Social Media Algorithm Changes and The Decline in Organic Reach.

You’ve likely heard marketers and social media aficionados complain about the algorithms that control their social feeds in the past. Loved by some, despised by many, algorithms have had a significant impact on the social media strategies of today.A statistic from Facebook claims “for people with lots of friends and page likes, as many as 15,000 potential stories could appear any time they log on”. To put things into context, any content you publish on Facebook could be competing with about 15,000 other pieces of content at any given moment. Whoa.

But What Exactly is an Algorithm and How Does it Relate to You?

Algorithms used to only be used in the world of science and mathematics. They have since migrated into the digital world and have made quite an impact. Algorithms are what social media networks use to decide what to show at the top of a social feed out of those 15,00.. Whether it’s a breaking news article that pops up first in your Twitter feed, a friend that just had a beautiful new baby and shared a photo on Facebook, or your favourite band posting photos from their latest show on Instagram. Everything you see in your social feed was decided by an algorithm. Algorithms are a pretty simple concept. Facebook makes it sound like algorithms are a good thing for the average user as well. But, if you’ve been running a Facebook page for a while, you’ve probably noticed a significant decline in the amount of engagement you’ve been getting from your organic posts.The days of taking the “spray and pray” approach to social media marketing are gone. Thankfully, we have come up with a few ways you can combat the decline in organic reach and still have your awesome content prevail over the perils of social algorithms! 

Konstruct Tip #1: Be Selective.

It’s unlikely that an organic post will gain a ton of traction or actually be seen by your audience unless you can find a way to add some value to it. The first tip we have is to experiment to see what kind of content works best, and then focus on that. Being more selective with what you post will have a positive impact on the engagement of your organic posts. If you give your audience meaningful content that they want to see, they’re more likely to engage with it compared to just some filler content you’ve posted to keep your post frequency up.

Konstruct Tip #2: When Are You Posting?

Here’s an important part of posting content that is often overlooked. Pay attention to when you post your content. Timing is important. It’s kind of rude to be on your phone while at the dinner table and most people are sleeping at two in the morning. Both are prime examples of times that people probably won’t be viewing your content. There may be less competition at certain times in the day, but you want to post content during a period of peak traffic to ensure it’s seen by as many eyes as possible. Luckily, most major social media networks have insights to show you what time your audience is the most active and the most likely to engage with your posts. Check out the insight tools offered by Facebook for example. The “When Your Fans Are Online” feature has all of the data you need to figure out when to post that next epic blog article.

Konstruct Tip #3: Boost the Good Stuff!

Finally, the most effective way to ensure your latest post comes out on top is to boost it. Facebook and other social media sites are businesses and they’ve made a shift to become more of a monetized platform than anything. The number one way to win the attention of your audience is with paid reach. Facebook will generate real time stats of how your post is performing. If you currently run a Facebook Page, you’ve probably noticed notifications like “This post is performing better than 75% of similar posts… Boost it to reach even more people.” The best performing posts that you have should generally be the ones you spend money on. However, the actual process of boosting posts on social media and spending an advertisement budget efficiently can be a tricky process to master. If this is something that you’re interested in, just ask us! We can help you make your Social Media Marketing goals a reality.