A study carried out by Agorapulse debunks the claim that Facebook punishes social media posts done via 3rd party scheduling apps. Their report shows that posting with 3rd party performs on average 22.61% better than posting directly on Facebook (organic/native posts). Their finding is that Facebook does not punish posts from third party tools, actually the tools proved to have a higher reach.

Third Party Posts Perform Better

A similar study done by Buffer supports Agora pulses’ findings that 3rd party posts performed better compared to native or organic posting. In Buffer’s report Facebook and LinkedIn posts done via 3rd party tools performed better than native posts. However, 3rd party posts on Twitter had about 1-2% less reach compared to native posts. See image below.

Agora pulse says that the report was from a retest that they did to confirm that nothing had changed between 2016 and 2018. That posting via a scheduling tool increased post reach. They two accounts, one was @Agorapulse with 57,540 likes and @SpaceWalkCentralTexas with 5464 likes. Below is the data from the test.

@Agorapulse Reach Average:

  • Native Facebook Posts: 727.71
  • Posts via Agoapulse:     797.17

 

@SpaceWalkCentralTexas Reach Average:

 

  • Native Facebook Posts:     455.56
  • Posts via Agora pulse: 556.56

 

Posts made via Agora pulse had a 9.54% higher reach.

Space Walk Reach Average:

  • Native Facebook Posts:     455.56
  • Posts via Agoapulse: 556.56

Posts made via Agora pulse had a 22.17% higher reach.

 

To make sure there were no errors, Agora pulse removed the highest and lowest performing posts in each data and the results were:

  • Agorapulse page: 3rd party posts had a 6.43% higher reach.
  • Space Walk page: 3rd party posts had a 12.34% higher reach.

 

After removing the highest performing posts only, the results were:

  • Agorapulse page: Posts via the Agorapulse app had a 6.81% higher reach.
  • Space Walk page: Posts via the Agorapulse app had a 10.01% higher reach.

 

After removing the least performing posts only, the results were:

  • Agorapulse page: Posts via the Agora pulse app had a 9.48% higher reach.
  • Space Walk page: Posts via the Agora pulse app had a 25.06% higher reach.

Posts Done Via Scheduling Third Party Tools Have Higher Reach

The data shows that reach was still higher for posts done via scheduling tools or 3rd party apps and the conclusion is that Facebook does not punish posts from 3rd party scheduling tools.

Scheduling for the Facebook posts was done via the Agora pulse scheduling app. With these reports and data to support it, everyone can confidently post on Facebook through scheduling tools.

Technology is improving in the social media world and the post scheduling tools continue to make work easier for account owners and brands with the automatic posting and reporting. Given their ability to help with reach, they should be a first priority during digital marketing campaigns. Get a tool to help save you time and increase your reach on social media.

Remember to checkout our social media services here.

 

 

References

Ayres, S.(2018, October 24). Re-test: Does Facebook punish 3rd party scheduling apps? Social Media Lab Powered byAgorapulse. https://www.agorapulse.com/social-media-lab/re-test-facebook-scheduling-apps/

Peters, B.(2018, January 9). Do 3rd-Party social media tools negatively affect reach & engagement? BufferResources. https://buffer.com/resources/3rd-party-social-media-tools/

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