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Facebook Images - High Engagement, Low Reach

Recently I uploaded a post which contained a recipe and a photo (after all it's fairly common knowledge that images help increase engagement). The post did well garnering more than 100 shares and 200 likes. Yet, something interesting happened. The next day I posted on the same page a post that contained no photo. The text-only post reached twice as many people as the popular recipe post, even though it had far less engagement. I tested the text-only approach again on a different page and received the same results.So why does a post without a photo almost double your reach instantly?  Here's one guess - the post without an image shows up in the news ticker on Facebook. When you upload a post with a photo the Facebook ticker simply reads: "(insert page name) posted a photo" versus the actual text of your post. If people don't click on the news ticker, and Facebook decides not to serve up your post because of its newsfeed algorithm, your reach may remain low.

I'm a believer in images, especially interesting, eye-catching photos, but lately, I'm also a believer in occasionally throwing in a few text-only posts. They help increase your reach, and in a newsfeed that is now flooded with photos, can help you to actually stand out. Go figure...what's old is new. That's the thing about social, it constantly pushes you to test, try and reinvent yourself in order to keep your place in the newsfeed.

What have you done to reinvent your content lately?

How Brands Must Leverage Facebook's New Newsfeed

Facebook is constantly reinventing itself, and you can't blame them. To stay stagnant is a death wish in an industry that changes so rapidly. That said, some of the changes benefit users and some brands. The most recent newsfeed change is one that I believe tips the scale for the user, giving them more control over what they see on Facebook.A user will soon be able to toggle between different newsfeed streams - Photos, Friends, Most Recent, Music and Following (brand/media pages). Great customization for the user, not so great for brand pages who currently get a coveted spot between posts from friends and families. I predict that the Following newsfeed will probably be the most underused feed, because at the end of the day no matter how clever a post, it's still from a business versus a friend.

Should brands shut down their pages quite yet? No. Brands can still actively engage with users but they must find ways to get into as many newsfeeds as possible. If they rely just on the "Follows" newsfeed they're likely to see their engagement levels drop pretty dramatically.

Here are recommendations for staying in the "feed":

  • Include images in your posts. With the popularity of Instagram and Pinterest, it's becoming more apparent that visual does well on social. As a brand if you post an image with your post, you can then secure a space in the Photos newsfeed.
  • Post regularly. If you want to appear in the most recent news feed, you need to post. Simple enough.
  • Create engaging content. Get people to engage with your content and it will appear in the Friends newsfeed.
  • Consider advertising. It's not been clearly defined yet, but from early talks it sounds as if ads will get your airtime in all newsfeeds, including the Friends newsfeed which will most likely be the most popular.