How Small Businesses Can Combat Social Media Algorithm Changes
Many of you may have noticed the recent changes to social media platforms algorithms, maybe your posts aren’t performing like the used to, or engagement numbers are low. Or maybe you are new to social media for business and need to arm yourself with knowledge before setting out to make an online presence for your business.
The recent changes are very prevalent on Facebook, which we will be covering specifically today, though these tips are applicable to multiple platforms. What used to be a great place to grow and nurture your social media audience, has now been thrown completely for a loop. In regards to why changes were made to the algorithm, Facebook’s founder, Zuckerberg, says they did it to -
“prioritize posts that spark conversations and meaningful interactions between people. To do this, we will predict which posts you might want to interact with your friends about, and show these posts higher in feed. These are posts that inspire back-and-forth discussion in the comments and posts that you might want to share and react to — whether that’s a post from a friend seeking advice, a friend asking for recommendations for a trip, or a news article or video prompting lots of discussion.”
This means less page content will be shown. In accordance with that; reach, referrals, engagement, and reactions for Business pages will decrease, too. Your posts are now ranked on a priority scale, depending on what content the user engages with, is interested in or Facebook thinks will spark conversation.
Seems a bit vague, right? How is this decided? Who makes the decision? Can we get our hands on this “scale”? Unfortunately, those answers are also vague. What we can do to help is give you tools to help combat these changes, and keep your content showing up on your audiences feed.
Accept that you have to pay to play
Even social media companies like ours recommend our clients budget for Facebook advertising. You don’t need to spend a fortune to make an impact, but spending a little money on ads to a targeted group that is paired with quality content will make a substantial difference. If your strategy until now has been passive, it’s time to re-strategize and evaluate your brand.
Integrate Video
As we mentioned in our Instagram Series, video is a key part of social media. Facebook has already confirmed that video will perform better organically, paid or unpaid. Live videos and feed videos will bring in more engagement. Use the online tools to encourage your viewers to ‘tap for sound’, add in subtitles, and grab their attention quickly. Always give your audience a countdown to when you plan to go live — they won’t want to miss it!
Quality, Not Quantity
This is as simplistic as it gets. Make good content and the content will work for you. Track your posts, and find what content resonates with your audience best, and perfect it.
Know Your Demographic
Knowing your demographic means a few things. It means knowing when they are online, where they are geographically, what type of content they prefer, etc. This can be found using online metrics platforms. Utilizing this information will help you to create and share content when and how your audience enjoys it.
Trends
Posting about trends will help increase engagement, and is likely to bring more followers to your audience due to additional exposure. Be sure to use the trending hashtags, etc, too!
In the end, Facebook is trying to appeal to people, not customers, and we should do the same. Sharing helpful content, following the above guidelines will help you combat the challenge the algorithm brings to the table.
Share more tips with us in the comments! If you would like a personal consulting appointment to discuss your social media more personally, visit our website!
Sources