Facebook is one of the world’s most confusing, informative, and used social media platforms. We all remember the easy use of Facebook before it was updated with an intelligent algorithm. You crafted a well thought out post and it showed up directly on all of your friend or follower’s newsfeed with no hesitation. If your just learning about Facebook’s algorithm, welcome; this new pay-to-play mechanism has been working its magic since early 2015.

Facebook prioritizes its posts shared by friends and family over posts by publishers, brands, and other pages. This algorithm is making it harder for certain brands to get their products in front of those potential consumers. It scores every piece of content on your individual Facebook. It takes the cake for one of the most misunderstood platforms in the world. In a simplified term, this algorithm sorts posts on your newsfeed depending on what they believe you want to see. This algorithm is of great importance to understand if you are involved with marketing, advertising, etc. considering it can alter your strategy and marketing plan.

Depending on the number of friends on your profile, the amount of groups you belong too and even pages that you have liked, this sneaky formula goes in and ranks each and every one. You may not even see half of the things your friends are posting due to what Facebook thinks you want to see. Most of the time, you only see the top 100 posts on your feed. Did you know that users spend about 50 minutes on Facebook and its other apps a day including Instagram and Messenger? Yes, this is within one day and keep in mind that this number is expected to increase. What we mean by your interests is the activity on your personal profile. The stories you see on your newsfeed are placed strategically by what you have liked, commented on or reacted too recently.

Photo based posts get 39% more engagement than any other type of post. When you post on Facebook, the point is to get some type interaction with other users whether that be a comment, like, share, etc. Posting videos and photos are easier to consume than text making these the best type of content to share on social media.

It’s important to put updates out there consistently. Staying on top of the latest hashtags and trends every single day puts you a step ahead of the competition as well. Crafting a social media schedule a week or two in advance with a basic guideline is an easy way to get started. If 93% of marketers are using social media for business, it’s crucial to hop on the wagon and get to work. Get your content out into the algorithm at least once a day to allow viewers to see your posts!

Look at pages like Buzzfeed who have over 1.5 million followers and billions sharing their videos. Their top 5 most viewed videos are about food. With this algorithm in place focusing on a more friends and family feed, the goal is to get your those followers to share your posts. Check what your competitors are posting and look for opportunities to capitalize on those. Establish your brand and focus on releasing interesting and appealing content that allows your followers to share, retweet, comment and like.

Taking time out of the busy work day to simply respond to your followers and commenting on posts from other profiles will get your business in front of the eye’s of potential consumers. Did you know that commenting on posts increases your conversion rates by 9%? Find 15 minutes a day to make an effort of replying back to your followers and reaching out to other businesses!

There is such thing as social media platforms having peak times. Do your research and see which types of posts perform better at specific times as well as what times are high traffic. Did you know that engagement rates for Facebook are 18% higher on Thursdays and Fridays? Use Facebook analytics to track your data and see when your audience is online. Timing can make or break your post!

The cost per engagement is bound to increase but spending $20 here and there on specific posts could bring in thousands of viewers. Did you know the average reach of a post could be as low as 4% of your total audience? With this being said, paying for ads can really make a difference and potentially bring more likes to your page. To put things into perspective, Facebook now has more active users than China’s entire population. Boosting posts add to your organic reach and allow for people to see your post whom wouldn’t have seen it in the first place. Boosted posts work well for small & local business owners but will incentivize any business.

These are just a few ways to survive the Facebook newsfeed algorithm. The best way to try and dissect this algorithm is to run your own test and collect your own data. It’s safe to say, there is no rule book for guaranteed success but experimenting and figuring out what is performing well will set you up to become successful in the future. One piece of advice: publish great content! Post content that teaches people, entertains them, makes them think, and can add value to their lives. Whether your trying to change what comes on your newsfeed or trying to get more people to see your posts, these are just a few helpful tips to get you started.