There’s no doubt about it - with all the recent changes to Facebook’s news feed algorithm, it’s getting harder to achieve a high Facebook organic reach. No one knows the secret formula for Facebook’s algorithm, but the few elements we do know centre around which types of posts the user prefers, how the user interacts with Facebook ads in general, and how they have interacted with your business page up until now.
Although it’s somewhat of a grey area, there are a few things you can do to improve your Facebook organic reach.
Post better content
You probably guessed this might be our first piece of advice – but it’s arguably the most important. When a post receives engagement (likes, comments, shares), Facebook recognises it as a valuable post and the algorithm will show it to even more people. This process is like a ripple effect, so the best thing you can do for your organic reach is to make sure your content is engaging. Use Facebook insights to your advantage here, and take a look at your ‘Best Post Types’ panel.
Here you can see which posts are better received by your fans already, and so you can do more of what works!
Which content works best will differ depending on the type of business, but generally there are a few rules to creating better content that will engage your audience. Remember, the more your Facebook fans like, share, comment and generally engage with your posts, the higher the reach will be!
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Images are key! It’s no surprise that the better and more engaging the image, the more
attention it will attract. Think about what will stop the users thumb mid-scroll!
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Of course, it’s important to advertise your businesses products or services but remember –
don’t spam your users with sales related content because it will get boring very quickly! If
users get sick of seeing adverts, or the same content over and over, they will choose the
option to ‘not see a post like this again’. This will not only stop that user from seeing your
posts in the future but it will tell Facebook's algorithm that your post is unpopular for
whatever reason, and it will show up in less people's news feeds.
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Show off your personality! Be funny, interesting, be personal! Take this example from
Innocent:
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Professionalism is important, but people love to see the people behind the business.
The most important thing when trying to share better content is to think about what your audience want to see, rather than what you want them to see. Don’t just go through the motions of sending out messages and filling up queues. Put yourself into the shoes of your Facebook fans! Think about what makes you interact and engage with a business online and try to emulate that with your own content.
You can also get great ideas for great content from your competitors! Use your page insights to see the top posts from the pages you’re watching. What’s working for them could work for you!
Remember though, we said use your competitors for ideas – don’t copy!
Post less
With the difficulty of getting your posts seen, you’d be forgiven for thinking the best way to get noticed is to continuously spam your users with content - however, you would be wrong! When a user logs on to Facebook, there will be an estimated 1500 posts from friends, companies and pages fighting for a spot in their newsfeed! Of those 1500, the average user will only be shown 400! Make sure your content is worthy of a place.
Posting less will also cut down your time publishing and scheduling. This time can then be used to think carefully about what you DO say.
Ideally, research shows that on Facebook, around 1-2 posts a day is enough.
Post at the right time
You wouldn’t advertise a children’s toy on television at 4am, right? You would choose a time when your audience is most active – perhaps at breakfast or after school? Well, the same goes for Facebook marketing. You can use Facebook insights to find out when your audience is the most active on Social Media.
There are two ways in which you can use this insight panel. You have the option to either post at times most popular with your audience (you will get the most people online, however, there will be more competition), or you can choose to post at quieter times to ensure less competition for users news feeds. The best way to find out what time to post is testing. Test during peak and off peak times and see which works best for you and your business.
Targeting
Did you know you can target organic Facebook posts, similar to the way you target Facebook ads? This feature is not as widely known but can be incredibly useful.
When you publish a post, it will give you these options
As you can see below, you can target by age, location, interests, gender and more!
The only downside with organic targeting is that it will reduce the number of potential users who can see your post, however, if you target it to the right users, they will be more likely to appreciate the post, engage with it, and then your reach will snowball.
The best way to improve Facebook reach is to follow these steps and test, test, test! See what works, what doesn’t work and remember to use those handy Facebook insights to your advantage!
