Post For Your Audience – The Algorithm Is Your Friend

Many people complain about the lack of engagement and reach on their Facebook or Instagram pages. They say the algorithm is against them or shadow bans them. But I think many people have this wrong.

Playing to the algorithm’s desires and making friends with it will reward you with more reach.

Let’s take a closer look at this.

What does the algorithm expect from you? To satisfy it, post something your followers find useful or entertaining. It evaluates several metrics, such as engagement and time spent looking at your post, to determine if it’s been successful. If a majority of them approve of your post they will reward you with greater reach and more followers. Remember though, you’re aiming for the majority; not just some.

In contrast, if you cheat your way to mass engagement and reach and get caught by the algorithm, you will be punished with less reach and in turn, you won’t gain many new followers.

There is no need to post for any other reason other than for your audience. Your followers might not engage with everything you post, but at least you are posting on topic and for them, and the algorithm is fine with that. The algorithm will not be happy if you post content that isn’t relevant to your followers and many will unfollow you.

Think about who your audience is and why they follow you before you create content. Don’t post something that isn’t in the list of reasons why followers follow you. It’s better to not post than to post something that doesn’t interest your followers and is off topic. If you post for your audience, the algorithm will work for you. You’ll get more reach on your posts and, as a result, your channel will grow faster.