Facebook’s 2019 algorithm: how to make your posts perform better?
Last update:
4/8/2024 1:25
Table of Contents
Meaningful interactions
Facebook's algorithm prioritizes messages posted by Facebook friends over published content from Facebook pages (commercial content). The reason for this is to encourage meaningful or valuable interaction.
As a brand, the only part of the ranking process that we can control are the signals generated by our content. These signals can be divided into two categories: passive and active:
Passive signals include display time, story type, posted time, and other inactive statistics.
Active signals include likes, shares and comments.
If you want to promote positive involvement, you must therefore create relevant and valuable content. If your target group responds positively to your content, Facebook defines it as 'meaningful interaction'.
1. Provide discussion material
You want your content to encourage (positive) interactions, so make sure your content stimulates a discussion between your followers and other people. Don’t just focus on what you want to say or convey, your content should prompt people to stop scrolling through their timelines, and get them to interact and share your post with one another.
2. Know your audience
It might sound obvious, but your content has to be relevant. Make sure you create stories that your target audience wants to view, read, or share. Whether it’s a product or knowledge sharing, it must reflect the interests of your audience.
3. Track how your content is performing
Analyze the social media messages you’ve posted so you can improve them next time around. You can find out various things about Facebook via Facebook insights, but you should use a social media tool such as Coosto if you want to carry out a comprehensive analysis. In Coosto Publish, you can post messages on all your social media channels, and immediately see how they’re performing. See how your posts are performing in terms of interaction, learn from the insights of your posts, and use this to improve them.
4. Promote high-performing posts
The Facebook algorithm assigns value to content that performs well organically, which benefits you if you want to advertise. Content that already has strong organic traction means lower CPCs (cost per click), which combined with a boost-post from Facebook, can create a snowball effect for your content. Conversely, don’t waste money on poor-performing organic content, as this will result in higher CPCs. If a message performs well in terms of involvement, likes and shares, you can boost a post to scale up this performance.
Conclusion
The new Facebook algorithm is complex and depends on a whole range of factors, not all of which are easy to understand. Use the information that is nevertheless available to sharpen your content tactics and increase your visibility in the news feed: Create discussion material, write valuable stories for your target group, and challenge them to share these stories for organically strong content.
Whereas social media has become a filter on reality over the past years, TikTok brings back a sense of authenticity to the social media landscape. TikTok is an endless source of catchy video content, bringing us one step closer to reality. The content on this platform can be described as raw, real and realistic. Spending hours editing to create the perfect video? Forget it, TikTok fans would much rather take a peek into your reality.
Another thing that makes the social media platform so popular: the user is in control of which content returns to the FYP page more often. TikTok's algorithm determines based on the viewing time per video which content is liked and which is not. Based on that, TikTok then shows similar content. For hours, users scroll through the endless stream of videos they find interesting. And therein lies the secret behind TikTok's success: it is incredibly addictive. As an organisation, this is the perfect opportunity to reach a large audience.
X is the perfect social media platform for quick updates and news articles. This social media channel is the online spot to create a large reach: if you manage to create a domino effect with your content, then X is the opportunity to make world news. So, on this social media channel, the general advice is to post right away on X.
But not every post on X is as time-bound as just mentioned. Are you aiming for specific results, such as more engagement or conversions? Then you'll find the perfect moments here to achieve those goals. That's why we delved into the numbers and researched the ideal times for maximum results for each of those goals.
The best times for more reach on X
Best day to post on X Monday
Peak times for more reach on X
Monday at 16:00
Tuesday at 10:00
Saturday at 12:00 and 16:00
For X, we see a gradual decline in reach as the week progresses. Our tip: post at the beginning of the week if you want to create a large reach with your post.
Do you want to post on a different day? Peak times on X occur around lunchtime (1:00 PM) and at the end of the afternoon (5:00 PM).
When we zoom in further, we see that Monday at 4:00 PM is the best time to post. We also see more activity on Tuesday morning and Saturday afternoon.
The best times for more engagement on X
Best day to post on X Monday
Peak times for more engagement on X
Monday at 16:00 and 19:00
Tuesday at 10:00
Wednesday at 12:00
The same applies to more engagement on X: post at the beginning of the week. Monday stands out in particular. Additionally, noon is the absolute peak moment during the week, along with 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM.
The best times for more conversions on X
Best days to post on X Monday
Peak times for more conversions on X
Monday at 6:00 PM
Thursday at 9:00 PM
Friday at 10:00 AM
It's hardly a surprise anymore. Even if you want to maximize the number of conversions, a post on Monday yields the most results.
When we look at the number of clicks per hour, the distribution is fairly even throughout the day, with a slight peak at 9:00 PM.
The best times to post for every platform
Are you curious about the best times for other social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn? You'll find them in this overview.
Do you always want to post directly at the best time? With Coosto's Prime Time, you can post with one click at the best moment for your account, your industry, or the platform in general. Based on previous posts, this handy feature calculates which times yield the most results.
The success of a social media post always depends on multiple factors. Of course, content plays a crucial role: does the content align with the interests, needs, and questions of your target audience? That is the ultimate key to optimal social media performance. In addition, we always remain dependent on the Instagram algorithm, which changes periodically and influences your content's performance.
But there's another important factor: the timing of Instagram posts. If you want to achieve results, choose the optimal times to reach your followers. These ideal times depend on when your target audience is online because that's when you'll achieve more results on social media. A detail that can truly make a difference.
To delve deeper into the behavior of Instagram users, we researched the best times for both increased reach and engagement. Additionally, we further examine the best times for Reels and carousel posts.
Best times to post on Instagram for reach
Best day to post for increased reach on Instagram: Monday and Wednesday
Peak times for reach on Instagram: Monday at 1 PM Wednesday at 9 AM Friday at 1 PM
With a slight edge over the other days, Monday and Wednesday stand out the most. Additionally, there are some general peak moments throughout the days: on Monday and Friday, in the early afternoon, and on Wednesday morning.
Despite the close figures, it pays off on Instagram to post on weekdays during office hours. However, don't hesitate to post at other times, as you can still achieve great results for your reach on Instagram.
Best times to post on Instagram for engagement
Best day to post for increased engagement on Instagram: Thursday
Peak times for engagement on Instagram: Sunday at 1 PM Wednesday at 8 PM Thursday at 4 PM
Thursday is the ideal day if you want to achieve as many likes, comments, and shares as possible with your Instagram posts. Additionally, Sunday and Wednesday are also good days for more engagement.
Regarding the time, 5 PM stands out significantly when looking at the general times. If you want to capture the real peak moments for more interaction with your followers, Sunday afternoon, Wednesday evening, and Thursday afternoon are the best moments.
Best times to post on Instagram for Reels
Best day for more reach with Instagram Reels Tuesday and Wednesday
Peak hours for more reach with Instagram Reels 6 and 8 pm
Best day for more engagement with Instagram Reels Monday and Tuesday
Peak hours for more reach with Instagram Reels 3, 6 and 8 pm
Best times to post on Instagram for carousel posts
Best day for more reach with Instagram carousels Wednesday
Peak times for more reach with Instagram carousels 9 AM and 5 PM
Best day for more engagement with Instagram carousels Thursday
Peak times for more engagement with Instagram carousels 5 PM
The best times for your Instagram account
The above-mentioned times are based on the overall performance of Instagram posts and thus provide a good guideline for your social media planning. To achieve even better results on Instagram through proper timing, it is valuable to zoom in further, for example, into your industry, or even better: the performance of your business account.
This can be done with Coosto's Prime Time. This handy feature delves deeper into these times and analyzes real-time all social media performances for the best suggestions. With just one click, you can then select the best time to post on your Instagram account.
Curious about the best times to post on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, and Pinterest? Check them out here!
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