Algorithms expect greater engagement from publishers before rewarding them with traffic.

Publishers with a “link posts-only” strategy are having a harder time generating YoY traffic growth because algorithms are progressively shifting toward engagement.

Within True Anthem’s customer base, we are seeing publishers achieve stability, and often growth, from posting a mixture of link / photo / video content.

Even by the late 2010s, it was still common for publishers to have a posting strategy that was predominantly link posts. Instagram has always been photo-first, with less traffic potential than Facebook for some publishers (not a new dynamic). With the yearly growth of TikTok and the growing popularity of short-form video, the stability of the link posts-only strategy has been shaky. In the last year, we at True Anthem have talked to many of our customers about the trajectory of photo posts being more prevalent.

Summary of Our Findings

• Image-based posts present the greatest potential for impressions and engagements when compared to other post types.
• Link posts are still likely to generate the highest CTR for you. So it’s important to find a healthy balance of post types.
• For image-based posts used as a traffic objective, placing the link in the first comment has higher median link clicks performance.

Insights Disclaimer

Avoid the temptation to swing the pendulum too hard! While our research highlights the potential of image posts, our data is not advising that all posts should be photo posts instead of links. Not every article will perform best as a photo post simply because it is a photo post. For example, an article about local crime that uses a stock photo of police tape will not automatically perform better as a photo post than it would as a link post. “Content Is King” is a marketing adage for a reason. The subject matter of the content and the topic’s resonance with your audience will always matter more than your posting tactics.

Why Is Post Type Diversification Important?

If image-based posts (even non-traffic objective ones) tend to have higher impressions, they enhance overall page health. This positively impacts the potential impressions for your link posts—which increases the total traffic potential for your page.

Across our customer base, we have found that Facebook post engagements and organic impressions are not only highly correlated but have become increasingly more correlated over the last year. 

This relationship illustrates that posts garnering higher engagements are more likely to get surfaced to more users, ultimately generating greater impression numbers. 

Traction begets traction.

Facebook itself says that if a post triggers a lot of conversation, the algorithm applies “action-bumping logic” to show that post to a user again.

Post Type Analysis

We are super, duper methodical! Here is our analysis methodology.

• We reviewed approximately 1 million Facebook posts across all TA customers.
• The posts occurred between March 7, 2024 – June 5, 2024.
• The post types that were analyzed included links, photos, videos, albums, and reels.
• Posts from all sources (i.e. AI posts, manually scheduled posts, and native posts) were included in the analysis.
• We did not separate new content from recirculated content.
• We have not yet analyzed the impact of caption duration or the presence of CTA language.

We first analyzed the post types from the viewpoint of an Engagement Objective.

If your post objective is engagement, image-based posts (photos and album) have the greatest potential.

In our engagement data, link posts at their best still performed below the median for photo posts.

We then analyzed the post types from a Traffic Objective.

Image-based posts (i.e., photos and albums) hold the greatest potential for impressions, but also have great variability (since “Content Is King”).

Link posts still have the greatest potential for CTR. Traffic will ultimately depend on the content topic (see variability by boxplot height), but photo and link posts are the main opportunities for post types.

Balancing Data Insights with Editorial Judgment

Ultimately, editorial knowledge and understanding of the content’s relevance should override raw data summaries. When you are deciding how to drive the maximum results from Facebook, do not simply chase the shiny object because it is shiny. We recommend you decide which post type (link, photo, album, video, reel, text)  is the best medium for serving your narrative, and we always recommend testing to challenge your assumptions.

Reviewing your social media strategy? Reach out to True Anthem today for a free demo.

Ashley Carufel is the Director of Customer Social Strategy & Insights for True Anthem. She has over a decade of experience in social strategy, and previously worked at PBS, Dotdash Meredith and Shutterstock.