How do people spend most of their time online? Of course, on social media. Currently, Facebook has 2.4 billion monthly active users, a number that is expected to continue to rise in the coming years.
In a highly competitive environment, extending organic reach is becoming more difficult. While many will suggest you use a Facebook ads company to reach your audience, you should also continue using organic marketing methods.
In order to increase your organic reach, you need to understand Facebook’s News Feed algorithm, the strategies you can employ to get your posts ahead of your followers, and the paid options, if you want to run sponsored posts or Facebook ads.
What is Facebook Organic Reach?
The organic reach of your Page is the number of unique users who viewed your post in the News Feed, not via a poster.
Facebook offers a variety of Reach options. With Facebook Insights (If you want to dive deeper, you need to download the data) and knowing these Facebook hacks and tricks, you’ll see Post Reach metrics which include organic and paid data, similar to Total Reach. Both have data about Organic Reach.
How Does the Facebook News Feed Work?
Facebook analyzes posts and uses programming to help ensure that the user might interact positively with them.
As a result, the posts you’ll like get higher ranking scores and show on your feed more often. Facebook’s new algorithm focuses on ranking to provide users with a more meaningful experience.
When we refer to “meaningful interactions,” we are talking about thousands of things. Each of them contains a trigger word, like “congrats,” that signals Facebook’s priority for content relevant to users.
Posts in the News Feed aren’t ordered chronologically. Facebook shows users what they think will be most meaningful, exciting, or useful for them.
Why is Facebook Organic Reach Declining?
In 2015, organic reach for branded Facebook pages reached its lowest point ever. What is Facebook up to these days?
There is an easy explanation for why organic reach has decreased – Facebook wants brands to spend more money on paid advertising.
Personalized news feeds – Facebook prioritizes the most relevant content for every user to maximize engagement and optimize the user experience.
The first step to combating the News Feed changes is to publish visually appealing and interesting content. Content like this encourages your audience to interact with you, especially in the comments section, and facilitates meaningful conversations.
That’s just one tip – there are many more!
Here are some tips for increasing your organic reach on Facebook :
- Formatting Error
Our first tip for extending your organic reach on Facebook is to choose the right kind of post.
Creating videos may be a good option if you always post photos and your reach has decreased recently. If your videos aren’t getting the same exposure they should, try making link posts that highlight content you know your audience will enjoy.
Try new post types even if you’re already getting good reach with the same Facebook post types. Your audience will appreciate a fresh flow of content. You might also find that there are post formats that perform well on Facebook.
- Go Live and be genuine
When it comes to trying out the new Facebook post types, we recommend working with live videos and Stories.
The advantage of live video is that it creates an immediate sense of community within the comments section.
Engage your audience in live video content and Stories, and open up conversations within the comments section. By doing so, you may be able to grow your organic reach.
- Eye-Catching images and videos
To stand out in people’s increasingly crowded News Feeds, you need visually appealing content. In a recent survey, over 60% of marketers said they found visual content to be crucial to their social media strategy.
Image post engagement is 2.3 times higher on Facebook than post engagement without images. Plus, posts with more engagement appear higher in users’ feeds, gaining them even more reach.
To increase your Facebook reach, you need engaging visual content.
- Finding out the best time to post
Content on Facebook matters almost as much as the platform itself. If you share a great article at 4 AM, it will be hidden under the News Feed by the time your audience wakes up. Instead, use Facebook analytics to see when your fans are online.
In your Posts section, you can view your Page Insights to see the peak days and times of your followers. If you post when your followers are surfing Facebook, you’re more likely to show up first in their Feed, and that means more organic reach for your content.
If you post at peak hours, you’ll also face more competition to appear in users’ feeds because more people are going to post during these hours.
- You should make your audience feel something when you speak
One of the most effective ways to extend engagement with your posts (and therefore increase organic reach) is to appeal to your followers’ emotions.
People are more likely to react, share, and discuss content if it resonates strongly with them. To increase your Facebook reach and engagement, create headlines that generate curiosity and interest.
Content should contain twists, fascinating facts, and surprises to keep readers interested.
Conclusion
It’s true that organic Facebook reach is dropping, but there are still ways to combat the News Feed algorithm. Being aware of Facebook algorithm changes and adjusting your strategy accordingly may sound overwhelming.
If you think audience-first instead of your brand, you’ll be able to create amazing content, get more shares, and skyrocket your organic Facebook reach.
