Algorithm Angst? Try These Tips to Boost Social-Media Engagement
Social media has changed the marketing industry. The average customer has more access to knowledge about your business and products, but that also means they have access to your competitors as well. Therefore, standing out on social media is now just as important as ad placement, publicity and other marketing platforms.
Mastery of social media algorithms means your message is at the forefront. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn algorithms change but share one commonality – relationships. The development of your social media presence is dependent on your ability to build a community. Here are some helpful tips to get your social media accounts on the top of your prospects feed.
Instagram’s algorithm is a psychic looking into a crystal ball. It predicts how much users will care about a post and positions that post accordingly on a feed.
It does this by looking at past behavior on similar content that a user has “liked” or commented on. The likes, comments and story views are documented, collected and qualified to give a user-specific experience.
A business account needs to be equally specific. When is your audience most active? Morning, afternoon, evening? Luckily, analytics will not make you guess about this. Posting when your followers are most active will give you a higher chance of engagement for the frequent user and less-frequent user. These two types of users have different experiences. A frequent user is going to have more of a chronological feed than a non-frequent user whose feed is filled with daily highlights.
Your posts on Instagram must be eye-catching, clear and consistent. If you are going to invest time into your Instagram, make sure you are being consistent with your posts. Posting a couple of times a week is fine as long as you keep that up. Posting a lot and then stopping is worse than posting a few times a week. Ensure you have time and content before embarking on Instagram.
Finally, and arguably most importantly, build relationships. This is a daily commitment. Like, comment and note widely used hashtags every day. This gets your account out there driving users to your page, eyes on your content and prospects to your website.
Facebook
Engagement is king on Facebook. Posts that drive engagement are given priority, meaning content must be dynamic and appealing to your audience. So, as with Instagram, know when your audience is online. The more eyes, the more possibility for likes, comments and shares.
Facebook business pages have A LOT of insights to help you in figuring out how to beat the algorithm. Data is invaluable when it comes to marketing and Facebook insights have that! Schedule your posts at a time that your audience is most active. The content that you schedule to be posted is just as important and making video a cornerstone is vital as well as driving and inviting discussions.
Facebook’s algorithms are also driven by that R-word again. Relationships. Videos, discussions and dynamic posts are great, but users are 16 times more likely to read something that is on a friend’s feed than a company. So, having friends, employees and brand enthusiasts share your content is valuable. Also, joining discussion groups and being part of conversations will increase that audience as well.
Twitter algorithms will toggle feeds between top tweets to recent tweets prioritizing engagement, relevancy and media-rich content. An active presence on Twitter and interaction with other accounts increases relevancy. Likes and comments on tweets from your followers and people that you have followed will show your engagement driving traffic to your page.
Once on the page, your content must be attention-grabbing, using twitter polls, photos, videos and gifs will pull users to click links you provide. Hashtags also must show some strategy as well. Plan around events and pull from that audience (as long as it’s relevant). Twitter also offers insights and analytics, use the data at your disposal to measure success.
LinkedIn’s algorithm is a little more upfront and self-explanatory. The faster a post gets reactions, the more likely it will be included at the top of the page. Knowing your connections, draw on common interests in your content using articles, images and videos. A rule of thumb for LinkedIn content is to use no more than three hashtags.
Social media’s influence can be felt on a global level. It has the ability to build a community and market products at the same time making it a unique and powerful tool in a marketing plan.
The algorithms can be tricky and change a lot, which is why doing research and treating your social-media platforms just as seriously as your advertising is vital. Invest time and energy on a daily basis to cultivate relationships and ensure you achieve and maintain visibility across all social media platforms.
