“Look, I don’t get it. I do everything by the book, I post every day, I even make some reels that take a hell of a lot of effort, and yet neither Instagram, nor Facebook, nor even Google shows me anymore. It’s the algorithm, right?” – a nice lady who owns a guesthouse in the heart of the Algarve hills told us a few days ago, at our first meeting. She had that look of resignation mixed with anger that we know so well, and, of course, this wasn’t the first time we’d heard this complaint. And it won’t be the last!
“Facebook is dead”; “Instagram changed again”; “Google’s a nightmare”; “the algorithm isn’t showing me” (which is another way of saying, ‘nothing makes me stand out online’).
The truth is that if we had €1 for every time we heard (or read) one of these complaints, we’d now be writing this article from the balcony of a villa in some exotic paradise, rather than in our usual office. But the reality is that this tendency to blame algorithms has, in recent times, become something of a national sport for small business owners (and not just them, mind you!). And we get it, we really do. Algorithms have changed, they keep on changing, and they don’t notify us when they do – as we’d actually explored together here a few months ago, when we talked about digital puppets and the strings that move us (and that we, supposedly, also move). But there’s one thing we don’t get, or rather, one thing we understand all too well and precisely because of that really bugs us – in the vast majority of cases, the problem isn’t the algorithm, it’s the strategy. Or, more specifically, the lack of one… But let’s take it one step at a time, as there’s lots to be said!
Before we begin, an essential disclaimer – algorithms exist, they are real, they change, and they affect the outcomes of our actions in the digital world.
This isn’t something we’ve made up, nor is it a conspiracy theory; it is simply the reality of operating on platforms that do not belong to us and whose rules are written (and rewritten) by others (who do not have our best interests at heart!). We’ve said it before in other articles and we’ll say it again without hesitation – when we decide to be present on social media platforms owned by third parties, we accept, whether we like it or not, that we’re playing by their rules. And that’s a risk we have to accept with our eyes wide open.
But (and here it is, that big ‘but’ you already suspected we’d bring up!) blaming all the poor results on the algorithm is, in all truth, the digital equivalent of blaming traffic for leaving home ten minutes late. Admittedly, the ‘traffic’ might not help either, but let’s be honest with each other, since no one else is listening – was the strategy in place before the algorithm ever changed?
What we often see is companies posting (sometimes even very regularly, let’s be honest!) without any clear guiding principle; businesses that switch between a product photo, a weekend promotion, the company’s anniversary, a funny meme they’ve found somewhere, and that typical Monday-morning motivational post (“Believe in yourself! This week is going to be amazing!” (emoji with a wavering and slightly worried expression – very typically us, for those who know us!). And then there are those who only show up on social media when they have something to sell. There’s no conversation, no context, no relationship built up over time. It’s the digital equivalent (we’re on a roll with these ‘equivalents’ today, as you can see!) of knocking on someone’s door only when you need a favour.
The algorithm (that misunderstood monster – and no, we don’t have any particular fondness or admiration for it) is not, contrary to popular belief, an irrational and chaotic entity. It has logic, it has objectives and, above all, it has a very clear mission – to keep users on its platform (whichever it may be) for as long as possible. To do this, it needs to show them content they want to see, content that is relevant to them, content that makes them stop scrolling and stay. And this is where strategy comes into play or, at least, where it should. After all, if what we publish isn’t relevant to our followers, if it isn’t consistent, if it lacks identity, if it doesn’t have its own recognisable voice, why on earth should the algorithm ‘have to help us’? It is simply doing its job; it’s us that may not be doing ours.
One of the most common mistakes we come across – and one we’ve touched on a few times before – is the confusion between presence and strategy.
Being on social media is not a strategy. Having a website is not a strategy. Running online ads is not a strategy. These are tools (extremely powerful ones, for sure, but tools nonetheless). A strategy is the plan that defines what, for whom, how, when and why. It is the clear answer to questions that seem simple, but which many people have never truly stopped to answer, such as: who is my customer? What do they want from me? What ‘problem’ does my business solve in their life? What makes me different from everyone else who sells the same thing I’m selling? Without these answers, you’re just shooting blind and hoping something hits the mark. And then, when nothing hits the mark, you blame the algorithm.
Filomena (fake name, but a very real situation!) runs a small guesthouse in the Algarve countryside. Absolutely lovely, we must say! It’s in a mountain village, has stunning views, a homemade breakfast with local produce – the sort of place that makes one sigh with delight. She posted on Instagram almost every day – photos of the house, photos of the garden, photos of the breakfast plates. All very beautiful. The results? Mediocre. “It’s the algorithm”, she concluded, after months of frustration. However, when we sat down to analyse the situation, what we discovered was something else – there was no story. There was no clear reason why someone would choose that guesthouse over so many others. There was no communication about the experience one could have there, about why it was worth driving forty minutes along a hill road to get there, about the kind of guest that place was perfect for. There were just pretty photos (and let’s face it, pretty photos are a dime a dozen on Instagram, as we all know)! The algorithm wasn’t the problem; the lack of positioning and narrative was. Once that was addressed, the results changed. The algorithm – that very one she had blamed – started to ‘help’ her. As if by magic? Like, abracadabra?! No. Through logic (and strategy!).
There is also the matter of consistency – and we’re not referring to the consistency of posting every day, which may be a legitimate goal, but is not mandatory. We’re referring to consistency of identity – of tone of voice, of the values communicated, and of the audience we’re addressing. Algorithms (and the humans who ‘use’ them, which is what truly matters) recognise patterns. When they come across an account that knows its purpose, what it is saying and who it is addressing, they stick around. When they come across an account that talks about fashion today, gastronomy tomorrow and then an event that happened last week (bear in mind there are exceptions and there are accounts that can and should do this, but we’ll talk about that some other time), they leave, move on. And the fault, once again, does not lie with the algorithm.
But let’s delve a little deeper into something we think is worth mentioning (oh dear, here we go – hold on tight!) – blaming the algorithm is often a defence mechanism.
It’s easier (and infinitely less uncomfortable!) to point the finger at an abstract, invisible entity, than to look at our own work and ask, honestly: “Am I really doing this right?”; “Have I really thought this through and do I actually have a strategy?”; “Do I really know my audience?”. The thing is, these questions ‘sting’. This analysis demands a level of self-criticism that most people (and mind you, we’re not excluding ourselves from this list, as we have glass houses just like anyone else!) prefer to avoid. And thus, the algorithm becomes the perfect scapegoat – it’s always there, it’s always changing, you can never confront it directly, and it never answers when you ask it why.
We don’t mean to suggest that these platforms are perfect, or that their changes are always fair, reasonable or well communicated – far from it! We have previously commented, for example, on the changes to Meta’s targeting system a few years ago which, in our humble opinion, made little sense for many businesses. But the point is that these changes happen whether we agree with them or not. And adapting your strategy to this new reality is far more productive than sitting around bemoaning the fact that the rules of the game have changed (again!). The rules of the game are always changing. They always have. There’s nothing new here.
So, what to do when the results are not as expected? Before pointing the finger at the algorithm, there are a number of questions that deserve an honest answer.
Do I have a defined strategy, with clear and measurable goals? Do I really know my audience; not in theory (or what I’d like them to be), but in reality? Is my content relevant to the people I want to reach, or is it only relevant to me? Am I consistent in my tone and positioning? Am I measuring the right results (conversions, traffic, leads, sales, etc) and not just the number of likes or engagement?
If the answer to any of these questions is ‘no’, or a hesitant ‘sort of’, then the task at hand is not to complain about the algorithm – it’s to sit down, think, and (re)build the strategy. Yes, we know all too well that this sounds like one of those obvious answers that everyone gives but nobody wants to hear. But sometimes, the obvious answers are obvious precisely because they are the right ones, and the difficulty lies not in not knowing them, but rather in not wanting to implement them; because that takes effort, forces us to make choices and, above all, implies accepting that perhaps we have been doing things the wrong way. Which, let’s face it, is never an easy pill to swallow (for anyone, ourselves included!).
And while we’re here, and since we occasionally venture into topics that go beyond the strictly technical, let us say this – the tendency to blame external factors for our results is not unique to digital marketing. It is a reflection of a culture where personal accountability is becoming increasingly scarce and where the comfort of being a victim of circumstances is, ironically, more appealing than the discomfort of being the architect of solutions. And that, my friends, is a far bigger problem than any algorithm could ever be.
Algorithms are, at their core, a mirror. They reflect what we feed them. And if we don’t like what they give us back, perhaps it’s worth asking what it is we’re feeding them. They are not the enemy – they are simply, as they always have been, a tool that works best for those who use it best.
And this time – unlike many previous articles where you were left waiting for us to offer some magic formula and got nothing – we have some good news: the solution is not to be found in a new platform, a new algorithm, a new tool or a new free online course of dubious value. It lies in you! It lies in asking the right questions, being honest about the answers, and building, with patience and consistency, something worth showing – to the algorithm and, above all, to the people on the other side of the screen (who, after all, are the ones that really matter!).
And, of course, if you think you might struggle to get there on your own, just let us know – we’re here to help. After all, that’s why we’re the kind of geeks who love ‘taming the algorithms‘ with bespoke digital marketing strategies.
