Chapter 6: social media general
guidelines
A general guide to social networks
Table of content
1. Purpose of social networks
2. What do you see on social media?
Organic content (overload)
• Who sees your post? Is organic still relevant?
• Make organic work: What algorithms push:
• The audience’s interests
• Engaging content
• Original, authentic content
• Recency
Paid content
• Why paid content?
• How does the ad machine work (auction)?
• Campaign structure
The purpose of social networks?
Purpose & the reason for success :
• help people to stay in touch with the ones they love
• help people to connect with the world
• help people to find soulmates and belonging
• help people to find inspiration and entertainment
this is what brands want as well!
,What do you see on social media?
(Organic) content overload
Who sees your posts? Next to zero reach!
• Only a small % of your followers
• Sometimes part of your follower’s followers
• Explore/FY page
• People who search on keywords/hashtags
Average reach of organic posts:
o Facebook: 1-2% of your followers
o Instagram: 3-4% of your followers
o TikTok: 10-15% of your followers
o LinkedIn: 3% of your followers
Is organic content then a waste of time?
Not completely…
1. Chance to bond with your customers (engage, nurture)
Organic content is great for boosting
• brand image (how people see you)
• brand sentiment/preference (whether people like you)
• strengthening established relationships (good indicator = ‘engagement rate’)
2. Whoever finds you through search is a hot lead!
• Make sure people find you, by working on your social SEO
Content overload – social SEO
Young people especially are increasingly using social media for search. With social SEO you optimize
your social content to help people find you when they search on social media platforms.
When you create your profiles and content with SEO in mind, you boost your content visibility in two
ways!
• to people who search on the social platforms (mainly Millennials and Gen Z)
• but also to people who search elsewhere (on Google, ChatGPT, …)
- Use relevant keywords in:
• Bio/about, Name/Page title, maybe even in your Username
• Caption
• Hashtags
• Alt text (image description) and text in images
• Voice-over, text-overlay (in videos)
- But don’t get carried away!
, • Use keywords in a natural way, as if a real human is talking.
• Keep the hashtags to a minimum – aim for 3 to 5.
- Be consistent across all posts ànd across all platforms
How do social media channels decide who sees what?
- Algorithms are gatekeepers. They decide what you see in your feed, and in what order.
Algorithms look at more than ‘a moment in time when the content is posted’ to decide.
- All this results in a unique timeline for every social media user.
Organic content: algorithms
If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product!
o Social media channels sell your attention. This is why they want to keep you on the platform
as long as possible.
o You get to see what you like to see and what you agree with.
o The algorithms prioritize user experience over brand exposure.
Make organic work: what algorithms push:
Organic content: algorithms
Make your organic content work by understanding the algorithms!
Algorithms / Explore pages push:
1. The audience’s interests
2. Engaging content
3. Original, authentic content
4. Recency
The audience’s interest (1)
Social media use AI and machine learning to map out people’s interests and create personalised
feeds.
Keep your buying persona in mind when creating posts, and produce sweet spot content. (A buying
persona is a fictional, research-based profile that represents an ideal customer.)
Check Insights in your social media dashboard. Which posts are succesful?
Signals the algorithm watch out for:
How do the algorithms know which topics users like (and dislike?)
This information is derived from:
o watch history,
o user interactions (watch time, completions, skips, likes/comments/shares/saves),
o ‘dwell time’* and average view duration
o Negative feedback: hides, “not interested”, “don’t recommend channel,”
o …
guidelines
A general guide to social networks
Table of content
1. Purpose of social networks
2. What do you see on social media?
Organic content (overload)
• Who sees your post? Is organic still relevant?
• Make organic work: What algorithms push:
• The audience’s interests
• Engaging content
• Original, authentic content
• Recency
Paid content
• Why paid content?
• How does the ad machine work (auction)?
• Campaign structure
The purpose of social networks?
Purpose & the reason for success :
• help people to stay in touch with the ones they love
• help people to connect with the world
• help people to find soulmates and belonging
• help people to find inspiration and entertainment
this is what brands want as well!
,What do you see on social media?
(Organic) content overload
Who sees your posts? Next to zero reach!
• Only a small % of your followers
• Sometimes part of your follower’s followers
• Explore/FY page
• People who search on keywords/hashtags
Average reach of organic posts:
o Facebook: 1-2% of your followers
o Instagram: 3-4% of your followers
o TikTok: 10-15% of your followers
o LinkedIn: 3% of your followers
Is organic content then a waste of time?
Not completely…
1. Chance to bond with your customers (engage, nurture)
Organic content is great for boosting
• brand image (how people see you)
• brand sentiment/preference (whether people like you)
• strengthening established relationships (good indicator = ‘engagement rate’)
2. Whoever finds you through search is a hot lead!
• Make sure people find you, by working on your social SEO
Content overload – social SEO
Young people especially are increasingly using social media for search. With social SEO you optimize
your social content to help people find you when they search on social media platforms.
When you create your profiles and content with SEO in mind, you boost your content visibility in two
ways!
• to people who search on the social platforms (mainly Millennials and Gen Z)
• but also to people who search elsewhere (on Google, ChatGPT, …)
- Use relevant keywords in:
• Bio/about, Name/Page title, maybe even in your Username
• Caption
• Hashtags
• Alt text (image description) and text in images
• Voice-over, text-overlay (in videos)
- But don’t get carried away!
, • Use keywords in a natural way, as if a real human is talking.
• Keep the hashtags to a minimum – aim for 3 to 5.
- Be consistent across all posts ànd across all platforms
How do social media channels decide who sees what?
- Algorithms are gatekeepers. They decide what you see in your feed, and in what order.
Algorithms look at more than ‘a moment in time when the content is posted’ to decide.
- All this results in a unique timeline for every social media user.
Organic content: algorithms
If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product!
o Social media channels sell your attention. This is why they want to keep you on the platform
as long as possible.
o You get to see what you like to see and what you agree with.
o The algorithms prioritize user experience over brand exposure.
Make organic work: what algorithms push:
Organic content: algorithms
Make your organic content work by understanding the algorithms!
Algorithms / Explore pages push:
1. The audience’s interests
2. Engaging content
3. Original, authentic content
4. Recency
The audience’s interest (1)
Social media use AI and machine learning to map out people’s interests and create personalised
feeds.
Keep your buying persona in mind when creating posts, and produce sweet spot content. (A buying
persona is a fictional, research-based profile that represents an ideal customer.)
Check Insights in your social media dashboard. Which posts are succesful?
Signals the algorithm watch out for:
How do the algorithms know which topics users like (and dislike?)
This information is derived from:
o watch history,
o user interactions (watch time, completions, skips, likes/comments/shares/saves),
o ‘dwell time’* and average view duration
o Negative feedback: hides, “not interested”, “don’t recommend channel,”
o …
