The average organic Facebook Page post sees just 0.07% engagement (font: Hootsuite). To better this result you need to know more about how Facebook’s algorithm works. You want it to know that your content is valuable, authentic, and serving your followers.

The Facebook algorithm determines which posts people see every time they check their Facebook feed, and in what order those posts show up.
It shows posts in descending, non-chronological order of interest for each individual user. This algorithm changed a lot in the past 13 years. Let’s how it works now.

Facebook says Feed “shows you stories that are meaningful and informative.” In 2022 the algorithm is using three ranking signals:

1. who posted it: You’re more likely to see content from sources you interact with (private profiles and pages).
2. type of content: If you interact with video the most, you’ll see more video; if you engage with photos, you’ll see more photos; and so on.
3. interactions: posts with a lot of engagement will be prioritised.

Of course, with these signals, pages that are receiving already a lot of engagement will be advantaged from this algorithm.
So what’s the solution?
Let’s start by saying what’s the objective of Facebook: making people create a lot of advertisements. So now you get also what’s the solution for your small page: create ads.

One of Facebook’s biggest strengths is allowing you to target a specific audience through paid campaigns and advertisements. The platform maintains a significant amount of information about its users, which can be advantageous when targeting ads.

BUT this is not the only solution, guys. You need friends and family, I know it’s hard, but if you find a group of supporters, you can have that small boost that helps you grow and reach more people!

FACEBOOK FOR SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHORS

A Facebook Page can be of great help for an author:

• you can list your basic information. People can know more about you and your products in this way.
• you can engage with new and old customers. They can always be updated on what you do, the behind the scene of your work, discounts, new releases, etc.
• you have access to facebook insights that can help you know more about your audience. And this can help you also when you want to create a specific ad!
• Can be totally free if you don’t run ads, so why not doing it? It’s a win win! Do you remember how was difficult to reach people like 15 years ago? You can definitely reach customers everywhere in the world for free!
• you directly link your website and/or marketplace where to buy your products. SO it’s an easy access to your products.
• the more you publish the more you boost the SEO. It means that people can find you easily on Google through keywords you use.
• you can create Facebook Groups for free. Do you need a place where to nurture your small community of readers? A place where to talk specifically about a genre of books? A place where to create a book club where you read and comment books together with friends? You can literally create small engaging communities in these groups that makes you build strong relationships wiht your followers!

WHAT ABOUT ADS?

Two types of ads can be created on Meta (Facebook, Instagram):

• boosted posts. The simplest way to create an ad. You choose your post to boost, then your target audience, set a budget and determine your campaign’s length. They are a good way to build Brand Awareness, gain comments and build “your brand”.
• standard ad campaign. It’s absolutely super customizable. You have a support tool (the Business Manger) where you can build and control your ads. You can choose different platform where to share your ads. And of course you have more control on what you do with your ads, you can set a lot more objectives.

SImple rules on how to create an ad:

• set your goal. This is really important, you have to be clear what you want to achieve with your campaign.
• select your audience. You can get a lot specific about your audience, both with demographics and with their interest and behaviours! Facebook is the best place for example if you need an older audience.
• set your budget. Another important phase. Of course, the more money you spend, the more people you reach. But you don’t have to spend a lot of money to reach the right ones! And if you are starting now with ads, I suggest you to spend just a little bit because you are in a phase of testing the ads that are better for you and also Meta is trying to understand “your business” more in order to give you the best performance.
• Of course, also image/video and copy are fundamental. Be sure that the visual matches the words you use. And, for example, if your goal is to bring your audience to a website, be sure that the ad speaks the same language of the website. Don’t choose and image of a flower and then lead people to a car website!
  As usual, about the copy: make it short, make it simple, make it clear.
• Pay attention at both copyrights of your images/videos (it’s better if you create one!) and the Facebook rules for bad words, strange images and so on.
• there’s an a/b testing option. You can choose to change ONE variable and set two ads to see which one is performing better. It’s really useful if you want to try two different audience or two different images for example. But be sure to understand more how the ads work before running this more complex type.

That’s a lot of information, right?
And it’s only the beginning! Stay tuned for other posts about how to use Facebook in the best way!
Do you have questions? Leave them in the comment or on my social accounts! Or write me an email at hello@thelazyfactory.com!