If your business is utilising the power of social media marketing to engage with your customers, you’re likely to care about engagement. Numbers around how many people are liking, commenting and sharing your posts will have a direct impact on your Facebook success. It’s how you get your content in front of as many people as possible, how you generate engagement on the platform and how you measure your performance.
With Facebook users connected to hundreds of people, brands and advertisements, they have the potential to be bombarded with countless posts each time they log into their profile. However, they usually aren’t. In most cases, Facebook serves users content that’s relevant to them and their unique interests. A very custom News Feed is available for everyone and it’s made possible through a powerful algorithm.
The Facebook Algorithm
To provide the best possible Facebook experience and continue keeping people interested in its service, the social media giant developed an algorithm for the News Feed that delivers content that people want to engage with. Over the years the platform has continued to build on the News Feed to improve its capabilities and create an even more personal experience.
With most of Facebook user’s time focused on the News Feed, it has been a crucial point of the Facebook journey. There are a number of factors at work to decide which content to show to people. With the News Feed being the primary place of interaction, it’s important for businesses to understand what Facebook’s algorithm uses to determine what it shows people.
How Does Facebook Decide What to Show People?
Facebook’s algorithm takes the plethora of online content as a problem to be solved. It uses its knowledge of a particular user, based on historical interactions (what they like, what they engage with and what they ignore), to deliver posts they think they might be interested in. Taking content shared by friends or followed businesses, the algorithm will structure the News Feed in terms of what it predicts a person will care about.
Interests are complemented by other factors which Facebook deems ranking signals. These ranking signals provide further evidence to the algorithm that the content is worthy of being displayed. Facebook’s confirmed signals include:
- How old a story is
- Whom it was originally posted by, and who is sharing it
- Engagement metrics (reactions, comments and reports)
- Type of story
- The device you are using
Overall, these attributes will all work to provide an overall score for all posts on Facebook. The score will then determine the frequency of the content being placed on News Feeds or whether it is even displayed at all.
Facebook’s Algorithm and Business Pages
With engagement a huge factor for business success, it’s essential to understand how the Facebook algorithm works. In 2018, it’s no longer enough to throw a post out there to your community and expect results. With genuine engagement prioritised more than ever, new techniques are necessary for businesses to engage customers.
Consider adding more to your current efforts by creating a Facebook group, utilising messenger and experimenting with other intimate strategies to get your content seen in News Feeds. With continuous algorithm updates and News Feed alterations, businesses have to think personably with their social media strategies to generate worthwhile results.
If you need help with social content or promotion, or just want to chat about how you can get some better results – feel free to contact us!