5 Fast Ways To Hack The Facebook Algorithm
The Facebook Algorithm is one of those mysterious concepts that most people kinda know about. But aren’t sure what it actually does.
If you don’t know what the Facebook Algorithm is, then let me explain. It is a basically the way Facebook determines how relevant your post is and how long your post will be put into news feeds.
If you have a Facebook page you have to remember that your posts will only ever reach 10% of your page fans organically, on a good day. The Facebook Algorithm is what manages this too.
The Facebook Algorithm is kind of like ‘the force’ on Facebook. You know it is there, it can have a profound positive or negative impact on your page’s reach. But you can’t see it.
I read a post a while back by Gavin McGarry who is the president of social media agency Jumpwire about how to hack around the algorithm that will help you increase your engagement and reach. Until this week, I held it with a grain of salt. Until I tested one of the points this week.
I was blown away by the results.
Hack #1: Post mobile
This is the one I tried this week. I did it on a page I manage and found that it gave us almost our biggest result of the year. Over 3,100 people were reached from a page of just over 1,000. The post took me 10 minutes to create. See the post here.
Hack #2: Use emoji’s
I have no idea why this would increase the reach, but according to Gavin it does. Give it a try. I would also say that jumping on trend posts such as asking people to answer as a Gif that ask for interaction will also increase your engagement and reach. Again I expect this to be updated all the time.
Hack #3: Post via Instagram
Apparently, sharing your post through your Instagram feed onto your page will increase your engagement by up to 23 percent. I’ve seen a huge bump on my personal feed when I do this but haven’t tried it on the pages that I manage yet.
Hack #4: Engage
Interacting with people is a hack I’ve known about for ages and it really does work. When you comment back to people on a post as the page, they tend to interact more which Facebook takes as a sign that the post is working.
Hack #5: Stay Live Longer
According to Gavin if you stay live longer your reach will grow. He says 15 minutes minimum on Facebook Live will increase your reach. I would also say that it isn’t just about length. You have to be interesting enough that people want to click on your post. Read this post on ‘9 Smart & Simple Ways To Use Facebook Live For Your Church.’
Want more hacks?
If you want to learn about seven social media hacks I’ve found out along the way, join me for a free workshop here. We are also giving away a $500 Facebook ads voucher and some free training with myself and my co-host. Interested? Find out more here.
Your turn
What hacks have you discovered? Share your workarounds in the comments.
Not sure if you’d classify it as a ‘hack’, but checking what time the bulk of your audience is online and then scheduling posts or posting then makes a massive difference to engagement. I also totally agree with what you said about engaging with your audience. A two way conversation is a way to boost engagement and reach. The other thing that can work well is posting an album of a few photos, especially from an event, that people want to click through. Each click is ‘seen’ as engagement form the algorithm and so albums often get good reach.
Yes Jodie, scheduling does make a huge difference. The difference here is that you are posting live at the right time. Rather than a scheduled post which the algorithm is picking up.