Algorithms
Find out about social media algorithms, including what to do and what not to do to make the most of them when posting.
Social media platforms show users content in order of how likely they are to engage with it. Before algorithms, posts were generally shown in chronological order.
Because so much content is posted on social media every day, algorithms work to filter out what you don’t want to see in favour of what you do. As an account, you can tweak your content to make algorithms happy, and prioritise your posts above others.
Algorithms in a nutshell
- When you post on social media, not all of your followers will see it
- Instagram stories are the only thing that have a 100% reach, although you won’t always be at the front. Stories ‘live’ go straight to the front of the story queue.
- On average, social posts reach about 20% of your audience.
- For Facebook it’s less, around 5%.
- Twitter likes links, but Facebook and Instagram don’t.
- Consider the lifespan of your content as being generally 24 hours or less.
Trust and consistency = engagement
Engagements = points
Making algorithms work for your posts
- Post frequently, not every now and then. The more consistent you are, the more your content will be ‘trusted’ by the algorithm. And your followers too!
- But don’t post too much – never more than once a day on your Instagram grid or Facebook. You can post multiple times a day from Twitter and on Instagram Story.
- When you post is important: work out when your posts get the most engagement, and use that when choosing a time to schedule. Generally, posting as followers are on the way to and from work works well.
- Pair your text with video as much as is possible.
