Facebook has just launched another metric to help us understand how well our video content posts are performing.
Itâs called the Distribution Score.
Iâm Amanda Robinson, The Digital Gal and Iâm going to break down what the distribution score is, how to use it, where to find it, and how to make video better video content because of it.
What Is Facebookâs Distribution Score?
It is a score that is going to rank your average performance of your video post compared to the past video content that you have posted previously on your Facebook Page.
The higher your video Distribution Score is, the more your video is organically appearing across the feeds across Facebook.
Thatâs pretty great, right? So we definitely want to focus on improving that score so we can get better distribution of our Facebook posts organically.
Organic Reach Is Not Dead
When Iâm saying organically, I mean natural reach with Facebookâs algorithm, not via paid ads. So we are talking about organic distribution of your Page posts, not paid distribution.
However, paid distribution (Facebook Ads) never really hurts because itâs just going to help add fuel to that fire and help you get even more organic reach.
Many people complain that their Facebook Page gets little to no organic reach. One way to improve your organic reach is to start producing more video content and to use Facebookâs NEW Distribution Score to help you improve the quality of your content for your followers.
It is a slow and steady growth tactic and does not happen overnight, but I assure you my friends, organic reach is not dead.
How Is Facebookâs Distribution Score Calculated?
So how is it calculated? Itâs calculated based on the average of your previous 100 videos. What? Yes, a hundred videos.
And donât worry if you have not posted over a hundred videos on your Facebook page. First of all, get on that. You really need to start getting video content going! I know, I do too. Thatâs why weâre doing this together.
If you have not posted a hundred videos, thatâs okay. You need at least five on your page to be able to get this metric.
Distribution Score Uses 5 Metrics
All right, backing it up. So what is the distribution score? Well, itâs looking at five metrics.
1) Average Video Watch Time
2) One Minute Video Views
3) Post Comments
4) Post Reactions
5) Post Shares
These are the 5 metrics that Facebook takes into account when calculating your Distribution Score. You will see a ranking for each applicable metric showing if it is higher, average, or lower than your typical averages for your Page.
What is even better?
Facebook is scoring your post in comparison to other post metrics at that same point in time the post has been live for.
So what does that mean?
Well letâs look at it this way. Say you created a post two hours ago and you went and looked at your metrics to see how well that post is performing. The video Distribution Score is going to look at that post at the two hour mark and itâs going to compare it against video content that youâve posted in the past also at the two hour mark of how long the post was live for.
When you go to look at that metric seven days after you posted, itâs going to give you average rankings based on all of your previous video content at the seven day mark. You see where Iâm going with this? Itâs kind of cool. So it is a dynamic score thatâs giving you a really good well-rounded idea on how well your video post is performing in comparison to your own previous content.
Where Do I Find Facebookâs Distribution Score?
And where are you going to find this metric? Well, youâre going to head on over into Creator Studio by going to https://www.facebook.com/creatorstudio/.
1. Go to the Facebook section in Creator Studio
2. Click Content Library
3. Click Posts
4. Look at the Distribution column to the right of Details
From Creator Studio, youâre going to go into your content library. Then youâre going to look at your posts and you can see the distribution score column right from there, however, I still recommend ranking everything by video content posts so that you can isolate your video posts and have a really good view to easily compare how well your video content has been performing.
Distribution Score Shows How Your Post Ranks & How To Improve
The fun part here is when you hover your mouse over top of your Distribution Score, itâs going to pop up a window with more detailed information and thatâs where itâs going to break down your average view time, your one minute video views, your comments, reactions and shares if applicable.
And it is also going to focus in on the one metric for that particular video that is having the biggest impact on your organic distribution.
Facebook is basically shining a spotlight on the one area that you could be improving or that itâs having a big impact, positive or negative.
If a video post is underperforming compared to your previous content, itâs a really good flag to bring your attention to, to help you understand why this didnât perform as well as a previous similar posts.
How Does The Distribution Score Help You Create Better Video?
By taking a look at the Distribution Score and the metrics it measures, Facebook is helping us understand all the different ranking factors that Facebook is using to really fuel the algorithm and to get organic distribution going.
With our videos, we want to make sure weâre hitting that one minute watch time mark. We want to make sure that our average video view times are continuing to rise. How? By keeping your content engaging, keep people coming back and keep people watching longer.
Pay close attention to where views are dropping off in your videos.
If video view drop-offs correlate to a habit of yours on screen, or a logo or title card youâre displaying, or when you change from a talking head to a screen share âĤ all of this is valuable information to help you understand where you are potentially losing attention spans.
You also want to elicit comments and you want reactions. The combination of all of those factors are really going to impact the organic distribution on y0ur video posts.
I Want To Hear From You!
So there you have it. That is the distribution score, youâre going to find that in your Creator Studio. Go ahead and take a look for yourself, let me know if you have that score. It is starting to roll out for all accounts right now and Iâd love to know if it is helping you improve your video content and what you think of it.