Social media platforms should help you reach people. That’s the whole point, right? But algorithm trends often get in the way.
The thing is, you can change this. Once you figure out how social media algorithms work, you’ll know what to do differently. The Instagram algorithm, LinkedIn algorithm, and Facebook algorithm all follow certain patterns.
In this article, we’ll walk through simple ways to improve your content creation process, adapt to algorithm trends without losing your style and connect with your audience in a meaningful way.
First, we’ll look at how social media algorithms affect your content’s visibility.
How Social Media Algorithms Affect Content Reach and Engagement
Social media algorithms decide what people see on their feeds by studying user habits and interests. Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook all use this system to push content that gets people talking.
So if you want to create content that reaches more people, you need to work with how these algorithms think. Here’s what those platforms care about most.
How Algorithms Work: What Social Platforms Value
Algorithms focus on three main things: engagement, view time, and early activity.
Engagement signals like likes, comments, shares, and saves tell the platform that your content is valuable. Next, how long someone reads or watches tells the algorithm that people are interested. Early activity is also important (especially in the first hours) and can heavily affect how widely your content gets seen.
The Challenge for Content Creators
Now, the thing is, you can make quality content and still watch it flop. That’s what happens when your work doesn’t match what algorithms are looking for, and can make visibility feel completely random. You can follow all the advice, but your target audience might still never see what you create.
It’s no wonder so many creators are frustrated with the algorithm. Some even stop trying or end up spending money on ads just to be seen.
What Algorithms Want from Content Creators
So what can you actually do about this? Let’s look at what social media platforms reward.
- Quality Content: Your posts need to start conversations with your target audience, which means getting people to care enough to comment or share. So think about what makes someone stop scrolling and actually engage.
- Video Content: Right now, short videos are winning on most social media platforms, like Instagram and TikTok, and getting way more reach than regular posts. That’s because the algorithm tracks how long people watch and if they finish the video.
- User Behavior Insights: Pay attention to how people react to your social media posts. Which ones get saved? Which ones get ignored? Once you spot these patterns, you can create more content that will perform well.
The truth is, algorithms aren’t out to get you, but just a system with rules you can learn. After you figure out what they’re looking for, you can adjust your content strategy to work with them.
How to Optimize Your Content Creation Process to Beat the Algorithms
As we mentioned, the best way you can beat algorithms is to make content that gets people talking. If your audience engages naturally, the algorithm will notice and push your work to more people.
Easier said than done, right? Don’t worry, we’ll share some practical ways you can make this happen.
Refining Your Content Strategy
Your content creation process will start when you hit publish. And your first step after publishing is to watch how people respond and take note of what’s working. Then, check your results each week to spot patterns.
Ask yourself: which posts were saved, and which got the most comments? You can take this information and use it to guide what you make next for consistent improvement (instead of hoping for your “lucky” viral moment).
Maximizing Video Content
Right now, video content gets more attention from social media algorithms than anything else. If you’re skipping video, you’re leaving views on the table.
We recommend focusing on video content across all your social media platforms. Then, track your video performance metrics like watch time and how many people engage. If people are watching and finishing a particular video more than others, make similar content to keep people watching.
Adapt to User Behavior
Your audience will grow and change over time, so if you learn to identify user behavior early, you’ll know how to keep your content connected later as well.
We recommend making it a habit to track which posts are getting reactions and if there’s a pattern. For instance, do they prefer quick tips or longer stories? Do they engage more in the morning or evening?
Instagram Stories and LinkedIn posts are good places to test this out. Both platforms make regular interactions easier to help you stay visible and build relationships. This way, you can learn what your target audience wants and improve your content over time.
Boosting Content Reach through Engagement
Sometimes you need a little extra help to get your content seen. You can do paid ads to bring in new viewers or collaborations with other creators to increase reach. But most importantly, match your content to the platform. You can’t expect an Instagram partnership with an influencer to generate the same buzz on LinkedIn.
Optimize for Each Platform
The Instagram algorithm loves it when you post regularly and stay active. The best way is to share stories every day to remind people (and the algorithm) you exist. We also recommend replying to comments quickly and engaging with other accounts to improve visibility.
But the LinkedIn algorithm cares more about professional content and discussions. YouTube generally rewards longer, engaging videos and TikTok favors short viral clips.
Engagement Tactics
Here’s a simple way to get people interacting with your content: ask questions in your posts. You have plenty of tools like polls, quizzes, sliders, question stickers on Instagram, LinkedIn polls, and YouTube’s community posts or live Q&A features for this. These tools make it easy for people to participate.
For example, if you run a marketing business on Instagram, you could ask, “Do you prefer quick tips or detailed tutorials?” On LinkedIn, something like, “Which skill is the most important to you this year: leadership or technical expertise?” And on YouTube, ask, “Which topic should my next video focus on: SEO or content strategy?”
Work with Social Media Algorithms Effectively
Does working with algorithms feel a bit easier to understand now?
Remember, social media is just one part of the content creation process that you can learn to use effectively.
You now know how social media algorithms decide what to show people. Keep paying attention to algorithm trends as they change. Watch your video performance and learn what works and tweak each post based on what the platform rewards.
Yes, it will take patience and practice. But creators who stay consistent end up building an audience that cares to engage, share, and stick around for the long run.
Want to dig deeper into content strategy and see what else you can do? Head over to The-M-Age for more tips and tools to help you grow your reach.
