THE FACEBOOK ALGORITHM – MAKE IT YOUR FRIEND, AND MASTER IT.

I say this A LOT, and today, I’ve decided to make an entire article about it. Every single move that Facebook has made along the way has been to protect one thing: USER EXPERIENCE.

That is the NUMBER ONE PRIORITY of Facebook’s algorithm. And if you’ve been following along with my content, then you already may very well know the reason WHY it is Facebook’s number one priority. It's 100% true, they protect the user experience of those who use Facebook.

HERE'S WHY:

When people are viewing their timelines, if they see content and ads about things that they don’t want to see or hear about, and they see too many things that they’re not interested in, THEY BECOME ANNOYED! If they get annoyed at the content that they’re encountering, then they’re going to click off from the platform. Then, there is a likelihood that that user is NOT going to spend as much time on the platform, and when THAT happens, Facebook loses money. Realize, Facebook, even though it IS a Social platform, it is STILL a BUSINESS, and THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE MONEY.

People come onto the social platform to be “social”. Even though many people make purchases and they DO respond to Facebook ads, I mean, of course, if it’s about something that they care about, people will buy. People WILL follow companies they enjoy and often times end up becoming customers and clients of a few of the businesses they follow. However, the #1 reason for Facebook’s users to be on the platform is to be “social”. A fact that Facebook is very much aware of. Therefore, they created their algorithm.

Now before I go any further, I want to first share the definition of the word “algorithm” so that you’ll have the general meaning of the word: 

 Al.go.rithm (noun): a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer.

This definition is the simplest one to use, at least for the purpose of this article. It is from the Oxford Dictionary (online).

Now let’s continue talking about Facebook’s algorithm: It is a SET OF RULES that essentially “figures out” what each user likes (as well as what they DON’T like). They’re able to gather this information from each user’s unique history on the platform. Let me explain a little further. It’s actually downright FASCINATING when you really think about it.

 Ever since you opened your Facebook account (whether that is 10 years ago, 8 years ago, last year, or last month — you get the picture). Facebook has been gathering DATA about the pages that you like, the friends that you have, the posts you comment on, the things that you share, the things that you interact with and about, the pages you actually send messages to, the websites that you visit when you click on a link on an ad or a post, and on and on and on…

All of that data has been gathered about EVERY SINGLE USER of the platform. There are well over ONE AND A HALF BILLION (Closer to Two Billion) active daily users logging onto Facebook every single day. Just think, that’s only the DAILY users. There are even MORE users out there who log on regularly but not daily (they have 2.41 Billion, MONTHLY active users). Facebook has individual data on EACH and EVERY user. WOW, that’s mind-blowing! The BEST THING about all of that data is the fact that Facebook can help us, Marketers and Advertisers, to target our EXACT and IDEAL audience, down to the most minute DETAIL. I’ll say it again, WOW!

I’m not kidding when I say this, guys. I am TOTALLY SERIOUS: Facebook’s algorithm is MAGICAL. It makes SURE that EVERY SINGLE TIME that each individual person opens up their Facebook app or logs onto the Facebook website, each and every single person is going to encounter posts, content, videos, and ads about things that they KNOW and what they LIKE. Things that they enjoy consuming. And when THAT occurs for each unique and individual user, then those users STAY on the platform. Many for HOURS at a time, some come back and check into the platform several times a day. When users stay on the platform because they are ENJOYING THEIR EXPERIENCE on the platform, guess what Facebook can do? Yep — you guessed it!

They can sell more ads, and make more money. Facebook is happy, their USERS are happy, and us advertisers who know how to use this knowledge to implement the strategies correctly, well, WE’RE happy too! Everybody’s happy as long as the platform’s USERS are happy. "PURE GENIUS" are the words that come to mind when describing the Facebook algorithm, don’t you agree?

This algorithm is the most POWERFUL that I’ve seen thus far. It’s AVAILABLE to US to use for FREE! Do you see the incredible, massively POWERFUL OPPORTUNITY that is open for us right now? Facebook is the KING of PLATFORMS and of course, there’s Instagram (which is also Facebook-owned), and the rest of the social media platforms out there. Facebook is and remains the UNDISPUTED CHAMPION of platforms. You can even SEE the power of Facebook’s algorithm evidenced in the incredible meteoric rise of Facebook’s stock in the market.

According to reports and articles found online, Facebook reported “better than expected second-quarter results” in 2019 when it came to earnings and revenue, as ‘advertisers continue flocking to their site (Source: CNBC website).  They’ve been able to make so much money because they’ve kept more people on the platform than any other platform has EVER been able to accomplish. More than YouTube, more than Snapchat, more than Twitter, more than ANY OTHER Social Media Platform that has EVER existed. Just think, you’ve got ALL of the other platforms out there trying to figure out how to copy the Facebook algorithm, and nobody else has been able to figure it out. Kind of like trying to figure out how the pyramids were built, right?

The Facebook algorithm equals one thing, and one thing only, by KNOWING this, you’re going to be able to actually HARNESS its power. The Facebook algorithm equals USER EXPERIENCE. With that in mind, let’s talk about how YOU, and I, and ALL of us brand owners, business owners and marketers can work WITH this amazing algorithm.

IN 2018, Facebook began to ADJUST the overall algorithm to make sure that the organic content that people were seeing was content that was posted by “friends/family” and brands, pretty much in THAT order. This means that content and posts from friends and family were “Senior", meaning that they took precedence over the content posted by brands’ pages. The reality is that this was actually a really GOOD change, and here’s why: It meant that WE as advertisers, at that point back in 2018, MORE THAN EVER, we had NO CHOICE but to really LEARN how to advertise on the platform.

Now, for some brands (like the brands that I was talking about in my last article about organic content), this wasn’t a GOOD change in their opinions, because they had really been able to capture MASSIVE attention with their organic content only, meaning they didn’t have to invest any money or financial energy into growing their huge audiences. Well, at least it wasn’t seen as a good change to ANYONE at FIRST. HERE is the reason why it was actually a GREAT change:

 Because once you’ve learned something, you cannot un-learn it. Nobody and nothing can ever take what you learn away from you. As advertisers, we had to learn a skill set that will always be of value to us. That algorithm adjustment had us on our TOES. Even as new changes occurred (and sometimes continue to occur) with the algorithm, we were able to learn the changes and figure it out. Through learning, testing, implementing, adjusting, learning NEW things, testing, implementing, adjusting, etc. we keep adding to our expertise and gaining mastery. That is just more pavement on the road to greatness. 

Now let’s go back to the change in the algorithm in 2018. At that point, the “organic game” as we knew it was OVER. Meaning that the days were now gone when brands could use their organic content to have Facebook continue to work as a huge, snowball/windfall machine that created massive audiences of followers for them. No longer could they depend solely upon their organic posts. Now, in MY brand’s case (we’re an advertising agency), we, of course, kept on surviving and THRIVING. The reason why we kept on surviving is because as an agency, we focused on creating MONSTER-PROFITABLE brands through the use of Facebook advertising. Meaning that in addition to continuing to consistently put out organic content, WE also FOCUSED ON GIVING MONEY TO FACEBOOK. This way, they could continue to help us find the IDEAL CUSTOMERS for US, as well as for our clients’ brands.

We understood why Facebook made the adjustment. We understood exactly why Facebook would make their number one priority be about user experience, and we knew that Facebook wouldn’t be changing that part of the algorithm. This meant that we had to roll up our sleeves, put our heads down, and dig deep into mastering the algorithm, staying current, and getting out in front of changes as they occur. This meant that we could keep our brands and our clients’ brands profitable no matter what. Facebook has been our greatest ally and partner along the way.

Do you know why?

Because WE ARE FACEBOOK’S CUSTOMERS. WE – the Advertisers, are Facebook’s customers. Not the users. The users are the USERS. The platform is FREE for them to use. The advertisers are the CUSTOMERS. We are the ones who PAY FACEBOOK DIRECTLY, for advertising to THEIR users on THEIR enormous platform. THAT’S how Facebook makes its dollars. THAT’S why they WANT us to learn, master and become “friends” with the algorithm. THAT’S why they make the algorithm (multi-million dollar software) available to us for FREE. Because the BETTER we know the algorithm, the better our results will be with our advertising efforts. And that means we’re going to scale up and up…and UP! Facebook WANTS YOU TO WIN, because when YOU win, THEY win, and the USERS win! They are seeing content and ads that they’re interested in. It’s a win/win/win situation. Get in, and be a part of these WINS!

 Learn the algorithm. Become FRIENDS with it, and then MASTER it.

There you go! See you in the next article!