5 Ways Musicians Can Game The New Facebook Algorithm

Facebook's reconfiguration of its algorithm left many artists at a disadvantage trying to reach fans. Well, despair not! Here we explore five techniques for using this altered algorithm to your advantage.

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Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0

It seems like as soon as we get used to the latest Facebook “updates” the service changes the game yet again. That’s what happened at the end of last year when the social platform reconfigured its News Feed algorithm once more in order to help get rid of spammy content and fake news. That’s the good part – the bad part is that if you’re trying to reach your fans and followers, it just got a little harder to do so. Not to worry though, because there are a number of things that you can do to continue to reach your audience.

Facebook’s top priority as always been posts from friends and family, and that’s been emphasized even more with the new algorithm. The whole trick is to make sure that your posts are included in that category. Here’s what to do.

1. Create quality posts that encourage interaction. The more people interact, the more a post will be pushed to others News Feeds. Ideally you want a post that makes people want to comment, but you can’t ask for it as Facebook will penalize you for that. A post that asks, “Comment if you love music,” for instance, is considered “engagement bait” and will pretty much guarantee that it won’t be pushed out to followers. A post that encourages “meaningful interaction” (a Zuckerberg phrase) is what the algorithm looks for.

2. Ask people to follow your Facebook page. Facebook gives users the ability to prioritize which people and pages they see at the top of their News Feed by adding a page to their See First list. See First is in the Following menu, which is near the bottom of your page’s cover photo. You can also get to the Following menu by simply hovering your mouse pointer over your name or profile picture; a pop-up will appear, and the Following menu is part of it. Ask your fans to add your page to See First in either a standalone Facebook post, or remind them in the comments of popular posts every once in a while.

3. Do more live videos. The last couple of years Facebook has emphasized video posts because it was trying to gain market share from YouTube. Now that it’s accomplished that task, the new emphasis is now on live video.  Live videos on average get six times as many interactions as regular videos which is why these posts perform well under the new algorithm.

4. Use Facebook groups more. There’s now more emphasis on groups than before, and it’s a great way to keep in touch with fans. Either join a Facebook music group or start one of your own.

5. Don’t forget advertising. Facebook advertising can be very effective, and although it might seem a little daunting at first, it definitely works. Plus it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg as for as little as $5 per day you can extend your reach way beyond that of the organic reach of a post. Start with promoting a post, but make sure that you choose a post that’s already performing well. That’s the best way to go to ease into the advertising waters.

We undoubtedly haven’t seen the last of the Facebook algorithm changes, but you can be sure that it will shake things up again the next time it happens. In the meantime, follow the above suggestions to both maintain and increase your audience.