Social media algorithms are a way of sorting posts in a users’ feed based on relevancy instead of publish time
“Social network prioritize which content a user sees in their feed first by the likelihood that they’ll actually want to see it. Before the switch to algorithms, most social media feeds displayed posts in reverse chronological order. In short, the newest posts from accounts a user followed showed up first.”
For example, “Facebook or Twitter might put posts from your closest friends and family front and center in your feed because those are the accounts you interact with most often.”
There is a chance that YouTube has been recommending videos that you are watching on a daily basis. “This is again on your individual behavior, digging into what you’ve watched in the past and what users like yourself are watching. The elements like categories, tags and keywords also factor into recommended content on any given network.”
How Does Social Media Algorithm Work?
It might seem like social media algorithms are complicated, but in actuality, they are quite simple. The main function of these social media algorithms is to deliver relevant content right to the users.
“But under the hood, algorithms involve machine learning and data science. They’re capable of praising data and ranking posts based on criteria that, quite honestly, the average marketer will probably never truly understand.”
For example, “the recent Facebook algorithm changes. Facebook explicitly laid out some ground rules for accounts looking to stay in their algorithm’s good graces: prioritize meaningful conversations over transactions, stop engagement baiting and publish more native video content.”
How To Decode (Or Outsmart) Social Media Algorithms?
Most marketers think that social media algorithms are a roadblock, but they can be very wrong. There are easy ways to almost outsmart all these social media algorithms to your advantage. So, if you wanna know how to use the algorithms to your advantage, keep on scrolling through the article.
1. Tag Other Accounts In Your Posts
If I say in simpler words if you tag different accounts to your content, then it serves as an invitation for those users to check out your account and content, and that way, your account engagement will grow as well. This is a great way to build your brand and community.
“This same logic can be applied to tag-a-friend posts where followers are invited to tag friends and family in response to a question or comment. These types of posts should be used sparingly so they’re not treated as engagement bait, but are especially useful for major promotion such as giveaways.”
2. Ask Questions And Encourage Comments From Your Audience
When we are talking about social media algorithms and engagement, such as likes, comments, and shares, you need to understand that it is like a snowball effect. The more your content becomes engaging, the more you are gonna get rewarded by that social media algorithm.
“Perhaps one of the easiest ways to encourage engagement is by asking questions of your followers. Serving as a sort of call-to-action, question-based posts are an easy way to encourage interactions and connect with your audience at the same time.”
3. Tack On The Right Hashtags
The main purpose of hashtags is to make your content easily searchable, and that way, the audience reach is much more. As per the social media algorithm, hashtags essentially assign a particular category to the content you are uploading.
“There’s plenty of debate in regards to what’s ‘optimal’ in terms of tags. As a rule of thumb, tacking on a tag or two is fair game across all networks for the sake of categorizing your content and campaigns.”
4. Optimize Your Post Timing To Encourage Engagement
When it comes to posting something on any of the social media platforms, timing is the most crucial thing. The amount of engagement that you receive from a post depends a lot on the time that you post that content.
“Timing is a huge factor in determining how much engagement any piece of content gets. For example, posting when your audience is most likely to be active means that your posts are more likely to be seen and replied to.”
5. Figure Out Your Publishing Frequency
The one thing that you need to keep in mind is that no matter what platform you are using, the goal that you should achieve is to be an “active” participant. The frequency of your posts is highly rewarded by any social media algorithm.
“This is why it’s important to come up with a content calendar that allows you to regularly post to each respective network. You can likewise cross-post your content across networks (like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) to squeeze more out of your content creation efforts.”
Decoding Social Media Algorithm Of Social Media Platform
When it comes to social media platforms it has a lot of different signals and algorithms. But when it comes to great algorithms, you can’t always determine all the signals every time.
The Facebook Algorithm
There are a lot of strategies when it comes to creating more modified content so that it becomes more visible on social media.
“Facebook is the leading social media platform, with over 2.9 billion users worldwide. With that number, Facebook is a crucially important platform for brands and marketers to win the algorithm and reach a wider audience.”
1. Facebook Friends And Followers
The Facebook algorithm is set in such a way that it will give preference to the content posted and uploaded by your friends and the pages that you follow.
2. The Level Of Engagement
Facebook algorithm is famous for boosting content that has a high number of likes, views, comments, and shares. All these things together signal higher engagement.
3. Content Type
When it comes to Facebook, the more you watch a particular content, the more the Facebook algorithm will recommend similar content more and more.
4. Quality Of Content
Information such as content accuracy, authenticity, and informativity are crucial for the purpose of ranking. Fact-checking is important when it comes to uploading content on Facebook, but you don’t have to worry about that, as Meta has their own fact-checker in place.
The Youtube Algorithm
“YouTube algorithms rely on an AI-driven recommendation model that filters content to offer a personalized recommendation to every user. The prominent ranking signals considered by YouTube’s algorithm include experience, expertise, trustworthiness, and authoritativeness.”
“YouTube is capable of keeping its users hooked for hours, thanks to its ranking signals which are as follows:”
1. Watch History
According to the YouTube algorithm, it emphasizes a lot on your watch history, and the algorithm recommends content based on that.
2. Video Performance
Like any other social media algorithm, YouTube also gives top preference to those videos with the highest number of likes, comments, and shares. Also, the click-through rates are evaluated.
3. Context
YouTube gives preference to certain popular video content that the viewers like to watch over and over again. The related videos, along with the main video, are also ranked with it.
4. Watch Hours
A factor that is important for the ranking on YouTube is the number of watch hours on the platform. Viewer engagement is important, as well as the type of video you have a higher watch time on.
The Instagram Algorithm
“The Instagram app is divided into three sections – feed, reels, and explore. Each section has its specific algorithm tailored to display personalized content for every user.”
1. Instagram Feed & Stories
The Instagram feeds, and stories all display all the recent posts and content from the accounts that you follow on the platform. Some of the Instagram ranking algorithms are based on factors such as:
- Your activity
- Your Interaction history
- Post Information
- Information about the person who posted the content
2. Instagram Explore
If you have ever gone to the Instagram Explore section, then you will find new and exciting content to watch. As per the algorithm, these reels will be based on your likes, shares, and comments as well.
3. Instagram Reels
The main purpose of Instagram reels was to increase engagement and entertainment for all users. The reels usually show content from Instagram accounts that you don’t follow. The algorithm is also successful in showing the reels that you have shown interest in by liking or sharing.
The Twitter Algorithm
“Twitter uses several ranking signals to rank content on its platform. These ranking signals include:”
1. User Interactions
The interaction that you do with other accounts and tweets is what increases your Twitter engagement. This is how the Twitter social media algorithm works.
2. Recent Topics
Twitter gives a lot of importance to the more recent topics on the platform, so you can look for those topics in the ‘What’s Happening’ section of Twitter. But according to Twitter’s algorithm, the trending topics differ with your location.
3. Popularity
The Twitter algorithm looks for tweets that are quite popular or are currently trending on Twitter. Activity or the level of engagement with those trending topics is pushed at the top of the feed.
4. Recency
The recency of a tweet is an important ranking factor when it comes to making it appear at the top of the feed.
The Linkedin Algorithm
“Just like all other social media platforms, LinkedIn’s algorithm focuses on increasing engagement and prioritizing relevant content for its millions of users. Here are crucial LinkedIn ranking signals:”
1. Quality Of Post
The most crucial ranking factor that you need to ensure is the quality of your post. Based on your content quality, your content quality will be categorized into the following categories, high quality, poor quality, or spammy. But what does LinkedIn consider to be high quality:
- Includes strong keywords
- Easy to read
- Encourages responses
- Uses two to three hashtags
2. Early Engagement
The second most important ranking factor is the fact that your post should be at the top of the feed, ahead of all others.
3. Linkedin Connections
In LinkedIn, the third most crucial ranking factor is the connections that you have made over at the platform. The algorithm will make sure that your feed reaches your connections.
The Pinterest Algorithm
“Pinterest works a tad differently than other platforms in terms of algorithms and focuses on these major ranking signals:”
1. Website Ownership And Quality
For Pinterest, website quality and ownership play a huge role in the overall ranking factor. The popularity of the pins and the website has a lot to do with the quality check of the website.
2. Engagement Levels
When it comes to Pinterest algorithms, the level of engagement you are having with individual pins is very important to determine and evaluate the pinner’s profile.
The Tiktok Algorithm
“TikTok has its own set of ranking factors that places more emphasis on new content instead of whom you follow. Based on that, here are some important ranking signals for Tiktok:”
1. Video Information
By video information, I mean to say that captions, sounds, hashtags, and effects are very helpful to understand the algorithm. With the help of these algorithms, it is easier to know the type of algorithm that is ranking and trending at the moment.
2. Past Interactions
When it comes to TikTok algorithms, past interactions are very important. The information such as shares, likes, accounts followed, and comments on different posts. Then, based on this information, the platform analysis happens, and TikTok recommends the videos based on them.
3. Account And Device Indicators
All social media algorithms pay close attention to all the account settings that you have set and also the device information of the users to optimize better performance. A few of these pieces of information are:
- Language preferences
- Device type
- Categories selected
- Country settings
Wrapping Up!
Well, there you go; social media algorithms are a great way to ensure that your content gets the highest number of audience engagement.
Optimizing these tools to the best of your abilities is a great way to further promote your business and your personal profile as well. So now, if you liked this article, then give this a like and also comment down below.
More Resources:
- Animating Your Social Media Strategy: How Animation Boosts Engagement And Reach
- 5 Tips For Remote-Working Social Media Managers
- The Role Of Organic And Paid Social Media In Driving Car Sales