Facebook Optimization Checklist

Overview

Even amidst an ever-shifting social media landscape, Facebook continues to drive over 90% of traffic for True Anthem publishers. While the platform has been a pillar of social media strategy since the dawn of... well... social media strategy, your approach to Facebook has undoubtably changed over time. After years of algorithm shifts, new media type opportunities, and evolving audiences, you may be finding yourself wondering, "How can I ensure my Facebook strategy is as fully optimized as it can be?" 

If this is the case, worry not, you've found yourself in the right place. 

Here you'll find our one-sheet Facebook Optimization Checklist, easy to download and regularly revisit to ensure your strategy is entirely up to snuff. 

If you keep scrolling, you'll find more information on our recommendations, past research, and beyond. 

The Rationale Behind These Items

Include at least 50% photo posts. 

Photos are the new link posts on Facebook. As of Q1 of 2026, photo posts on Facebook are driving at least 6x as much traffic compared to the average link post. If you're not utilizing photos as traffic drivers, you are leaving traffic on the table. 

Follow best practices for these photo posts.

Research done by True Anthem in 2025, and later corroborated by Meta, found that placing the link in the first comment only generates the highest clickthrough rate (CTR). 

We also recommend including a CTA (call-to-action) in the caption of the post, which can be easily automated by True Anthem. 

Include Reels in your media mix.

While photos have been dominating for the last year, post type diversification remains imperative. The Facebook algorithm continues to feature Reels, with 'views' metrics often out-performing those of links and photos. 

When resourcing allows, experiment with Reels as traffic drivers.

Include recirculation of content 

Our research team has found that, while 1-2 weeks is the ideal recirculation window for link posts, it is worth experimenting with shorter windows for photo posts. 

For All Social Platforms, We Also Recommend 

Platform diversification

Don't put all your eggs in the Facebook basket! As audiences continue to fragment, publishers need to be everywhere, across all channels. 

Setting up True Anthem to automate as much as possible will allow you to scale your effort without straining your resources. 

One post job for all content types

Though there is certainly nuance here, particularly as you grow within True Anthem, the system functions at its best when you have a single post job that contains all of your content types. 

Setting all content types to the same priority level. 

In this singular post job, mentioned above, we would also recommend starting with all of your content types set to the same priority level. This will allow for the system to best do what it is designed to do!

Concentrate your posts on the windows when your audience is online.

You wouldn't visit a friend when they are not home, so you wouldn't post when there is little to no audience to see it. Especially for publishers who have smaller editorial teams, you should concentrate your posting volume during hours of the day when your audience and performance data is at its highest. 

Change media type proportions before changing volume

Curious about whether you should be posting more? Less? 

Before changing your post volume, we recommend adjusting your media mix. Consider flipping a few of your link posts to photo posts first. 

Seeing success with that strategy? We recommend waiting until your Average Views increase by more than 10% over at least two weeks before you increase your social posting volume. 

Still have questions for us? We'd love to hear them! Reach out to your Customer Success Manager at csm@trueanthem.com.