How to Tame The Latest Facebook Algorithm Updates & Rule the School

Facebook announced a number of tweaks to the newsfeed algorithm a few days ago. These changes will improve users’ experience and penalize companies who continually publish poor quality content.

Facebook is putting an emphasis on articles and content that are important to people and recognizing that clicks, shares and comments aren’t necessarily the best indicators of that.

On Facebook, Engagement Rules the School.

With this latest update, Facebook will attempt to capture “lurker” engagement levels just as well as they capture the more emphatic users’ behavior, in order to determine quality content. Viewing time is now a big part of what makes content relevant.

Don’t know what a lurker is? It’s the person who visits Facebook but never likes, comments or shares anything. There are thousands out there, and chances are, some of them are people you know!

Engagement will become more and more valuable, as opposed to just click-through rates and the quantity of clicks.

This latest Facebook algorithm update is part of the ongoing effort to lower the visibility of companies with weak content while raising the profiles of substantive ones.

We’ve all had the satisfying social status of being seniors in high school. Rizzo and the Pink Ladies knew exactly what that meant all those years ago in “Grease.”

If you want to rule the school now that you’re beyond high school (and you’re trying to market your business on Facebook) there are certain savvy moves you can take.

First, Don’t be a Loser

Clickbait and Switch. 

It’s been widely known for a while now that low-quality content doesn’t engage people and it will continue to get dinged. This is true for social and search engines alike. Marketers who pack their pages with low-value links and videos that aren’t relevant will earn zero organic reach.

If you choose to increase reach and promote your low-quality content, your ads will be deemed unsatisfactory through Facebook ads relevancy score. This will ultimately cost you much more money and likely not get the results you’re looking for.

The Over-Poster That Under-Delivers. 

One big change to how stories appear on Facebook will limit the number of posts from the same page going to the same user.

People have complained that the same page’s content kept showing up in their newsfeed, one post after the other. Well, that’s over. It’s unclear what the new limit will be, but this type of change will impact the publishers that repeatedly post similar content in short intervals.

With quality content as your guide, it’s perfectly fine to post relevant content often. There’s a common myth that posting more than 6 times per day will irritate your fans.

If you’re irritating, then yes.

If you’re interesting, fans can’t get enough.

How to Rule the School

In-Depth Content

Solid, high-quality, original content always rules the school. Longer articles and updates that capture and hold reader’s attention will likely see a benefit with the latest Facebook algorithm updates.

In other words, a company that has developed a solid content strategy of engaging prospects through helpful, useful posts is going to see more reach on Facebook. More reach means more fans will see your posts. More fans see your posts leads to higher engagement.

Interactive Content

Since time spent on your content will be a crucial factor, it’s important to attract users and draw them into your brand.

Facebook Live Video is getting some very good results with the few companies I’ve seen use it. You basically go live and broadcast your helpful, interesting or entertaining content and once you’re done, it automatically saves it for others to view as it comes through their newsfeed.

If you haven’t leveraged Facebook Live Video yet, try it out. With the latest Facebook algorithm update, it will amp your reach while attracting new fans and customers.

Variety

Companies will do better if they mix up their Facebook posts with a variety of content forms that reach a variety of target customers. Images, video and articles are forms of content that should all be utilized regularly.

Reaching a variety of target customers is more difficult. So many companies have a hard time making the connection between publishing solid, useful, dependable or even entertaining content and closing sales. I’ve come up with content strategy tips to help bridge that gap.

First, let’s map out the customer journey and the phases they go through on the path to the sale.

You can think of this as a modern-day sales funnel. Each prospect starts in the “See” stage and if you’ve done everything right, they end up in the “Care” stage.

There are many obstacles along the path for both your customers and for your operations. Only strong leadership and planning turn your efforts into strong results.

For those still struggling with content (ie: what the heck do I post?), it’s best to start by thinking about these 4 stages of your customer’s journey and how your content needs to relate.

Companies who begin with the humble intention of improving their customers lives through relevant content and stellar customer experience have nothing to really worry about with these latest Facebook algorithm updates.

However, sometimes intentions and execution don’t fully connect and the results you want don’t materialize. Try some of these tactics here to make your Facebook page more meaningful and engaging.

“Ok girls, let’s go get ’em” -Rizzo