In this article we look at how the Twitter Algorithmic Feed affects social media marketing. Last month saw a major change in the way Twitter displays content in users feeds. Twitter announced that they were switching to an algorithmic feed, similar to that of Facebook and most recently Instagram. This basically means that users will be more likely to see tweets in their feeds that match their own preferences, rather than just the most recent ones.
From a user’s perspective, this switch should make their feeds more interesting and more engaging, but from a business perspective it has the potential to limit the reach of tweets, much in the same way as Facebook posts lost their direct line to customers and businesses were forced to consider social advertising to get the same results they once got for free.
How will it affect social media marketing?
Algorithmic feeds improve the user experience for customers, but for businesses it can mean that they will see a dramatic drop in their organic social media marketing activities. The main difference between chronological feeds and algorithmic feeds is that the message needs to be more creative and appealing to reach their target audience, as opposed to just being in the right place at the right time.
In some ways Twitter’s algorithmic feed will benefit business who have adopted an effective content marketing strategy. It will benefit those businesses who are skilled at creating engaging content that is of interest to their audience. One of the key factors to creating engaging content, is understanding what interests your audience. The next stage is identifying which of your tweets are getting the most engagement.
If your business is creating relevant and interesting content, then you are onto a winner. You are likely to become more visible than your competitors. As social media marketing is such an important tool in your digital marketing strategy, it is a good time to bring in extra help from experienced social media marketers to ensure your business thrives.
How the Twitter Algorithmic Feed decides which tweets to show
It’s still very early days for Twitter’s latest update, but here is what we know about how the algorithm works:
- Only tweets from the accounts that a person already follows are displayed
- The accounts a user typically interacts with
- The types of tweets a user often engages with
- The interests of the user
- Tweets are ranked based on organic engagement only
- Any paid engagement a tweet receives will not factor in the algorithm
- Advertising is displayed within the new timeline
As the Twitter Algorithmic Feed is still in it’s infancy, it’s hard to determine just how much of an effect this could have on your businesses social media marketing. The most important action to be taken at this early stage is to keep focus on creating engaging content. It is important to monitor the success of your Twitter marketing so you can react to changes in reach and implement changes to improve your results.
If you have any queries or questions about social media marketing, or about what Blackberry Design could do for your business, get in touch on 01527 517309 or fill in our contact form.