This informal CPD article was provided by JC Social Media, delivering training courses on all aspects of social media since 2011. The team has a wealth of experience in all the major social networks having delivered campaigns for businesses in virtually every sector.
Demystify Facebookâs Algorithm to Maximise Your Impact
If youâre familiar with the term âalgorithmâ but arenât exactly sure how it relates to you and your business on Facebook, you wouldnât be the first to ask about it. The principle behind the algorithm is very simple â to show users of the platform the most relevant and interesting content to them. The algorithm, therefore, underpins the popularity and the use patterns of the platform, so itâs fundamental to how Facebook operates and itâs important to know your way around it.
Incidentally, Facebook has just announced an update meaning users will be able to find out more about why a certain item on their news feed has appeared there. This gives us additional insight into the indicators Facebook uses. However, for businesses, understanding the broader principles behind the algorithm is more important.
The Facebook algorithm
Before we get cracking, itâs important to note that whilst weâre discussing a single, complex algorithm, each individual effectively has their own. This is because how that specific user engages with the platform affects the weighting that various elements of the algorithm are given. This means that whilst a piece of content might be right up one personâs street, it will be seen as irrelevant to someone else. Facebook is, of course, reluctant to divulge too much information about the algorithm it uses because people would simply be able to game the system, making the platform less valuable to users.
The algorithm can be broken down into four parts; inventory, signals, prediction and score. Weâre going to take a look at each step and what all of this means for your brand.
Inventory
The first thing that Facebook has to do before deciding what to show a user is identify all the possible pieces of content floating around the platform that it could show a user. This includes posts from friends, family, pages they like, and pages or posts with which their network has engaged, for example. This amounts to thousands of pieces of content on a daily basis. It also includes potential ads and promoted content from business pages.
So, how does Facebook begin deciding what to show a certain user?
Signals
Signals are the indicators of relevancy on each piece of content on the inventory. These include likes, comments, share and clicks, as well as how long videos are played. The more engagement amongst members of a userâs close network, the more powerful those signals are because itâs a sign of relevancy to the user. Whilst each signal is measured and weighted, itâs not enough for Facebook to base prioritisation of content on.
Prediction
Using all the signals received, as well as each userâs previous behaviour patterns, Facebook makes a prediction on how the user will react to that piece of content. Facebook prioritises engagement â post comments, reactions and clicks, as well as seconds of video views. If, based on all the indications, Facebook predicts a user is going to scroll right past something, it will show it lower down or, most likely, not at all. This is because the stronger the likelihood of a positive or strong reaction, Facebook will give a higher relevancy score.
Score
Ultimately, every piece of content on a userâs inventory is provided a score. The higher the score, the more prominently a piece of content will be displayed on the news feed. Low scoring pieces will be shown lower down the feed or not at all. Facebook wants users glued to the platform so it will continue to serve up the content it is most convinced will keep them engaged and scrolling for more.
What this means for business
So what does all this mean for your brand? Well, the bad news is that Facebook increasingly favours content from personal networks over that from company pages. This may be something youâve experienced first-hand if youâve found your content seemingly falls on deaf ears. Whether Facebook directly penalises all posts from business pages or indirectly squeezes them out using an unfavourable weighting strategy is subject to debate. The party line has always been focused around something like âfavouring content from your close networkâ.
In practice, thereâs nothing any single business page can do to alter the algorithm, itself. It simply has to make the content It produces as relevant to its core audience as possible. However, it is worth noting that Facebook has come down hard on pages trying to âgameâ the algorithm by sharing âreaction postsâ whereby fans are asked to vote by way of reacting in different ways (boosting a would-be relevancy indicator). Not only has Facebook outwardly laid down rules against these kinds of posts, but itâs likely theyâve taken steps on a mechanical level to identify and penalise these tactics.
Final words
The key takeaway is that in order for your business content to get in front of your audience it needs to attract signals of relevance. In simpler terms, this means creating great content thatâs effective in attracting engagement from members of your target audience. This will help elevate the predictions on more users and generate higher average scores. The higher the score, the more likely you are to make it onto someoneâs news feed.
We hope this article was of help. For more information from JC Social Media please visit their CPD Member Directory page. Alternatively please visit the CPD Industry Hubs for more Continuing Professional Development information.
