Facebook newsfeed. The new generation’s newspaper.
When Facebook first introduced the newsfeed, almost anyone can be reached with a single post published on your Facebook timeline – All you need is to ask people to share your content, like your page, then “BAM!” you grow your reach organically.
At least, that’s how it was before Facebook decided to dish out major algorithm updates a few years ago (and they have been updating this algorithm ever since). Now, organic reach has greatly declined, and Facebook’s algorithm scan user behaviour in order to pick what stories to put in front of audiences. So if you’re not “relevant” to your audience – even if they follow your page – your content will hardly appear on their Facebook newsfeed.
For businesses like yours looking to grow their presence online, this update is a big blow to your marketing efforts. Your typical “advertising/commercial”-type posts will no longer have that huge organic reach it used to enjoy, and your business page will sink with other “irrelevant” pages on Facebook where your posts will hardly get a spot on your followers’ newsfeeds.
History Of The News Feed
Before we talk about how you can appear on your followers’ Facebook newsfeeds, let’s first walk don memory lane on when the newsfeed first began and how its internal algorithm has changed over time. That way, we can see how Facebook’s algorithm behaviour has affected online business pages then and now:
2006 – FB Introduces The Newsfeed
This was the first time Facebook introduced the newsfeed. During this time, the algorithm was very simple and showed posts in reverse chronological order (meaning it showed the latest updates first and older updates followed).
2009 – FB Sorting System Based On Popularity
This was the first major change in FB’s newsfeed algorithm. From the reverse chronological order of sorting, Facebook newsfeeds started showing posts based on how popular they were. The popularity of a post was measured by how much engagement the post was receiving. The more engagement a post was getting, the more it will appear on the news feed. Facebook marketers were able to utilize this algorithm updates by creating click-bait content and asking audiences to share and like the posts to grow an organic reach.
2013 – Ranking System Based On 50 Interactions
Facebook gave the newsfeed algorithm another update, this time giving weight on a user’s top 50 interactions on the platform. That means that the top 50 people or brands a user interacts with will be given priority on a user’s news feed. This update had little effect on businesses, only limiting the organic reach of posts by a little bit.
2015 – Search Function Was Expanded
FB’s search function was originally introduced to search for apps on the platform, but it was expanded to include a variety of searches including news stories, posts from other users, and even pages you haven’t liked yet. This was a good update for Facebook marketers, especially those who were accustomed to making viral posts.
2016 – FB “moments” Were Introduced”
To encourage users to engage with friends, Facebook introduced FB “moments” on top of the newsfeed. These “moments” were a compilation of posts from a user’s past activity or promote a holiday. This was a bit of a struggle for Facebook marketers since Facebook has been encouraging less posts from brands and more personal posts.
2017 – Bait Posts And Other “Engagement” Tactics Posts Were Demoted In The Ranking
This was perhaps the biggest blow to Facebook marketers of all the Facebook newsfeed updates. Posts that encouraged users to engage with marketing materials on Facebook received a significant drop in reach. This was focused on limiting the reach of business pages to make more room for “authentic and personal” posts between users.
Tips And Tricks To Appearing On The Newsfeed
Now that we’ve seen the changes made on the Facebook’s newsfeed, here are some top pro tips on how you can continue to appear on your followers’ newsfeed:
Post Often
Frequently posting on social media is number one key to getting at least a little visibility. Since Facebook gives some weight on the last 50 interactions of users on the platform, you need to make sure that you’re at least within that 50 interactions. Interaction includes engagement (likes, shares, etc.) profile view, and photo and video views.
The more frequent you post on Facebook, the bigger the chances you’ll be under the radar of users and they’ll interact with your page, giving you a slight boost in visibility.
Use CTAs Sparingly
Remember that Facebook’s algorithm now discourages posts that ask for likes and shares, so using your usual CTA might start affecting your post visibility.
Try to be creative with engaging with your followers. Craft posts that require them to interact with the post naturally like a quiz or puzzle. This will reduce your use of “please like and follow our page” and get some organic engagements without being flagged down by Facebook.
Post Relevant Topics
Relevance is a big factor for content. If your content isn’t relevant to your brand or to your audiences, then there’s no purpose to your content. When creating content for Facebook, it has to be relevant.
Try to be creative and incorporate relevant or trending topics on your posts that will strike a conversation with your followers. This way you can get better visibility on user’s Facebook newsfeed organically. And make it relevant to your brand, so that it appears to people who are interested in what you are selling.
Find The Best Time To Post
Finding the best time to post your content will give you an edge when it comes to post visibility. The more of your audiences are online when you post, the better your chances of being seen and engaged.
Pair this with the right kind of post, and you’re set up for getting the best possible visibility across your followers. You might even go viral!
Get Your Brand To Be Seen Now
Facebook’s newsfeed has become a blessing and a curse to Facebook marketers. It offers the best possible visibility to Facebook’s over 2 billion active users, but unless you are familiar with the dos and don’ts of the algorithm, you’ll have a hard time utilising this powerful tool.
If you’re not familiar with how to use Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm to your advantage, it would be wise for you to hire a competent SEO team to help you with your social media campaigns.
