Facebook organic reach is how many people on Facebook see your content without you paying to boost it. Advertising and boosting posts on Facebook involves people paying the platform to make their posts reach a larger audience.
It has gotten harder to organically reach your audience on Facebook. There have been changes in their algorithm– Facebook’s process of deciding which posts to put in specific users’ feeds and when they will appear. This doesn't mean that you should give up on organic Facebook marketing. There are still other techniques marketers can use to promote their content without paying for ads. Auburn Advertising has compiled a list of methods you can use to promote your business for free using Facebook.
1. Learn the Basics of Facebook
It might sound simple, but it is important to make good content and follow Facebook’s guidelines. Good content for your audience should be:
- Engaging
- Educational
- Exciting
Ideally, all three. Following the guidelines for Facebook is important to get your post to your audience. There are 6 sections that must be read over to fully understand the rules. They can be found under Facebook’s Community Standards. Objectionable content is possibly the most important section, explaining what is/isn’t acceptable on Facebook.
Violating Facebook’s rules and regulations can result in a ban on your account. They also have a strike system, so if you make this mistake once do not repeat it.
After learning the basic strategies of Facebook, we can move on to organic reach strategies.
2. Study the Algorithm
Facebook uses its own algorithm system to rank posts on a user’s feed. Learning more about this system can help your posts reach more of your audience’s feed. Hootsuite recently took a deep look into some important ranking signals that Facebook uses when showing you posts:
- Relationship of the poster to the feed’s owner
- Type of content (video, picture, etc.)
- How well others are reacting to the post in terms of likes and comments
- When it was posted
Some tips from Hootsuite to get you organic posts on feeds are:
- Engaging with your audience
- Encouraging conversation within your audience
- Aiming for more loves than likes
3. Make Video Content Shareable
Videos are not as easy to produce and share in time as pictures are, but statistics show that they get more engagement and are shared with others more. The average engagement on a video on Facebook is 0.26%, while other types of posts are 0.18%. Videos are not only good for engagement but a strong tool to show off products. According to a Facebook survey, 48% of users involved claimed they bought a product after seeing it in a Facebook video.
To make professional-looking videos, you can use other platforms or partner with a marketing agency for assistance.
4. Post at Strategic Times
Post time and frequency are just as important as choosing the content you post. You can improve your organic reach results by considering these two factors.
For frequency, you should first consider how much quality content you can produce each week. Facebook’s algorithm prioritizes posts with the highest number of reactions. Making engaging content is not easy and timely, so consider your abilities and plan accordingly.
When working with marketers, they can recommend you how many times a week, or you can pick your own. Facebook says posting 2-3 times per week is enough to keep your brand in the mind of your readers.
What about time? There is no easy answer to this question. The best time to post depends on your brand’s audience. Some ways you can try to figure this out are:
- Facebook Analytics
- Test using some A/B testing (trying different methods and seeing which works better)
- Checking when your competitors are posting
5. Create a Loyal Fanbase
Loyal fans are those who love your products and will boost your posts on Facebook. These people are very important because they will be interacting, sharing, and commenting on your posts. More interactions mean the post will reach more people.
How do you get more loyal fans? The first step is having a unique selling proposition for your product or service. You must be different from your competitors to stand out. Next, you will need to build a Facebook community. One great way to do this is through Facebook Groups. More engagement from people who like your brand is a great way to boost posts. Next, you must gather user-generated content. This is content created and shared by your fans. This is a great method because it…
- Saves you time from making posts
- It is seen as more authentic by your audience
- Builds trust in your products.
User-generated content helps your fans feel more included and persuades other consumers to try your product or service.
6. Don’t Be Afraid
Our final tip for you is to be brave in trying new and different things. Experiment with your organic content to see how your audience reacts. Here are a few ideas of ways to play around with your organic content:
Facebook Live
Going live on Facebook will notify your followers, creating a larger reach. Facebook Live gets six times more interaction than regular Facebook. Some ways to increase engagement on them are to do a Q&A, schedule your lives for an announcement, or use Facebook’s other live tools to help promote your brand.
Contests
Contests and giveaways are great ways to keep your audience engaged and sharing your content. Who doesn't love free stuff?
Facebook Stories
Facebook stories are a great way to directly reach your audience because they aren't part of the regular algorithm. They are only up for 24 hours, so stories offer a fantastic way to make fun, experimental content and see how people react.
Content Curation
Content curation is posting about other content within your field. It is easy to make, helps you connect with others, and gives you power and authority in your field as you appear more informed than other brands.
Is Organic Reach Still Important?
Contrary to the recent decline, organic content remains a crucial part of having a strong online social presence. Organic content posting is an important way for brands to build communities, earn trust from consumers, and find fans that can help their company succeed.
Facebook organic reach isn’t easy, but Inner Spark Creative can help you grow your social presence and help with organic content posting. Contact us to hear our full list of social media services offered to help your business.
