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Fighting the Algorithm

Updated: Feb 5, 2021



Marketing on social media is hard! Your posts get buried in seconds, engagement is low, what’s going on!? As we post on social media we are constantly fighting The Algorithm.

What even IS the algorithm we keep hearing about and why is every time we post a literal fight?

Algorithms reorganize your timeline based on relevancy rather than publish time. This means posts with a lot of likes and comments are prioritized on the timeline. Social media algorithms are especially hard to outsmart for small businesses as it’s not a big fan of “sales-y” posts - but we have to sell! So what do we do? When it comes down to it, fighting the algorithm is all about your content and the way you post it.

  • Consistent posting times

Posting consistently is the first step to beating the algorithm. Check out when your followers are most active, and post around that time if you can! If your followers are active around a time that you’re not, draft up some posts and save them in your drafts or notes, that way you can just copy/paste + post and get back to creating!

When you stay consistent, your followers will expect to see you on their feed at a certain time! Not only that, but staying active shows your commitment to the platform and your audience there, which in turn, gets you brownie points with the algorithm. Consistency can be anything you want. Once a day, three times a week, etc! Find what works for you!

  • Asking questions & encourage conversation

The more engagement (likes, comments, shares) a post gets, the more its likely to be rewarded by the algorithm. One of the easiest ways to get some engagement is asking questions and encouraging conversations. Talking with and getting to know your followers and supporters is crucial to fighting the algorithm. When you get to know your supporters, and let them get to know you, they’ll love your content even more, feeling more connected with you! One example of a conversation-starter post is Meet the Artist! Post or draw a pic of yourself with some fun facts about you that you don’t usually share! Ask your followers if they’re into those things and boom- you’ve got a connection with people who not only enjoy your content but also have things in common with you. (Tip: what things do you end up having in common with your audience? Post about those things/create fan art and you’ll get some love on those posts as well!)

  • Video content

I’ll be honest, I struggle with this one. I’m not a big fan of being on camera and not a big fan of my own voice. But whether we like it or not, video content is a growing trend. Especially with TikTok becoming a great platform to go viral on, videos are something we can’t ignore anymore. Luckily, we don’t have to use our own voice or show our faces to make quality video content. Order-packing videos, tutorials in your medium, and process videos are fun and engaging and give your supporters a “behind the scene” look at what you do! Remember that the algorithm favors what’s called “native video content,” which is simply a video posted to that platform rather than a link.

  • Links

Speaking of links, let’s talk about them. Links are obviously helpful- driving supporters to your shop or TikTok or anything else! Try not to “drop n go” with links too often, as it’s not very interesting content, and the algorithm will bury your post. I know it can be tempting to drop a link of your latest Tiktok on Twitter, but try to to mix it up with links and posting the video straight to whatever platform you’re using. If you’re going to post a link, make sure it’s an interesting video! For me personally, a packing video isn’t going to get me to a tiktok page. But tips, tricks and tutorials work on me! Think of the type of content that would get you to someone else’s page, and use that to your advantage if you’re trying to drive more traffic to a separate platform. Keep in mind, most platforms want you and your audience to stay there, which is why “native content” is favored over links.

Change up your posting strategy between putting the link right in your post, or linking it below in a thread or comment! (Tip: comments boost posts back up to the top of your timeline on Twitter and Facebook. Make your post, and wait a bit, and comment your link below. That way your post jumps back up to the top of people’s timeline this time with a link straight to your shop!)

  • Captions

Even more important than your product or your content is your captions! Captions are a liiiittle underrated with the thought that it’s the photo that draws customers in. But even more so, it’s your captions. When fighting the algorithm, captions become difficult to craft. With platforms seemingly hiding or boosting posts with certain “trigger words,” it’s hard to figure out what to actually say. Unfortunately, there’s no list of words that are good or bad. It’s rumored phrases like “retweet this/share this” get posts hidden, so you’ll see people posting “ret*eet this” or some other censored form of the phrase to stop their post from getting hidden. Not only is there no concrete list of words you should or shouldn’t use, there’s also no definitive proof (that I could find) if censoring your posts protects it from the algorithm.

Try to be fun with your captions! Short and sweet, a joke, emojis, all capitals, anything to catch your audiences’ eye! Captions tie right back in to creating engaging content and asking questions. Questions are great, but you can’t make every post a question!

(We’ll go over social media marketing, getting to know your audience and questions to ask yourself when crafting the perfect caption in the future so look out for that!)


The algorithm is always adapting and so must we! Switch up the way you post between photos, and videos to keep your audience on their toes and keep them interested! Ultimately fighting the algorithm is about knowing your audience and posting more of the type of content they enjoy!


Thanks so much for reading!


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