Does it feel like fewer and fewer people are engaging with the content you’re putting on Facebook? Like you’re a ghost floating around screaming at people but nobody can hear or see you? “LOOK AT MY NEW GHOST SHOES! LOOK!”
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Facebook recently announced changes to its algorithm that could be negatively affecting your organic reach and therefore your engagement. Let’s dig into these changes and see what we can do about them.

Facebook Algorithm Ranking Signals in 2021

How does Facebook decide which posts to put at the top of your feed? It uses the following signals to organize the content you see:

  • Relationship – Is the post from a person, business, or news source that you engage with often? (Shares, comments, likes, etc.)

  • Type Of Content – What type of media is contained in the post and do you engage with that type of media regularly? (Photo, video, link)

  • Popularity – How are the people who have already seen the post reacting to it? (Especially your friends) Are they liking and sharing or are they ignoring it completely?

  • Recency – How new is the post? Newer posts get placed higher.

All of these signals combine to organize the content you see on your feed and which posts come first. Let’s look at an example. Every single time in the past week you’ve liked and commented a heart emoji on your cousin’s photos of their new puppy. You’ve never batted an eye at your coworker’s posts about their juicing cleanse. Well, maybe you rolled your eyes. We don’t blame you.

The point is, you didn’t engage with any of your coworker’s posts. So when you open Facebook and both your cousin and your coworker have posted new photos, whose do you think will appear higher in your feed? That’s right, the puppy comes first, thank goodness. That is unless your coworker’s juice posts got a ton of engagement and were super popular with your other friends. Which we both know is not the case.

The Stats

Now let’s take a look at the numbers. How did organic reach change in 2020? You should be familiar with organic reach but just in case, it’s the number of people who see the unpaid content you post on Facebook. We’ve got bad news, bad for both of us.

At the end of 2020, the average reach for an unpaid Facebook post was down to 5.2%. That means that only 5% of your followers and people who have visited your page or engaged with your content in the past will even SEE your post, let alone engage with it. At the end of 2018 that number was 7.7% and at the end of 2019 it was 5.5%. It’s acting like your gymnast friend during the limbo contest at that one party a few years ago. Apparently, they both can go very low.

As a result of lower reach, engagement rates are feeling the pain. The average engagement rate for an organic post in 2020 was 0.25%. Ouch! These numbers tell us a couple of things:

  1. Social media is only one piece of the delicious marketing pie. Nobody wants just one slice of pie. If you know someone who prefers one slice over the entire pie, cease all communications with them immediately and permanently. Seriously though, you need to attack from all angles when it comes to marketing.

  2. You need to be doing paid posts. We’ve seen a lot of businesses struggle with this. Why would we pay for posts if nobody is engaging with our content in the first place? That’s precisely WHY you need to be doing paid posts! Attract some new followers who will engage with future posts.

What More Can You Do?

Nobody said marketing would be easy but they did say it would be worth it… if it’s done right. So how can you do it right and adjust your strategy based on these trends in Facebook? Here are a few ideas:

Reply

When people speak to you, do you usually speak back or just pretend you didn’t hear them? That may depend on whether or not you’ve had your coffee yet, but you should apply the same idea to social media. If someone comments or messages you, respond to them quickly! If this sounds time-consuming, consider a tool like Hootsuite Inbox to help you manage your social media conversations.

Post At The Right Time

Have you been to your Facebook Insights page lately? Too many small businesses overlook this tool. We mentioned it earlier, but we’ll mention it again because Facebook keeps mentioning it. Recency is key. Use Insights to find out when your target audience is online and schedule your posts to appear during that time.

Cheat The Algorithm

With Facebook Stories. Here’s the thing about Facebook Stories.  They aren’t part of the actual newsfeed, which means the rules of the algorithm don’t apply to them. They’re also effective at driving traffic. Don’t skip out on stories. Post quick, simple to understand information like new products/services, or tips and advice.

Email, Email, Email

Email is much more effective than organic social posting. You need to be sending out consistent emails that provide useful information and you need to make them easy to share. Use your social media and your website to build your email list and get to sending. Just don’t be overzealous and become annoying with too many emails.

So the numbers on Facebook don’t look great. So what? Now you know how you can get around them and start making smart moves for your business. Everybody can use a helping hand from time to time, so if you decide you need some assistance with the strategies above, we’ll leave the Limelight on for ya. ????