Have you noticed a drop in organic reach from your Facebook Page? If so, you’re not alone. Over the last several years, Facebook changed its prioritization algorithm, so organic reach on Facebook pages has been in decline.
The newest Facebook algorithm change will cause the organic reach for many pages to drop to near zero. This means that very few people will actually see your organic posts. So, given this algorithm change, what do you need to do? Could this actually be good news for you?
First, let’s go into a little more detail on the update. Friends and family are taking priority in the news feed, meaning that posts from your family members will show up first, followed by friends, followed by pages you like. This means that updates posted by your friends and family have the advantage over Pages.
Placement in a news feed is like placement in a newspaper. Articles and ads that appear in the main section of the newspaper are seen and read first. As reading fatigue sets in, newspaper readers breeze through articles and ads in subsequent sections. If you want your article read in a newspaper, you need to be in the main section and preferably closer to the front of the main section.
Facebook users don’t tend to scroll very far in their feed. So, the further down in the news feed your post is, the less likely it is that it will be seen.
HOW CAN THE NEW FACEBOOK ALGORITHM HELP YOU?
Most businesses get Facebook wrong. They post content that is not useful to their audience and are just ads. If you know what you are doing, you are at an advantage because not ALL Pages are going to be affected by the algorithm page.
Pages whose content gets engagement in the form of likes, comments, and shares will be given preference.
Shareability matters more than ever. In their update, Facebook said that Pages that get their content shared more often won’t take as big a hit in their organic reach. They will still take a hit but not as large as others.
Now, you need to not only post the type of content you think your audience will like but post content your audience will share. The New York Times recently conducted a study called “The Psychology of Sharing” to determine what content people actually share. The report found the following five reasons as to why people share content:
- It’s interesting, entertaining, or otherwise valuable. 94% of Facebook users carefully consider how the things they share will be useful to their friends and family.
- Sharing helps us create user identities. When Facebook users share, it reflects their values and interests. We are what we share.
- Facebook users create, build, and enrich personal relationships by sharing. Sharing allows us to provide value to somebody else.
- Sharing creates a sense of self-fulfillment. If we see something that we think will be valuable to somebody else, there is a sense of fulfillment that comes from giving them something that may help them.
- We want to spread the word about things that matter to us. Sharing is how we educate others on matters that interest us.
These are guidelines, and the type of content you need to produce for your business depends 100% on the audience you are trying to reach. Your focus needs to be on creating content that people will share. Don’t just post something every day because you “have” to. You won’t reach anyone.
Focus on posting videos, articles, and images that your audience will find valuable (in that order). Facebook gives video preference, followed by links to valuable articles, followed by images.
Remember that Facebook’s primary concern is on user experience. Without users, there is no Facebook and nobody to reach. Focus on your user experience, and you will win over your competition.
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