Happy new year everyone! While we’re still trying to get used to writing 2020 instead of 2019, we were taking a look if there are any changes in the algorithms of Facebook and Instagram. As we were figuring stuff out, we thought, why not make a blog post out of the info we found out? Here are our findings:

Facebook

Facebook’s policy is ‘meaningful interactions’ come first! Said interactions are driven by and engage users to comment/like/share. This means FB is trying to weed out clickbait and fake messaging. Facebook’s algorithm for ranking and displaying content on your News Feed is based on four factors:

1. The Inventory (all the content available for display to a user’s News Feed) of all posts available to display.
2. Signals (the info that Facebook can gather about the content) that tell Facebook what each post is. Signals are THE factor that advertisers can control as these are related to your inputs: content, who published it, purpose, etc. Ideally your content would appear meaningful and relevant for your target group.
3. Predictions on how you will react to each post. Predictions represent the behavior of a user and how likely they are predicted to have a positive interaction with a content piece. Here Facebook decides what to show a user based on their profile, News Feed preferences, and past behaviors. An interesting side note here is that according to Pew Research, nearly three-fourths (74%) of users didn’t know Facebook maintained this and almost a third (27%) claim that Facebook gets it wrong.
4. A Final Score assigned to the content based on all factors considered, based on the likelihood of a positive user answer.

It’s true that organic engagement has dropped considerably and, to some extent, people will be seeing more content from their friends and family and less from brands and public pages. However, they will also be seeing content from pages and groups they care about.

Strategies for using the algorithm to your advantage: create and share great content, know your audience, post often but make it count, timing is everything, avoid engagement bait, generate interaction between users with the content you post, reply, check your insights on a regular basis.

Instagram

In a similar fashion to Facebook, the Instagram algorithm is looking to give its users the best and most meaningful experiences. Instagram in 2020 will be all about engagement, frequency, and communication. Posts don’t show up in chronological order anymore, so the things you see first are from the users you’ve engaged with most. If you get involved in someone’s Instagram feed or their Stories by sending some kind of reaction, the algorithm will remember that. Simple communication will be understood as friendship, and you will appear more frequently in their feeds.

Likes are gone, but high engagement rates are not only linked to that: sharing content, saving it to collections, starting conversations are all forms of engagement.

Many brands today have come to realize that their Instagram feed is becoming their new home page. And so, a carefully crafted feed aesthetic becomes really important. Instagram is, after all, a visual platform, and exhibiting a unique aesthetic will help your brand become memorable. 

It’s important to turn on notifications for comments on your Instagram. When you do that, you will never miss a chance to communicate with the active members of your audience. If you’re just starting out, good advice is to comment and send reactions to people that you consider your target audience.

Use maximum 30 #s as long as they are relevant to your content. Be consistent with your posting schedule. The more time you spend on the Instagram app, the more likely Instagram is going to show you fresh content. The same goes for your followers! 

1. How Does The Instagram Algorithm Work in 2020? The algorithm watches what you like, how you engage and keeps tabs on time.
2. Two Factors for Beating The 2020 Instagram Algorithm
   • Consider Engagement by engaging with your followers and creating content your followers will enjoy engaging with
   • Consider Timing by posting frequently and when your followers are online

If you need help developing navigating the Social Media waters or getting started with a content plan, consider asking us for our thoughts! By subscribing to our newsletter, you will get once a month useful tips and tricks to help you get started!