Right now across the web, I am hearing a lot of chatter about social media page stats plummeting when it comes to reach and engagement. This can be a scary time because often when your reach and engagement decrease that turns into less traffic and fewer sales.
Although there are a myriad of things we can do to improve our content, such as making sure it’s engaging, fresh, and new. You came here today to hear about what’s trending in the algorithm.
Facebook Trends and Algorithm Update November 20, 2020 Update
For Facebook, we are still seeing high reach and engagement for memes, quotes, and images. If you can search buzzsumo, or simply your favorite hashtags it is easy to find trending content to spark ideas for your page or industry. If you are an influencer you can also respond to these trends by talking about them in a video or other format.
I want to strongly caution against talking about Covid, in fact, what my team does is we instead abbreviated as “the virus” or “C19”. Facebook does not want to get in trouble right now, ever since being called in front of Congress, so they have created sweeping AI programs that go around slow and ban post that talk about sensitive topics such as Covid, and anything about the election.
The simplest answer is to completely avoid these topics. However, if you are going to talk about them in a safe way I recommend using an abbreviation or alluding to the topic rather than talking about it directly.
Inviting People from Ads to Like Your Page
If you are a social media manager that is working with media buyers, and your page is less than 100,000 followers, I recommend going to the notifications in your account finding the ads that are in use right now and inviting anyone who engages with those posts to follow your page. This is a great way to get your target audience following your organic traffic. This is an often-overlooked strategy that can really make a big difference.
Sharing Content to Groups
If you are creating content on Facebook or on LinkedIn I recommend sharing it to relevant groups. This can still be a great strategy to get new eyes on your work. Just make sure you engage in those groups as a user as well so that you are not seen as spam. Pretty much the more you can authentically use your account the better all of your results will be.
Instagram Trends and Algorithm update Nov 20, 2020
For Instagram, there are rumors right now that hashtags surrounding anything about Covid or the election have been completely banned. If you are used to getting traffic off of hashtags I recommend avoiding these topics entirely. Some industries are still getting traffic off of hashtags, but so many right now have had their traffic nearly entirely cut off.
What I recommend is going back to social listening practices. Comment on posts that are relevant to your demographic, follow your fans and talk to them, and also engage with any and all comments that are on your own post. This shows Instagram that you care, and they will reward you with more traffic.
Also if you are not using stories, you are not using Instagram, it’s that simple.
TikTok Trends and Algorithm update Nov 20, 2020
For TikTok, I hear a lot of content creators complaining about being shadowbanned. I feel like often times this is a cop-out for a natural dying out of Evergreen traffic. Content, even great content can burn out. We have to continuously change up and throw new ideas to our audience in order to keep them engaged. Now if there is a trend that is working for you keep doing it. But the second that trend starts to slow throw new ideas out there.
Shadowbanning is really only a thing for those accounts that break a rule. If you are sharing copyrighted content you will be shadowbanned. If you use words or talk about topics that TikTok is not comfortable with it they will block your reach and engagement. That is why one video will reach tens of thousands of people and the next will reach four.
Influencers Update
Influencers, make sure you are talking to and engaging with your audience. You can do this with questions of the day, memes that provoke thought, and asking people what they think about articles you are sharing. If you can start a dialogue your post will thrive. If you are on Instagram, Tiktok, or Twitter, I recommend following people back. You want a new follower to see all of your work then you want the platform to think you are best friends.