Live is a great way to start filming more and putting up original stuff! We’ve said it for the past two years: including video in your social media strategy is critical to gaining the traction and results you want, and you can do it without having to fork out a bunch of cash for ads.
Videos don’t have to be long and elaborate, either; test the water by making animated posts. A few of our favorite platforms for creating simple and effective content that moves are Canva and Lumen5. This is the time to start experimenting!
Short captions
Attention spans are short. So keep your captions short, too.
A study by social media expert Jeff Bullas found that keeping your Facebook posts to 80 characters or fewer improves engagement.
This makes sense, right? With so many posts to see and endless scrolling, and THOUSANDS of brand messages going out every day, communicating clearly and in an engaging way is the best option.
It’s not easy to craft an engaging message in 80 characters or less, but practice makes perfect! Work to trim down your posts to their most essential parts. The only exception to this is if you’re sharing compelling stories or informative posts that need a lot of explanation; however, those only work if the stories and information are actually interesting enough to read all the way through.
Conversation starters
Facebook likes content that gets people interested, sharing, liking, commenting, etc. Their end goal is to keep users on Facebook, so they love it when we create content that doesn’t make users click away.
Whether it’s a conversation about a favorite movie or a heated debate about a controversial topic, Facebook wants us to hang out and talk to (or at, or about) each other.
Sure, go ahead and create content that starts a conversation or generates a lot of buzz. But, here is the tricky part: Facebook doesn’t want you to game the system, and many users are far too familiar with clickbait. So avoid using language like “share this” or “comment below” and opt for “what do you think?” or “how would you respond?” Write as if you’re sitting across the table from a friend, NOT as if you’re trying to trick someone into interacting with you.
Avoid sharing too many external links
This one’s tough, right? How can you get people to sign up for your newsletter, buy from you, or read your latest kickass blog if you shouldn’t post the link on Facebook?
Well, there are a few tricks to this. Remember that Facebook wants users to stay, so make sure to alternate between posting content that shares an external link and content that generates conversation or keeps people on your page to view your video. Mix it up!
You can also test adding the link to your content in the first or second comment of your post. This is a common tactic that still gets your link out there, but keep in mind that Facebook might wise up to this trick soon and change the rules again.
Use paid ads
The reality is that paid ads will get you farther faster. Facebook loooves ads.
Organic content is great, but it can take a lot of careful effort and time to nurture a strong and devoted following. Facebook wants to make money, and it is highly unlikely that they’ll stop incentivizing us to buy ads from them anytime soon.
The good news is that Facebook ads can be effective and inexpensive, and if you do them well they’ll pay for themselves.
We never recommend discounting ads entirely, because they can absolutely get your content in front of the right people. It takes just takes careful targeting and a willingness to adjust your strategy as you learn what works in each campaign. We’ll talk more about this in a future Slice!
Social media algorithms are always a bit of a mystery, but testing and learning is the way to figure it out. As you create your next Facebook post, ask yourself, “Will this get people talking?”