Whenever I hear people talking about the Facebook algorithm, I mostly switch off and stop listening. I see too many marketeers and social media ‘experts’ complaining about this in the form of excuses. For those who don’t know, a few years ago, Facebook introduced an algorithm that basically saw organic reach decline for every business page on Facebook. This apparently makes things more difficult. Boo-hoo! I have a few points to make on the TRUTHS of Facebook’s algorithm.

1. It’s here to help!

To start, the algorithm actually HELPS you. The point behind the algorithm is so people see the kind of content they actually WANT to see, or are more likely to enjoy. Once upon a time, our news feed was chronological, meaning we always saw the latest posts every time we opened Facebook. Nowadays, our news feed is more of a ‘highlights’ reel, showing the most popular posts in the previous hours, days or week. This means you can see more funny cat videos, and less pointless rants from people you didn’t really know (like this blog). Facebook actually learns what kind of content people enjoy by the posts they react to and comment on – why don’t people see this as the huge opportunity it really is!? Facebook will HELP show your content to people who actually care about your business. When I go on Facebook, I see a mashup of content from the same 8 or so pages; it’s a varied mix but are the pages I follow and love the most: from the epic business advice of Gary Vaynerchuck through to the nerdy car reviews of Auto Express, with a whole load of drums and music in-between!

2. Better content = better performance

Because Facebook prides itself on user experience, your posts are less likely to reach people if they don’t provide any real value. Put it this way, most people don’t want to be ‘sold’ to 24/7, regardless of whether you’re offering them a ‘great deal’. It actually forces you to be a little more creative with your posts, which lazy marketeers hate, but it actually provides real opportunity! Most people setting up a business page fall into the habit of posting too many commercial messages which rank lower in Facebook’s algorithm – and rightly so. Let’s think of things in ‘real world terms’; you wouldn’t be friends with people who only ever talk about their car finances or discount watches, so why would you follow pages that have nothing better to talk about? It’s a like being a real-life Del-Boy. Be creative and always think about the actual people who see your posts. The more value you provide, the more people engage, and the more people engage, the more people your posts reach – it’s like one big ripple effect!

3. Facebook Advertising

Reducing organic reach saw the rise of the most efficient, effective and damn-right powerful advertising platform the world has ever seen: Facebook ads. If you aren’t using Facebook ads right now, you are missing out – massively. Whether you’re building a personal brand or trying to find new customers for your business, the targeting capabilities that Facebook offers is pretty mind-blowing. The fact that you can target, for example, 25-36 year olds within a 10 mile radius of your business is a massive opportunity. No other marketing platform has ever been able to offer this; it means we can spend our marketing budgets much more wisely, and get a lot more bang for our buck. Previously, we had to blow our budgets on TV, press and radio without any real idea or guarantee on who they would actually reach. It was like walking into a restaurant, standing on a table and screaming at the top of your voice to everyone in there. You have no real idea who is actually in the restaurant, or whether any of them are remotely interested. I imagine you’d be arrested before you got to find out. Facebook allows you to target specific individuals who are likely to actually care about your product or service; and this is more like walking into a restaurant, having an actual conversation with someone at the bar, creating context around the friendship and showing them how you can help.

But enough of the bad analogies – it’s time for you to stop making excuses and put some real effort into your Facebook page! If you are struggling with ideas, you can always give me a shout and ask any questions you might have! 😉