Facebook is the largest social media platform worldwide. Brands across the globe use it as a tool to prompt conversations between users.
Mark Zuckerberg announced on January 11th, 2018 that Facebook will make changes to its news feed algorithm to prioritize organic content.
A move that will encourage meaningful interactions for media, businesses, and brands.
It is imperative for marketers to adopt best practices and do their due diligence regarding this new algorithm to have a successful Facebook marketing strategy.
The Facebook algorithm curates content based on relevance to improving the visibility of the information on the news feed.
The new algorithm decreases visibility for business page posts that do not meet the threshold of active engagement, quality content, and analytics.
Let us have a rundown of what the Facebook algorithm entails
How it Started
The Facebook algorithm began with the intention to paralyze sites that “steal” content from other sites and publish it to theirs with little or no modification.
Facebook aims at cutting down on scammers who fleece or take advantage of users by reducing traffic to their sites.
In turn, improve the creation of original quality content from brands and businesses.
The introduction of the algorithm was for users to not only keep in touch with friends and family.
But also to be informed on local news from trusted and respected sources. Pages the algorithm perceives credible and trustworthy will, therefore, rank highly and have an increase in audience reach.
How it Works
The algorithm ranks available posts for quality purposes by measuring content for dynamic interactions like commenting or liking.
The move aims at ensuring that users do not just scroll down through the news feed but instead they can have a display that will increase the likelihood of them having a positive reaction to available posts.
These “meaningful interactions” arguably contribute to quality content on the platform that will foster conversations between users. The algorithm runs on four factors
- Predictions on how users react to each post
- Inventory of all posts available to display
- Signals that help Facebook identify what each post is about
- Final score based on all factors considered
The like button, for instance, plays a significant role in quality assessment to figure out what excites or offends users.
The addition of love, angry and sad buttons give a more clear understanding of user behavior regarding a variety of content making it possible to identify content that interests users.
Related: Facebook New Test & Learn Interface
Why the Algorithm is Different from Others
Facebook rolled out the previous algorithm to make way for a new strategy that will survey organic content to control the presentation and ordering of posts based on relevance to users.
the algorithm is designed to increase interactions between friends and family of users rather than prioritize irrelevant business content.
Brands, therefore, need to tailor their content in a manner that will earn them real positive interactions and shares from users.
Tactics marketers can use to capitalize on the new Algorithm
Start Meaningful Conversations
Facebook wants brands and marketers to start conversations that are worthy of appropriate debate and beneficial to users.
Your content should focus on capturing the attention of users, making them stop, share, and interact with your brand content.
Your page needs to strike a balance between starting conversations and advertising.
Use More Photos
To increase positive interactions with users, marketers need to ensure that their posts are fresh with different types of pictures, gifs, or some visual image.
Images give your brand identity and show how the content is relevant to your audience.
Avoid Engagement Baiting
Your brand needs to build conversations without having to prompt users to like or comment.
For example “comment if…” or “like if…” types of marketing strategies have explicitly been deemed as engagement baiting and Facebook uses the algorithm to curb this trend.
The Implication of the Facebook Algorithm on Ads
The algorithm is unlikely to have a drastic effect on large advertisers and paid ads are less likely to feel the heat because Facebook ads optimize them for user value.
Marketers who have not been building on their brands and establishing meaningful engagements with their audience will have to work harder and go the extra mile to increase their social presence and content distribution.
Final Giveaway
The Facebook algorithm aims at providing value to its users to generate meaningful conversations and anything that falls short of that will not make it to the news feed of the target audience.
The days for brands to publish poor content are numbered, and marketers need to come up with excellent quality content, relevant to their industry that engages their audience for better visibility and reputation.
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