Findasense, a 360° creative agency specializing in Brand Experience, has published a practical guide to help brands optimize their digital content and build authentic relationships with their communities, a process that involves challenging social media algorithms.
Although each platform distributes and prioritizes content in its own particular way, the agency identifies universal principles that guide success on any of them. The first determining factor for any algorithm is audience retention, the most valuable metric that measures the time users spend on the platform.
Key success factors: • Social First: Rewards content originally created within the platform itself and penalizes duplication or recycling of other materials. • Initial Hooks: Essential in video formats, where the first three seconds are crucial for capturing attention. • Consistency of Value: The algorithm rewards stability in content proposal, tone, and brand identity. • Revisitable Content: Content that is saved or shared, as it reflects a future intention to interact. • Contextual Relevance and Cultural Agility: Connecting with niches, moments, or trends from the environment amplifies visibility, enhancing authenticity and closeness.
The guide also breaks down how algorithms work on different platforms: • YouTube: The algorithm seeks to maximize watch time through click-through rates, retention, and preference signals, driven by optimized titles, descriptions, and thumbnails. • Instagram: The algorithm combines the feed and discovery (Reels Explorer). • TikTok and Instagram: Both platforms aim to maximize exposure through retention and relevance. In TikTok, the "For You" feed prioritizes watch time and interaction, boosted by strategic keywords and captions. • X (Twitter): The Real Graph model evaluates tweets based on user behavior, rewarding verification, conversation, and content that generates responses or threads.
José Ramón López Grañeda, Global CEO of Findasense, added that there are key cross-cutting operational tips at each stage of publication: • Before publishing: Create original content aligned with the brand's identity, use effective hooks, design pieces oriented towards high-intention interactions, and incorporate relevant hashtags and keywords. • During publishing: Identify times of highest audience activity, ensure native execution on each network, and reinforce contextual relevance through SEO and geolocation. • After publishing: Maintain active conversations, respond to comments, analyze key metrics such as the hook rate and drop-off, and apply data-based learnings to optimize future strategies.
Esteban Pineda, CEO of Findasense Americas, highlighted that the goal of this guide is to provide a practical roadmap for brands to turn data into smart decisions and strategy into sustainable results.
