With the growth of mammoth social platforms (Facebook & Instagram) both having more than a billion users respectively, as a business you would expect that number to equal the number of people to potentially discover your operations while they scroll their news feeds, right? That’s clearly an unrealistic idea, not to mention nearly impossible with the way content is shown today. The questions we continuously ask as social media strategists are “Why can’t people see my amazing content?” “How much will it cost to increase my reach?” and “What types of content will get the most engagement?”. The answers to all this are found through a mix of trial and error, most importantly by analyzing what was done in the past and adapting it to the needs and wants of the target audience.
The A word: Algorithm
By now you have noticed that the number of posts you see on your daily scroll through Facebook have been dramatically altered ever since the word algorithm entered the social media conversation. Since 2016, multiple sources have reported that business pages see a 50% or more decrease on average in their organic reach. At the beginning of 2018, Mark Zuckerberg released a statement regarding how exactly the algorithm affects your posts, explaining that Facebook would be implementing measures to determine what we should see based on the likelihood that content would be interacted with. This new set of “rules” creates both unique challenges for marketers while presenting new opportunities for content creation from brands.
Visibility Guidelines
The decision to prioritize posts that prompt genuine engagement between users and their friends or family has given Facebook the power to decide what content will likely match the interests of individuals, filtering the clutter into a “curated” stream according to the following criteria: the number of people interacting with a post, the engagement a post receives in comments, shares, and reactions, and also what type of content is shared by those in your close circle (family and friends).
The same strategy has also been applied to Instagram, which is owned by Facebook. No longer is a post seen chronologically to the dismay of businesses big and small who once used the platform to enlarge their brand’s visibility. The same frustration can be seen with the rise of influencers who quickly gain a following by posting sponsored content featuring aspirational brands. For example, two posts that are similar in style can receive a dramatic change in engagement depending on the likelihood the algorithm chooses to broadcast it to their audiences. This drastic and uncontrollable factor has many questioning if spending money will improve their results.
Our tips to Increase Organic Engagement
Think outside the box
Imagine each post as an increasingly valuable piece of real estate for your brand, do you stop to look at an ordinary building on the street? If not, then neither will your audience. Make engaging and thought-provoking content that stops the scroll, gets interactions, and is reshared by your community.
Value Participation
if your followers are prompted with questions they will feel as if their participation is valued, and be inclined to contribute to discussions. Make sure to be as direct as possible in what you are asking, and even offer a small incentive to increase engagement.
Videos over everything
The rise of video content is evident with the ease of new smartphone technologies that record high-quality renderings instantly. Video content gets people to stop and watch what you have to say, and allows you to build a story versus a static image that takes less time to analyze or “tap”. Make sure to communicate your message in the quickest amount of time, highlighting the key points in a way that incites an emotional response.
Be Intentional
When planning what to post, make sure your content has two main objectives: that it grows your business awareness and value proposition, and that it acts with the best interests of the consumer. If your fans can easily relate to the journey you are advertising, they will be prone to interact more with each post because it applies directly to their lives, thus making it feel like you are speaking to them directly.
Share the good stuff
If news articles or third party reviews are written about your brand, share them. The key is to decipher between a high- quality link that adds value rather than a lead to “clickbait” that is usually loaded with meaningless and trivial information to merely generate traffic. Facebook and Instagram have rolled out measures in order to filter out these types of news sources based on the quality of information, so make sure to give only what really matters to your followers.
Be more human
Lastly, you want to make sure that the follow through of your post engagement is authentic and consistent, making sure that you respond when someone engages with your content. If the time has been spent to interact with your last image, then make it worth the while and acknowledge it with a genuine response, the last thing you want is to make people feel as if your page is managed by a computer.
Conclusion
By following these guidelines when implementing your future strategies, you should be able to successfully go head-to-head with the algorithm without spending too much money, and capturing the engagement your brand deserves.
To learn more about how to create the most engaging content strategy that delivers quality results, feel free to contact us for your business needs.
