A lot has changed since Harvard sophomore Mark Zuckerberg launched a website called “Facebook” back on February 4, 2004.
A launch that came with a lot of controversy, a few lawsuits, and some broken friendships. But, in the end, we have Zuckerberg to thank for the ever-growing social media platform we know and love today.
Now, almost 15 years later, Facebook is a household name. With a reported 2.38 billion monthly active users, there’s no denying Facebook’s success.
Perhaps one of the biggest additions to Facebook was the introduction of Facebook Business Manager in 2014. Finally, a place where advertisers and marketers could work in one interface to manage brands.
But a lot has changed when it comes to marketing your business on social media. Here are a few things you should know about the Facebook algorithm in 2019…
There’s No Default Chronological Display
A lot of people misunderstand the current algorithm when it comes to marketing their business. They think that posting more often = more views so they’ll rush to post 3-4 times a day. Please know that this does nothing except waste good content. Facebook is not Twitter.
Newsfeed posts are based on what (Facebook thinks) is relevant to you, the user. That means Facebook puts people and brands you engage with at the top of your feed. Also, Facebook monitors your behavior and interests to help the right advertisements reach you. The goal is to give you an endless stream of content that keeps you engaged.
“Why am I seeing this post?”
Another addition in 2019 threw another wrench in the Facebook marketing game. People are now able to learn more about why they are seeing a post or advertisement. It also makes it easier for them to stop seeing your ads and ones like them.
The good news is there’s no need to panic! In fact, this addition only encourages brands to focus on building the right audience for their content.
Understand Facebook’s Goal (And Make It Yours, Too!)
When you’re creating content, posts, and advertisements for your brand, it’s important to always think about Facebook’s goal – relevancy. The News Feed was designed to show people the stories and content that are most relevant to them to make users happy.
The solution? Line up your brand messaging to meet this goal. Only target your primary audience (do your research). Don’t waste advertising dollars on misunderstanding your audience. Create meaningful posts and content that use a storytelling approach.
Above all, remember that it’s important to work WITH the algorithms on social media NOT AGAINST. The backend of Facebook’s algorithm focuses on elements like inventory (how much content is available at a given time), relevancy, and predictions about what specific users like.
Surviving the new Facebook algorithm means making some changes to your content strategy in order to bolster your organic reach.