Last week we highlighted a few of the factors that affect Facebook’s algorithm, which determines how your content is shown across the Facebook network. With organic reach being limited, it’s not entirely effective to simply post content to Facebook and hope it gets seen. Chances are, it will get seen by fewer people than you’d like. Luckily, there are some viable strategies for combating Facebook’s algorithm limitations.
Post to Facebook stories
Content posted to Facebook stories is not subject to the algorithm’s limitations. If someone is following your page and clicks on your story, said content is going to get seen. Establishing a regular routine of posting to the story space is one of our favorite tips for combating Facebook’s algorithm limitations.
Engage with people who engage with you
Engagement, engagement, engagement. No, we’re not talking about wedding bells! The higher the engagement on a post (i.e. likes, comments, shares), the better the chance your content will have for getting seen organically. Any form of interaction should be treasured. This includes you, as the person running the page, replying to people who engage with you to keep the conversation going. The algorithm prioritizes content from pages a user has interacted with previously.
Post quality content
Spammy content=bad. Quality content=good. Enough said.
Quality content not only looks better, but it is more appealing to your followers and thus will increase the chances they will interact with it. The algorithm favors content on which Facebook users are interacting with one another. That’s more inspiration to create interesting content that will get people talking. Pose a question, make a poll, prompt people to share—as a few examples.
Take advantage of Facebook groups
Like stories, Facebook’s groups are another effective means of combating Facebook’s algorithm limitations. In groups, all content is shown to all members of that group without being subject to the algorithm. For example, say your brand is “Big Adventure Hiking Gear.” Then you might create a group called “Big Adventure Hiking Gear Fans.” The group would include people who have used your gear or who are interested in using it. Posts could highlight where people have traveled with your gear and talk about hiking in general.
Think of a Facebook group as a supplement to your main Facebook business page that cultivates a bit more of a casual setting.
Play favorites
A lesser-known fact about Facebook: users have the ability to designate 30 friends and/or pages as “favorites.” A page on a user’s favorite list gets its content prioritized higher in that user’s News Feed. To access favorites, click the drop down arrow in the top right of the Facebook page. Then, Settings & Privacy>News Feed Preferences>Manage Favorites.
A user can select favorites by clicking the star next to a person or page.
Place value on video
Video is one of the most widely-consumed forms of content on social media. This is good to note considering Facebook’s algorithm advances the most popular forms of content in its algorithm rankings. Particularly, Facebook Live is a great way to broadcast your messages to your audience. According to Hootsuite, live video receives six times more engagement than regular video.
Ask your employees for help
Use your employees as brand representatives on social media! Encourage them to share, comment on and like your business page’s content in order to ramp up engagement. Employees with personal pages already have an automatic advantage over your brand’s page as a business page in the eyes of the algorithm. Their connection to their family and friends on the platform makes it so.
Summary
For business pages, the current reach of organic content subject to Facebook’s algorithm is less than ideal. However, these tips for combating Facebook’s algorithm limitations give you the edge to help your brand’s content get seen by more followers than would see it otherwise.
McNutt & Partners is a full-service advertising and digital marketing agency. Contact us today for your marketing needs! Call 334-521-1010, or visit our contact page.
