Has your Facebook or Instagram ad been blocked or do you feel that some of your publications have lost visibility?
In the recent #CreativeTalks episode with @UpIdeasAgency we talked about the main penalties that these social networks have to face through their algorithm.
Additionally, we will provide you some tips to prevent this from happening. Let’s get started!
Both, Facebook and Instagram, have a very similar algorithm but work differently. Therefore, the restrictions vary between the two. However, there are policies that apply to both platforms regarding spam.
What is Shadowban?
When they block your content on Instagram it is called “Shadowband”.
The first thing you should do to avoid this happening in the first place is to use the same #hashtags in the publications. What the platforms are looking for is that social networks are not filled with spam. Spam is the constant repetition of content that is not relevant to your defined target audience and it is advisable to use hashtags that are related to the publication, to your audience, and, last but not least, generate value.
Another tip is to do previous research of hashtags before starting to use them for publications of the month. Instagram allows up to a limit of 30 hashtags and ideally all of them can be used to attract an audience to the publication. On Instagram it is essential to use them correctly.
Another type of penalty on Instagram and Facebook is repetitive posts in a very short time. It is advisable to post publications at certain times either once or twice a day. However, when there are consecutive publications such as 2,3 or 4 posts in an hour, it can get penalized and is classified as spam by the algorithm.
Use social media to create valuable content for your users. Take into account the hashtags that have been banned or penalized because the account could be blocked for the use of a hashtag with restrictions. In this case planning is important because you make sure that the hashtags are varied, relevant and verified that they are free of prohibitions.
Buying Followers
The issue of buying followers or having low-quality followers is also penalized by social networks. You will also have a low level of interaction, engagement and therefore visibility. A recent practice is that groups or communities in Whatsapp charge money to start following a certain account and the Instagram algorithm is so clever that it detects this behavior as something abnormal. The algorithm automatically identifies users who follow many accounts at random and proceeds to penalize those users.
Both on Facebook and Instagram we see behaviors of some accounts that publish advertising messages to promote a product or service of other accounts or in advertising messages from other companies. This is frowned upon by the algorithm and eventually the account will be blocked since it is not relevant content.
Additionally, when people interact with the publications, the accounts usually respond in automatic mode, and when this is repetitive, the platforms begin to see them as bots and begin to penalize.
That is why it is necessary to respond in different ways and not always use a single format for this purpose.
Accounts on Instagram and Facebook must interact with other accounts and profiles as the interaction generates greater visibility. The negative consequence of this is that you begin to interact with a spam type style where the same message is copied and pasted, resulting in the penalty.
If you are starting an account from scratch, we recommend you to select the accounts of the people who would follow your profile and start making valuable comments. For example, tips or advice where it is noticeable that it is an organic behavior. It is conversed and interacts naturally without spamming. This generates reputation for the brand and avoids being penalized.
Sending Friend Requests
If you start following many accounts on Instagram or send enough friend requests in a single day, the algorithm will determine that you are a bot and penalize you. An account on Instagram cannot follow more than 1,500 accounts because the platform analyzes that a normal user will not see more than 1,500 posts from the different accounts that he follows. Similarly, if you follow people to follow you back and then stop following them, it will also penalize you for a spam type exercise.
There is an interesting rule regarding the issue of publications. The 80/20 rule is recommended by platforms and consists of 80% of the images published as photos or illustrations and 20% text. The algorithm puts a lot of weight to this issue, which is important when running paid campaigns. The pieces must be designed so that your user can visualize them very well from the cell phone and can easily read all the elements and information of the graphic pieces.
Advertising Schedule
Regarding guidelines, Facebook has a manual for policies and penalties in advertisements. For instance, explicit sexual content, unattainable promises of value or misleading content such as “lose weight in no time” with a certain product or routine can be detected as fraudulent by the algorithm and it immediately stops the publication in order to protect the end consumer.
Social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn are platforms that encourage people to use the resources of these networks, that is, all the content that you are going to share is directly on the platform. LinkedIn, for example, uses stories, also an article tool to have a blog on the platform and allows you to upload videos without leaving the social network.
Now, what happens when you are already penalized or are in the Shadowban?
The first thing we recommend is a detoxification process. To illustrate, if you have a profile that is following more than 1,500 accounts you should start to stop following those accounts and return to a natural state of 200 or 300 accounts but not in a robotic way or massively but periodically and segmented. That means stop following 10 accounts every hour since the algorithm can penalize you.
Another element to take into account is a situation where you have lost visibility or reach. We recommend you to stop and analyze what you did during the last 15 days. Review post by post, detect which bad practice you executed and correct by implementing better strategies so that in the long term you stop being penalized by platforms.
To conclude, we recommend that you stay up-to-date regarding rules, policies and evolution of social networks and take into account the tips we have mentioned so that your corporate accounts are not affected negatively. Remember that each guideline or publication must meet an objective and you must validate if it is being met to optimize resources and is successful with your digital strategy.
Don’t forget, if you want us to talk about a topic in Marketing and Advertising you can write us a direct message on our networks or through our email info@upideas.us
We invite you to watch the full video here
And join us this Thursday for our next #CreativeTalks session.
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Chana Fajardo@upideasagency
¡Juntos, llevaremos tu negocio a nuevos horizontes!
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