FACEBOOK ENGAGEMENT EXPLAINED…

If you use Facebook, you’ve probably heard of the Facebook Algorithm. The Facebook Algorithm sorts out all the posts that people and businesses post every day and chooses what posts to put in our newsfeed.

Have you ever wondered how it works?

Then keep reading.

3 MILLION POSTS are created each MINUTE on Facebook (2016 stats). Imagine if we got the entire lot in our newsfeed? That’s a lot of content!

To sort out all that content Facebook uses an algorithm. The algorithm filters all the content by sorting out what it considers revelvant to you, the user. It does this based on our interactions with posts, articles and ads that appear in our newsfeed. It also considers  the type of things we post ourselves and what interests we have selected in our page settings.

So how exactly does this all work?

I had the privilege of listening to a recent podcast from Social Media Examiner with Facebook Ads expert and BlitzMetrics founder Dennis Yu.  I now reveal to you how the algorithm works…

The number 1 factor is engagement

The Facebook algorithm determines how much power a particular post has. When you post something on your page, initially only 1% of your followers will see that post. If that post gets good engagement, then the algorithm shows the post to more people.

…more on engagement in a minute

The number 2 factor is the content of the post

If other people are interested in the content of the post – they actually spend time reading it – then it gets a bit of a bump up by the algorithm.

Also taken into consideration is how hot that content is . How current and the content is versus something that happened 2 days ago.

For instance, when Facebook sends you an ‘on this day’ post, it’s content from the past – old content. But if you comment on the same post, then repost it. It refreshes the post and makes it current.

So what counts as engagement?

The most popular actions on Facebook – likes, comments and shares definitely count, but so do reviews and check-ins. These are simple forms of engagement.

Engagement also has relative power. You can see relative power in action when a story appears in your newsfeed because one of your friends liked, shared or commented on it. This is particularly powerful if the post originally came from you.

Then there’s Consumption Power. Consumption power is when a visitor checks out your profile or page but doesn’t leave any comments or likes. They may go through your photos or check out your posts for example. This is what occurs on Facebook the most.

Consumption power also occurs when someone watches your video or Facebook Story for 30 seconds, then leaves.

So how do engagement factors work?

(This will vary depending on your own data).

Let’s say a ‘like’ is worth 1 point.

A ‘comment’ is then worth about 6.

A ‘share’ may be worth 13 points. (A “review” and a “check-in” are almost equal to a ‘share’).

Negative feedback – such as a “hide this post” “unlike page” or “spam” is worth a whopping minus 100 points!!

If you continue to receive negative feedback, your reach may go down the next time you post. This is because Facebook will prejudge your content (and we don’t want THAT do we?)

What About Video?

The average video view is 6 seconds.  A 3 second view is .025 points.

Less than that doesn’t register because someone could have slowly scrolled past it in their newsfeed, and video plays automatically when you do this.

A 60 second video (which is pretty rare) scores higher than a “like”.

HOW CAN YOU RANK HIGHER IN NEWSFEEDS?

Ensure your content is relevant to your audience as well as engaging.

Many social media marketers advise posting three times a day. But if your content is of poor quality, posting this often can be detrimental to your ranking score. At the very worst, people may unlike your page.

It is far better to post once per day delivering content that your audience will find relevant, entertaining and relatable, rather than posting for the sake of it – to simply be “seen.”

Encourage engagement on your posts –  ask questions, run competitions or questionnaires (polls), ask for advice. There are many ways to get more engagement on Facebook try a variety of tactics and monitor what works.

Boost your Post

This is recommended for when you have posted your content organically, and it has already received a fairly high amount of engagement. This way you know it will likely get a result and, if it’s good content, people won’t view it as an ad. Don’t put money on a post that’s not showing strong engagement. $1 a day for 7 days is good for a start. If the engagement is high, put a bit more money into it. Boost videos and strong content, not just promotional posts.

Note:  Boosting your Post is a completely different set up from Facebook Ads. When you boost a post you use content you’ve already posted on your Facebook page. When creating a Facebook Ad, you have to design an ad from scratch.

So, that’s it, in a nutshell.  If you want to delve further into it you can  listen to the podcast or read the full transcription here.

Good luck!

See you on line.

Vicki X