How to get over the new Facebook algorithm blues

facebook algorithm

Yay, another new Facebook algorithm!

This time, Facebook is favouring content posted and shared by your friends and family over content from business pages.

Is this another kick towards businesses paying for their posts to be seen? Well, yes. Facebook need revenue. But it is also in response to demand.

People are sharing less about their own lives on Facebook. More content is shared from business pages than photos, videos, updates about what we are up to as people, and Facebook is a social platform so it kind of makes sense that it wants to drive more people back to sharing.

Notice I have used the word sharing a few times already? With good reason.

The secret to getting your content seen, now and when the new Facebook algorithm kicks in, is having great shareable content. The more your content is shared, the more people will see it. Obvious really.

If Facebook can see that your content gets good engagement, it will serve it to more people in their news feed. The more it is seen, the more it will be shown. The more it is shared by people, the more friends and family see it, which means it is liked and shared even more.

So what does great shareable content look like. Go back to your Facebook insights. What type of content got the most engagement recently? Video? Cute puppies? An opinion piece?

Learning from what has worked in the past is your best starting point.

If your content is just not getting any reach with the Facebook algorithm, and it happens, then look at what you have posted very recently, choose something that you think your page fans will really relate to, and open your wallet and boost it. Yes Facebook wants your marketing spend, but isn’t it worth it? Facebook gives an impressive reach per £1 spend because its ad targeting is excellent.

A boosted post that is targeted to your existing page fans (you know they are into your brand because they liked your page, right?), will ensure a good reach and will get the best engagement. Facebook will look back at the performance of that post when it considers who to serve your next post to, and that high engagement will push it up the newsfeed. You now need to keep that momentum.

Final point to note is that native content is more likely to work it’s way up the news feed with the new Facebook algorithm than links to another site. If you are posting a video, upload it directly to Facebook. Get signed up on Facebook Instant Articles for posting your blog. And content that expresses a point of view, solicits opinion and prompts an emotional response will be more share-worthy.

If this all feels a little daunting, get in touch and I can help you build your brand and business on Facebook, whether it is a coaching session or launching your next social marketing campaign.

Facebook testing a Dislike button

What is the etiquette for acknowledging a post on Facebook that relays bad news?

a) Like the post but risk sounding callous or completely unsympathetic?

b) Write a comment, but that takes effort and could show more empathy than you really want to convey?

c) Ignore it, therefore showing no sympathy whatsoever?

Facebook are now testing a solution to the problem, a dislike button. No it is not a button to press when you don’t like the post, and it isn’t intended as a down-vote button to be incorporated into the mind warping Facebook algorythm either.

It is intended to be a button to show empathy with the post.

While this is great for the person faced with the dilemma of showing no sympathy or being misinterpreted as a callous soul, it does also reduce the likelihood of writing a comment.

And comments do help the Facebook algorithm. Likes are a bit lazy frankly, and don’t carry the same weight as a comment when Facebook decides where to place your post in the news feed.

Just a thought when you a using your business page to post the sad news that the office plant has finally died.

 

Facebook dislike button

 

If you need any help in boosting your Facebook reach, get in touch for a no-nonsense, jargon free review.