Social Media Marketing: The Newsfeed Ate My Posts

If you’ve realized the potential for using social media marketing to the advantage of your business, we commend you! Bonus points if you’ve put the time into developing a well-thought-through content calendar and curating content that your followers will enjoy or find useful, ultimately creating engagement. We’ve experienced great returns on our clients’ investments in social media marketing campaigns. We have been able to support the launch of several successful businesses, with a clever combo of social media advertising and organic social posts, along with other marketing tactics. While it helps to have an agency handle the ins and outs (it gets a little tricky behind the scenes), Facebook marketing and advertising is a tool that’s available to any business owner. However, lately we’ve run across many who are questioning what happens when you send your carefully crafted post or Facebook ad into the abyss of the ever-daunting Newsfeed. We firmly believe that you have a right to know where in the Newsfeed your posts are, so we’d like to break this down for you. Let’s set the scene. Imagine that you’ve come up with an incredibly witty post, reviewed the Facebook analytics for your page to determine the best day and time to post, and triple-checked your post text for embarrassing spelling errors. You feel really good about getting your post up and can’t wait to see the likes, shares, and comments come pouring in. Then you find out that your neighbor’s cousin’s friend from work never saw the post, or you realize that while you have 6K likes, your post only reached 220 people.

Wait, what happened here?!

Now this is disconcerting if you’ve placed an organic post, but it’s downright frustrating when you’ve spent money on a boosted post or a Facebook ad to amp up your social media marketing efforts. If that last sentence threw you for a loop, get up to speed by checking out the different types of posts below, and feel free to reach out to Nice Branding if you are interested in doing some social advertising, because ... let’s just say, this is a rabbit hole you don’t want to go down alone if this not your expertise. Here’s the thing. Facebook was created for people, for its users. And it is fiercely committed to showing users stuff that they want to see. This is the lifeblood of Facebook. If the Newsfeed was cluttered with ads, businesses promoting themselves, and content that was otherwise unworthy of a thumb-stop, people would stop using the platform. And if people stop using Facebook, no one would want to advertise on Facebook. So you see the pickle that good old Zuckerberg is in here — it’s a delicate balance between pleasing the user while keeping the paid advertiser.

So, how does Facebook determine what shows up in the Newsfeed?

Facebook uses algorithms that filter the Newsfeed based on a few key metrics. Time: You are much more likely to see a post from today than one from last year. This is a no-brainer and means that consistency is key when staying relevant and keeping your content in front of your customers. Interaction History: If someone has interacted (FB lingo for liked, shared, commented) with your page or posts in the past, they are more likely to see your posts in their Newsfeed. This means that you’ve got to hook them at least once! Try baiting your customers in with a question. People LOVE to talk about their thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Viral Interaction: This one is a bit creepy. Stay with me here, as it’s a sticky web that Facebook has woven. In a nutshell, your posts are most likely to be shown to people who interact with people who interact with your page. Here’s an example: If I regularly like photos of Chelsea’s cat AND I regularly like posts on the Nice Branding page, then Chelsea is likely to see Nice Branding’s posts.

So, what does this mean for me and my missing posts?

Now that you realize what you’re up against, here are some simple tips to keep your page’s posts from getting filtered out of the Newsfeed. Stay current. Post consistently, but don’t overpost. I know, I know... Like anything else, it’s not easy to strike the balance, but it can be done, and it MUST be done. Watch your analytics like a hawk. Look for trends, and establish when you’ve gone too far. We think a post a day is ideal, but you’ll find what works for you. Get them engaged. Think about what you are posting before you post, and ask yourself if it’s engaging. If you’re not sure, then maybe give posting a second thought. It’s crucial that you draw your followers in and work hard for those interactions. Don’t be too proud to ask! Ask your followers to comment, like, and share your post. This can be done by flat-out asking, or by asking a question, or by asking followers to tag their friends who might be interested. You can also do a tag and follow giveaway, but we won’t get into all that here. Don’t leave people hanging. When anyone comments on your post, make sure to reply in the comments. Same goes for messages. It doesn’t hurt to thank someone for a share either. Just like real life, people want to interact with people who don’t ignore them. It’s not rocket science, but somehow this is often overlooked. You’ve Got to Pay to Play At the end of the day, you can really boost the visibility of your post by literally boosting it on Facebook. The Boosted Post functionality will allow you to set a certain budget to reach a certain number of users in a certain area. Now that you’ve got a leg up on social media marketing, we hope that your time spent on social media will prove to be more fruitful. Social media has become a powerful marketing tool, and it’s not something to be sequestered to the back burner while operational issues take the forefront. That said, we’re firm believers that people should do what they do best. We happen to be great at social media marketing, which should leave you free to do whatever it is that gets you up in the morning. If you’re interested in learning more about having Nice Branding Agency manage your social media, give us a shout at holla@brandnicely.com.