Every operator we speak with says the same thing.

They post. Nobody sees it.

It is easy to blame the algorithm. It is more useful to understand it.

Who is on the other side of the screen?

Meta’s own advertising tools counted around 25.6 million Facebook accounts in Australia in June 2026, and around 17 million on Instagram.

Australians spend close to nineteen and a half hours a week on social media.

Your next guest is almost certainly in there. The question is whether Meta decides to show them your post.

What does the algorithm do?

It decides what each person sees, and in what order.

Its job is to keep people on the app for longer. Everything it ranks serves that goal.

The chronological feed is long gone. Every post, from a friend, a business or a stranger, is scored for each individual user.

Your post might sit at the top of one person’s feed and never appear in another’s.

Why have the old tactics stopped working?

For years, reach depended on followers. If someone followed you, they saw you.

That changed. A large share of what people now see comes from accounts they do not follow, chosen by Meta’s recommendation system.

This cuts both ways. A winery in Wilyabrup can be shown to a couple in Melbourne planning their first trip west. It is also competing with every other account in the world for that same moment.

How is a post scored?

In four stages.

First, eligibility. Anything that breaks Meta’s rules is removed from the pool.

Second, the clues. Meta reads the format of the post and the history of your page: how often you post and how people have responded before.

Third, the prediction. Meta estimates how one specific person is likely to respond. Will they stop? Comment? Save it? Send it to someone?

Fourth, the rank. The higher the predicted response, the higher the post appears.

The prediction is the part you can influence.

What counts most?

Likes count for very little now.

Saves count for a great deal. A save tells Meta the post was worth keeping. A guide to whale watching in Geographe Bay. A packing list for the Cape to Cape. A plan for a long weekend in Margaret River.

Shares matter even more. When someone sends your post to a friend, they are vouching for you.

Comments matter when they are real. A question that needs a considered answer will outperform a single emoji.

Time spent matters. If people scroll past your Reel in the first two seconds, Meta notices and the Reel stops travelling.

Does format matter?

Yes. Meta is still pushing short video hard, because it is competing with TikTok for attention.

Reels remain the most reliable way to reach people who have never heard of you.

Carousels and Live sessions hold attention for longer, which also helps.

Static photos still have a place, mainly with people who already know you.

Does originality matter?

Meta rewards content it has not seen before. Reposting other people’s work or recycled memes earns very little.

Your own face, your own place and your own way of explaining things are hard to copy. They are also what Meta favours.

So what should a South West operator do?

Lead with Reels. Put the strongest moment in the first second. Add captions, because most people watch without sound. Keep it under thirty seconds where you can.

Give something away. Teach, show your process, answer the questions your inbox already asks. A post that helps someone is far more likely to be saved than one that sells to them.

Reply to every comment in the first hour. Ask questions people want to answer.

Ask your team, your regulars and your local partners to share your posts. A share from a real person carries more weight than anything you post yourself.

Post on a steady rhythm. Three posts a week, every week, does more than ten posts in one week followed by a month of silence.

Complete your profile. Contact details, opening hours, services, sharp images and two factor authentication switched on. An unfinished page is a poor bet for Meta to send people to.

Only boost what has already worked. Find the posts with the most saves and shares, then put your budget behind those.

What should you measure?

Follower counts and likes tell you very little.

Look at saves and shares against reach. That ratio shows whether your content is worth keeping.

Look at average watch time on Reels. If most viewers are gone by the second second, the opening is the problem.

Look at comments against reach. Ten comments from a thousand people is a better result than ten likes from ten thousand.

Is the algorithm against you?

No. It is looking for posts people want to stop for.

Give it those, week after week, and it will do much of your distribution for you.