5 Simple Ways to Make Facebook’s Algorithms Work In Your Favour
When Facebook announced a change (or revert) in direction this year after the whole Cambridge Analytica fiasco, it signaled a change in their algorithms. They wanted to refocus on user engagement away from fake news, advertising and politics. So what does that mean for digital marketing?
Nothing we didn’t already know. For years, Facebook has always favoured content that prioritised engagement of users, but it did provide insights on how to tweak your content against the algorithm. With that in mind, we offer some simple ways you can make Facebook’s algorithm work in your favour:
Research Your Audience
Researching is a chore but it is a necessary one. Merely assuming who your audiences are is not going to cut it – you have to understand your brand/page. You can start with the Insights section, understand your followers – their gender, age and relevant demographic information.
With this information, you can create the ideal customer persona, tailor your content towards him/her and look to engage your audiences with it.
Aim for Shares, Tags & Comments
Most people scroll through News Feed aimlessly, so you have to pique their interest beyond scrolling past or liking, which means it needs to be creative and create meaningful interactions. You can also suggest sharing, tagging or commenting on your content itself. Something simple like, “Let us know what you think in the comments!” (Of course, please do more), could go a long way because reacts and likes are going to de-prioritised.
(Avoid baiting statements like “Comment below if you like____”, it will land you on the other end of the algorithm.)
Provoke statement reactions and you will see your engagement go way up. Get them to interact with their friends with shares and/or tags. This will engage a conversation between friends, and isn’t that what Facebook is all about? If you are facing a mental block on content, you can always seek help from creative agencies (like us (;)
Have A Conversation With Them
Merely asking your audience to talk isn’t enough. You have to respond. People go to Facebook for interactions with people, not a bot. It’s a two-way street. By responding to your audience in the comments with genuine replies (not standard PR ones), it boosts your reach and makes your audience feel good as well. A humorous response (like Skyscanner here) could go a long way for your brand and help turn a negative situation into a positive one. As long as you refrain from mistakes like these and you will have an engaged audience that will boost your page.
Supplement with Paid Targeted Boosting
(via Neil Patel)
Organic exposure is on the decline, reaching a new low of 2% in June 2016. So you can’t always rely on your page getting organic views, which means you have to bring out the big guns. Sometimes, you have to spend a little to get the ball rolling. By boosting your posts with the right audience set, it allows your content to be seen by the right people and furthers your reach. If you are facing issues with managing ads, you can always consult a professional to help you.
Write About Current Events
You can’t always rely on your own content to engage your audience, sooner or later you will either run out of content or bore your audience. The alternative is to scour the news for hot related topics and discuss them with your followers. With that, you can ride the wave of current trends and engage your audience at the same time. To achieve that, you have to follow news content pages and read the trending/related ones. At the end of the day, you will get current affairs knowledge and an engaged audience. (two birds, one stone)
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