A lot has changed since the original Facebook debuted in 2004. It seems that even a lot has changed since last year. Back in May and June of this year there was uproar among marketers and brands about organic reach drastically dropping. So why was it dropping?
Brian Boland, Vice President of Ads Product Marketing at Facebook, took to the Facebook blog to give two reasons. First, there is just so much content being created and pushed out onto social networks, “far more content being made than there is time to absorb it”. Second reason, Facebook’s new News Feed feature is designed to work that way. The algorithm is set to pick and choose which stories and posts are most relevant to what you’ve always interacted with.
This concerned many, for obvious reasons. Marketers and businesses want to know why every piece of content can’t just flow through the News Feed like it has in the past? Facebook ensures that their algorithm updates are to give each user a unique experience.
Like most online platforms, Facebook’s algorithm will consistently change to help better the way it serves the “every day user.” But as a social media strategist you have to determine how to raise the organic reach of your content, especially if your client isn’t giving you the budget to run ads.
Tips for Increasing Your Organic Reach on Facebook
Research. Facebook offers a great Insights service to Facebook page owners that allows you to back track on posts and their engagement. Don’t take this for granted. Look back on the posts that did the best and compare them to those that had less engagement. What are their similarities? What are their differences? What time was this content posted? Take all of the information Facebook provides into consideration when crafting your next batch of content.
Giveaways and Contests. This is such a simple and exciting way to give your page more exposure. Creating giveaways and contests that require users to share a post with friends will have your organic reach skyrocket. Word of mouth marketing help many brands gain a new and trusting audience.
Promote. Maybe majority of your audience isn’t on Facebook but if you are on other networks you can help create more buzz about your Facebook page easily! Something that my social media team has done in the past is held contests on Facebook but promoted them on Twitter. Hashtags can be created, as well as a link provided to the Facebook site. The hashtags can help your tweet become visible to a whole new audience and direct them to your Facebook contest.
Let Your Customers Help. User generated content (UGC) has become such a great source of content for companies. This allows brands to seem real, personable and not just a campaign that’s trying too hard to pull users to their sites. Take this idea to any platform and watch your engagement boost.
So what will we see in the future for Facebook? We can’t be too sure. Keeping a close eye on changes could help the direction you take for your next strategy and/or campaign.
What are some of the steps you take to avoid your organic reach?