Facebook is still the largest social media network today.
As of the second quarter of 2021, Facebook had about 2.89 billion monly active users.
At the core of the platform is the news feed, which is controlled by the Facebook Algorithm. The Facebook Algorithm controls what each user sees in his or her news feed, based on perceived interests, past engagement and other user data. The posts are not chronologically ordered. The goal is to provide the best user experience, but the downside impacts organic reach for brands through Facebook pages.
The Facebook Algorithm is essentially a series of calculations, but the specifics are not publicly shared in order to prevent anyone from “gaming the system.” Of course, Facebook has shared the overall logic of the algorithm.
In a nutshell, Facebook prioritized interactions with other users over brand pages years ago, which shook up Facebook marketing entirely. But understanding best practices as they relate to the Facebook Algorithm will help your content reach more people organically.
With small businesses alone comprising about 90 million Facebook pages on the platform, you’re already in a hyper-competitive environment that still will prioritize the wedding photos, for example, of a user’s friend over your content.
The following are seven key things to know about the Facebook Algorithm news feed ranking factors as of 2021. All of these factors directly impact the organic reach of any of your organic posts.
Inventory
Inventory is another word for available content on Facebook. From a user standpoint, it includes posts from users you’re connected with, posts from groups you’re part of and posts from any pages you like or follow.
The more content there is, the more competition your post has on Facebook.
Engagement
The Facebook Algorithm prioritizes meaningful interactions. This includes:
- Comments and comment replies
- Likes (or reactions)
- Interaction with page content that’s shared by friends
- Shares on Messenger
Relationships
Essentially, this ranking factor involves the user and interactions between users.
Think of it as including:
- Who the poster of the content is and how complete his or her profile is
- Who users interact with
- Interactions between people (which weighs more than interactions between people and pages)
Content type
Mixing up the type of content you post is a popular approach to Facebook marketing in general.
As far as the Facebook Algorithm is concerned, though, it’s looking at:
- The type of post it is (whether it’s an image, link or video)
- How informative that content is
- The amount of time spent on that post
Dive deeper with our six Facebook marketing tips.
Timeliness
Timing is everything, right? For the Facebook Algorithm, it’s looking to show newer posts first on your news feed, but still not in a chronological order (since there are other factors in play).
It considers the time of posting and the current time as it weighs the recency of posts.
Predictions
In the simplest terms, the Facebook Algorithm uses your actions (such as searches, for example) to predict what you might engage with in your news feed.
It’s a calculation that aims to understand your likes and dislikes so that your news feed is something you’ll want to stay on (and return to).
Relevancy score
Ultimately, with all ranking factors in play, the Facebook Algorithm assigns every piece of content a relevancy score that indicates how relevant it is for any given user. This score differs, based on the user in question.
A higher score means that your content will more likely be shown in the user’s news feed, while a lower score is far less likely.
In conclusion
While it’s important to be aware of how the Facebook Algorithm views your content, no one knows exactly how each calculation works.
Instead, focus on your overall content marketing strategy, optimize your Facebook page while you’re thinking about it and avoid these 13 biggest mistakes that many businesses make on the world’s largest social media network.
As you better understand the Facebook Algorithm, consider optimizing your digital marketing process, such as automation, audience segmentation and enhanced email marketing capabilities, to name a few. DailyStory can help. Schedule your free demo with us today.
