I get asked about Facebook engagement a lot, so I want to share with you exactly what engagement is and why it’s so important! I know that Facebook can be confusing, especially when they seem to be making changes every other week – it’s hard to keep up and they certainly likes to keep us on our toes! 😉 So, in this blog I’m going to explain exactly what Facebook count as engagement on your page, how it works and why it matters…
So engagement is the most important metric when it comes to our Facebook page, as engagement is directly linked to the organic reach of our posts. In the last few years, organic reach (the reach your posts get naturally – so without paying Facebook) has plummeted. The average organic reach is now at just 6% – some pages get much higher and some even less. But don’t worry, as whatever your organic reach is at the moment, you can improve it by using Facebook more effectively and in a smarter way.
The mysterious algorithm:
So to understand engagement, the first thing you need to know is what the mysterious Facebook algorithm is all about. Now I’m not going to get too technical here as it can get really complicated, but in a nutshell the news feed algorithm is Facebook’s way of determining what content to show to you in your news feed. I know that a lot of people get annoyed at Facebook as the algorithm changes in the last few years has meant that organic reach has dramatically declined, which means that far less of our fans get to see our posts. People get frustrated as they now have to pay Facebook to use ads to get their message in front of people – they think Facebook is just out to make more money. This is partially true – Facebook is a business after all so it makes sense for them to encourage people to buy ads to reach their fans – but there is also another key reason why organic reach is declining.
Why we need the algorithm:
Facebook wants to create the best possible user experience for everyone. They state that “The goal of the News Feed is to deliver the right content to the right people at the right time so they don’t miss the stories that are important to them.” So, they want to show their users the content that they think they will most want to see. But with people having hundreds of friends and with more and more companies popping up on Facebook – the news feed get crowded and Facebook obviously can’t show every post to every user. This is where their news feed algorithm comes in. So, every time you open Facebook, the news feed algorithm springs into action. The way it works is that it scans and collects everything posted in the past week by each of your friends, everyone you follow, each group you belong to, and every Facebook page you’ve liked. For the average Facebook user, that’s more than 1,500 posts. If you have several hundred friends, like lots of pages or are a member of multiple groups, it could be as many as 10,000! Obviously Facebook cannot show all of these posts to you, so their news feed algorithm ranks them all, in what it believes to be the precise order of how likely you are to find each post worthwhile. So this means that most users will only ever see the top few hundred posts. So it’s basically an automated ranking process based on your interactions and behavior on Facebook.
To give you an example, if you like and comment on a lot of my posts on my page, Facebook will think that they are important to you and the algorithm is likely to rank my posts high and therefore show lots of them to you in your news feed. It works the same way with friends and groups – so if there are particular friends or groups you interact with more on Facebook, posts from these friends or groups are likely to show up more in your news feed.
This is why it is sooo important to get people to engage with your page – as the more they engage, the more your posts will show up in their news feed!
What exactly is engagement & why does it matter?
So, what exactly is engagement? The way Facebook monitors engagement on your page is by the reactions (likes, loves, wows etc.), comments, shares and clicks you get on your posts. Simply put, the more you get, the more Facebook will push your posts out into your fans news feeds and the more organic reach you’ll get. However, if your fans are not doing one of these four actions, Facebook thinks your fans are not interested in your content and they won’t push your posts out into the news feed and your reach will decline.
So this is why we need to make sure we’re sharing relevant, high quality and valuable content that our fans will love and that will encourage interaction and engagement, as increasing our engagement means that we will increase our organic reach – so our posts will get out in front of more of our fans. The more your fans see from you – the more they will get to know you, the more you will raise your profile, position yourself as an expert and build relationships with them – so build the know, like and trust factor – which is all crucial if we are to get our fans to buy from us in the future.
So, even though organic reach has declined, that doesn’t mean there is nothing we can do about it! We really need to take control and be proactive with our Facebook page if we want to get in front of our ideal customers and get them to take notice. To help you I’ve created a free e-book on ‘21 Quick Ways To Boost Your Engagement‘ – this will really help you so make sure you click here to download your copy!
I hope that this all makes sense and helps you get a better understanding on exactly what engagement is and why it’s so important that we work on continuously improving it. If you have any questions pop them below or come over to my Facebook page and ask me there.
If you’d like more help with growing your business on Facebook, I’ve created a brand new masterclass that you’re going to LOVE! You can get it for just £19.99 and in it I show you exactly what you need to be focusing on to get real results from Facebook! So if you’re wanting to put an end to your Facebook frustration and get it finally working for your business, this is perfect for you! Click here for full details! 😊
Speak soon! 💖
