If you want to use social media as part of your overall marketing strategy, then it’s important to familiarize yourself with social media algorithms. Algorithms help dictate how content is displayed to users of social media channels, so knowing how they work can help content marketers figure out strategies to optimize your content and engagement on social media.
There are an increasing number of social media platforms, with some of the most well-known being Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
Creating relevant posts on your social media accounts is just one way that a content creator can boost reach on social media feeds. Knowing what ranking signals different platforms use as part of their algorithms also helps content creators to adapt their content type depending on which social network they’re posting on.
This guide to social media algorithms explains in more detail what social media algorithms are, how they work, and how businesses can use them to boost their reach and engagement.
How do social media algorithms work?
In essence, a social media algorithm is a set of backend instructions on how to sort and display social media content, based on its relevance and your interaction history – rather than just displaying chronological feeds based on when content is published.
That’s because most social media platforms want to present social media users with a good experience and to view content that they’re most likely to be interested in, based on their history of behavior on the channel.
Facebook, for example, may show you posts from your closest friends, and YouTube might recommend videos that are similar to the content you’ve watched before.
As there’s a huge amount of content produced daily around the world on social media sites, the algorithm helps users to sift through heaps of irrelevant content and accounts so that you can ensure an improved user experience.
In addition to this organic approach, algorithms also show us ads on relevant social media platforms, which they think will resonate with us. Many channels prioritize paid content like ads over organic content. And for many of these ads, they will be displayed under a variety of conditions that can be specified.
Because social media platforms are changing and evolving all the time, adding new features and integrations – so do their algorithms change all the time due to regular updates. That’s why it’s good to have an expert social media marketer managing your social media channels.
To help your content reach a wide audience, you should produce high-quality content that’s relevant to your target audience and always be aware of how to adjust your social media strategy to keep up with changes in network algorithms.
A Guide to Social Media Platform Algorithms: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
Every social media platform has its own algorithm. Below we look at how Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn algorithms work to display content according to different metrics.
How the Facebook Algorithm Works
Optimizing your organic reach on Facebook is increasingly a challenge. Facebook’s algorithm prioritizes popular content with lots of engagement, content from your close friends and family, and anything that’s recent and relevant – based on your interests and user interactions.
Some of the ranking factors that Facebook uses to understand users’ past behavior include who you interact with, the types of posts you create, and how popular your posts are. Many marketers and small businesses use Facebook ads as a way to improve reach and engagement in their quest to achieve organic reach.
Some of the tactics that can help you achieve reach on Facebook include getting more page likes for your business, attracting more engagement on your posts, and using videos like Facebook Stories and Facebook Lives.
How the Twitter Algorithm Works
Twitter provides users with content that’s both real-time and relevant. Some of the things that dictate which content will be displayed include how recent the post is, how much engagement the post has received, whether or not it includes images or videos, how active you are on Twitter, and the size of your following.
How the LinkedIn Algorithm Works
LinkedIn is a business networking platform. Its algorithm prioritizes content from your connections and content that has higher levels of engagement such as comments, likes, and shares.
Some tips to optimize your content on LinkedIn include using a number of hashtags, posting videos, encouraging comments, which can be done by tagging people and asking for their opinions, having some content that is long-form, and getting your staff to be active on your business’s LinkedIn page.
How to Beat (and Outsmart) the Algorithms on Social Media Platforms
If you want to optimize your social media reach, you should be looking for ways to beat the social media algorithms, by understanding how they work, measure social media kpis, and crafting your content accordingly.
Here are 6 tips that may be useful to outsmart the algorithms:
1. Pose questions to prompt more engagement
By asking your fans and followers open-ended questions on social media, you can try and elicit more engagement. When a post has more engagement, algorithms often promote that type of content because they see it as popular and relevant.
2. Tag people and businesses in your posts
Another useful social media tactic is to tag other businesses or people in your posts. That way they are more likely to engage with the content, perhaps even sharing it, which will also hopefully enhance the chances of the algorithm prioritizing your content.
Some of the most engaging posts are the ones where users are encouraged to tag a friend or another business – for example in a competition post.
3. Use relevant hashtags
Using hashtags is another great way to help your posts be seen by people searching for relevant content using hashtags. Hashtags can therefore increase your posts’ reach and this can also help the algorithms know when to present your content.
Every channel has its own ideal number of hashtags to use and it’s usually a good idea to use a combination of trending hashtags and niche ones.
4. Optimize your posting times
Each platform will have optimal times of day to post, based on where most of your fans and followers are based. The time of day you choose to post will have a big effect on how much reach and engagement you get on your posts.
For example, if you post at night when most of your audience is asleep, you may see a dip in engagement and reach. Many social media management tools will suggest optimal times of the day to post.
5. Optimize how often to post
It’s important to figure out how often to post on different channels. For some social media channels like Twitter, it may be appropriate to post several times a day, while with others you may want to limit your posts to just one a day.
Algorithms typically prioritize accounts that are more socially active, so not only will regular publishing schedules help you interact with more people online, but it may also help boost your reach. Having a social media content calendar always ready to publish is therefore a best practice when it comes to social media marketing.
6. Include video content in your content strategy
By creating your own videos (not simply sharing others’ videos via a link) and publishing them on your social networks, you can get your content seen by a larger number of social media users.
Instagram reels and stories, Facebook videos, or even Twitter short videos are great ways to optimize your social media reach. These can be created as part of your successful content strategy to help you reach your business goals.
How Social Media Algorithms Can Help Businesses
There are millions of users who check various social media channels each day, all around the world. Having a strong, engaged, and active community on social media has many benefits for businesses – one of which is helping to enhance your businesses’ presence in search engines and search engine optimization (SEO).
It’s important for most companies to have a presence on major social media sites – like social media giants Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, and TikTok. While you don’t have to be present on every social platform, it is worth having an evaluation done to see which platforms are best suited to your business and industry.
Social media algorithms generally aim to provide users with relevant content, from people they trust, follow, like, or are friends with. Businesses can use social media algorithms to their advantage to help increase their reach and engagement rates. This requires creating relevant posts, having a strategy behind each piece of content you create, and ensuring content quality.
Why You Should Hire Social Media Experts to Manage Your Social Accounts
Social media marketing is an important aspect of any business’s content marketing strategy and a powerful tool to build customer loyalty and trust.
No matter which social media network you’re on, it’s important to be aware of how that platform’s algorithmic model affects news feeds displayed to users. This way, you can optimize your content to enhance your reach, content performance, and engagement metrics.
Social media algorithms are always changing, and your social media marketing strategies need to be adjusted accordingly. Many businesses choose to have their social media strategy and content produced and managed by experts who are aware of the latest trends and tactics and use them effectively to optimize your social media posts and channels.
