If you work managing a Facebook business page, you have probably noticed that in recent times its organic reach has decreased in terms of the number of people who interact with your organic content versus those who do with paid content.
We know that the reach of Facebook posts is unpredictable and this is due to multiple factors; one of them is the social network algorithm.
What is the Facebook algorithm?
Facebook is constantly changing, which is why it remains the most used social network in the world. For this reason, it is not surprising that paid advertising on this platform has recently increased to publicize a product or service.
The Facebook algorithm is the tool that controls what happens within the application regarding the content and what users see in their feed.
In 2018, the social network made one of the most relevant ads: the promoted content would have a lower weight in the feed, which would directly affect the reach of each user. At that point, the algorithm would decide which posts users would see and in what order, depending on their reach.
Although it is still an enigma to know what the algorithm used by Facebook is like, it is known that during this year modifications have been made so that users get more personalized content with respect to their preferences in their news feed .
Why has organic reach decreased?
There are many more ads competing for space in the user’s feed, plus there is too much content being posted. This results in less visibility in the Facebook News Feed. Second, the platform tries to show users posts that are of interest to them and not all available content.
Complicating organic reach even more is that Facebook’s algorithm decides what to post to your feed. Faced with this, there are several solutions that you can find to obtain a greater reach:
- Try to be more selective in what you post.
- Consider the times in which to publish so that your investment is more successful.
- Know your audience, so you can present content of interest to them and achieve a greater reach by profiling your target audience.
How does the Facebook algorithm work?
The Facebook algorithm is in charge of classifying all the publications and news that can be shown in the news feed to users, based on the positive reactions that the user may have regarding the content.
Over time, the platform has been updated. For example, in early 2006 the feed was very basic showing only posts from friends and news from Pages they followed. With the interaction, the content was classified to determine the order in which the articles appeared.
After the experience and evolution of the social network, the algorithm has now changed considerably. Unlike previous algorithms, which assigned generic scores to post formats, this one adapts to individual user preferences. In this way, a user profile is generated and the content that most interests them according to their interests is displayed, increasing the organic reach of the posts.
Another tool that has been noticed in recent times is the content formats in which interactions increase. Multimedia content is an example of this, since with live videos, audio, graphics, among other options, more people will see the content live, generating a better user experience.
Using keywords in important events is another contributing factor in the algorithm. Along with this, the fact that the user clicks on the link of a publication before pressing the like button, is an action rewarded by Facebook.
The goal of this platform’s algorithm is to match the content of the news section with the individual interests of users and thus display content that reveals the connection between users.
What is organic reach and how does it affect your business?
Facebook defines organic reach as “the number of people who saw an unpaid post from your Page on their screen.” Before Facebook advertising this number used to be much higher, but after the changes in the social network, there are many fewer users who see the organic posts of your page, therefore they will click on the content less and it will not be shared by others they Which translates into lower conversion, sales opportunity and customers.
Facebook generates this change based on different strategies:
- The amount of content that pages generate, which translates into ever-increasing competition to appear in the feed. Also, Facebook makes sure to deliver quality and interesting content for its users.
- Generate greater interaction between users and pages, this through live videos, comments and content that is shared, which generates organic reach.
- A marketing strategy that has made thousands of businesses invest money in advertising to reach a place in the news feed.
The Facebook algorithm in 2021 is leaning towards business purposes. Posts that receive a lot of comments will be given priority, so it is recommended that you reply to them to have a chance to continue the conversations and increase interactions.
The design changes this year were some of the most relevant updates that the application has had. It seeks to facilitate user navigation between tools such as the notification center and Messenger, emphasizing user confidence.
Another of the important functions that Facebook performs is the fight against fake news. It tracks fake and misleading news pages with the aim of making users trust the ads on this social network again and thereby increasing the conversion rate.
Should you increase your paid content on Facebook?
Fewer people seeing your organic Page posts means fewer clicks and comments, which means fewer customers.
Some publishers have solved the problem by increasing the connection with their followers. Although this has been shown to be effective, the remaining question is, should you invest in more ads and paid content to get the exposure you want?
Facebook has become a paid marketing platform. It has been found that they must pay for ads to target their fans, even if those followers have chosen to view the posts via a like.
Today, Facebook is encouraging marketers to look at their fan bases as a way to make paid advertising more effective. Therefore, if you really want to reach your target audience, you will need to complement your organic efforts with paid advertising.