Social platforms depend on their algorithm, that’s the main reason they keep updating and adding changes, so it can adapt and give their users a better experience. Based on this, anyone interested in social media or digital marketing, should understand these algorithms and be aware of changes in them.
Facebook is a platform that you should, without a doubt, understand and utilize as a part of your digital marketing strategy. In this article, I’m going to tell you the main changes to Facebook in 2020 so you can adapt your marketing or modify your strategy based on it.
First things first, Facebook’s algorithm currently orders posts according to how likely the user seeing it will enjoy it; this is done by the ranking signals, which are data points about a user’s past behaviour and everyone else in the platform. This means: are you or your friends sharing this post? How often do you like posts? From whom? How long do you watch a video or stare at a photo? Do you watch their story? Or message them by DM? All these can factor in how the algorithm works and which posts would be recommended better than others.
It’s quite important to know that as of 2020, users can see why a specific post was recommended and can take control of those ranking signals to give it better feedback by telling the platform if they really want to see similar content or not.
Now that we have a rough idea of how the algorithm works and understand that it weighs a lot of factors before deciding what to show, it’s time to see the 3 categories that FB mentions for ranking signals:
Who a user typically interacts with: Since last year, Facebook has focused on promoting content from family and friends. Which means that to get your posts recommended you have to interact with your followers and have them interact with you.
The type of media in the post (video, photo, link, etc.): Different types of media have different engagement. Videos longer than three minutes which are posted directly on the platform perform better than links because the algorithm rewards original content rather than content that redirects to other websites. Any media that keeps the user on Facebook longer will be rewarded by the platform.
The popularity of the post: You can pretty much imagine how this works. A post that’s liked by a lot of people will do better than others. It is important to point out that Facebook pays more attention to reactions than likes, so if you’re looking to have your content in other users' feeds make sure to have good reactions. Reactions are those emoticons that appear when you like a post where it lets you choose between “Love”, “Care” “Sad” and a few others.
Tips to take advantage of the Facebook algorithm:
Engage and start conversations that get people to interact between each other:
Facebook focuses on whether a user has engaged with your page and content before or not. Although most users won’t interact on your page like they do with a friend, having them like and the comment will increase the reach of your future posts. So, how do you get this? Be genuine, interesting, and inspiring. Have posts that can start a conversation and a discussion and let your users do exactly that in the comment section. This can be achieved by evoking a strong emotion but be careful not to fall into a controversy, shock value won’t do you good in the long run.
2. Post when your audience is online:
One key factor in appearing on your users’ feed is the recency of the posts. So, the newer, the better. There are many ways to know the right time. Thanks to analytics this has become easier, after posting for a long time in different moments you can pinpoint the best hour. If you’re not sure then a simple guide would be:
For B2B brand posts, try from Tuesday to Thursday from 9am to 2pm.
For B2C brand posts, from Monday to Wednesday at noon.
3. Let your followers know how to see your content better:
Just as Facebook started letting their users see why they’re seeing a specific content, they can also prioritize any content they want to see on their newsfeeds. Take this to your advantage and make sure they can see what you post, so as they follow or like your page, let them know that by checking the “See first” preference, they can let the algorithm know that your posts are important to them.
4. Trust in those that advocate for you:
As much as having an influencer market your brand or recommend your site, nothing beats word of mouth from someone you already trust. Of course, if you have an influencer that can promote your content, great! But don’t worry if you don’t. Have friends, coworkers, employees or anyone who knows you share a good word about you and your business. This is one of the oldest tactics in marketing but it still is one of the bests. We would try things if someone we trust recommends it, so even if they don’t have a million followers, their organic reach still can help your page grow.
5. Facebook shops:
This is a new update and the biggest. Facebook has had on-platforms shops before but now it has a new, native, mobile-friendly shops. This feature has been improved so if you have a shop, consider uploading products and information about them onto your on-platform store.
6. Increase ads:
As big advertisers are pulling budgets, the advertising costs are very low, which is great news as right now you have one of the highest engagement and super cheap ads, a wonderful combination and opportunity. A few ways to take advantage of this change can be:
Webinars: Now that users are looking for things to do and learn new things online at a good price. So offer special promotions, give webinars at lowers costs that you would usually do. Don’t worry about any loss, with the high engagement you, most probably, will get the same or more leads way cheaper.
Increase your budget: as ads are at such a low cost, increasing your budget for them can make your reach a lot higher. It might feel risky but it can be the right thing to do for a lot of companies.
These changes and tips can help you become more efficient with how you post your content and interact with your followers but understand that there is no real way to hack the system to get organic and faithful followers. The only way to have people who care for your content and support you is by being consistent and being genuine as you interact with them. These tips will just make it easier for them to discover the amazing content you are posting and care for.
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