In a time of declining organic reach, how can you continue to reach your full potential on Facebook? We look at the best ways to ensure your posts are seen in 2021 and beyond.
Ah, the organic reach on Facebook. No other topic in social media marketing has caused so much controversy and so many headaches real comments.
Although the obvious answer is to spend more time and money on paid Facebook ads, there is still hope for your organic posts. You can take advantage of the algorithm, reach a wide audience, and make Facebook an effective distribution channel for your organic content.
As? Following these 15 essential tips. Click the links below to go to each tip, or just keep scrolling.
But first, what does reach mean on Facebook?
Before we get into all of these tips for increasing organic reach, we want to make sure we’re on the same page.
In general, social media reach refers to how many people have seen a post. This is different from impressions which refers to how many times a post has been viewed in general and counts multiple views from the same user. That’s why scope is sometimes called “unique impressions.”
However, there are several types of reach on Facebook , and we want to be clear about which one we’re talking about here.
First, there is the page reach and the post reach .
Page reach , also called total reach in Facebook Insights, is a metric that indicates the number of unique users who have viewed any content related to your Facebook Page in a given period of time.
For its part, the reach of the post is the number of unique users who have seen a specific post you have made.
Within the reach of posts, there is organic reach and paid reach . Organic reach is the number of people who have seen a post that has not been boosted with advertising money, while paid reach is the number of people who have seen a post because you have paid to promote it.
The tips we will give in this article are about how to increase the organic reach of your posts, but increasing the reach of your posts will also naturally contribute to the total reach of your page.
And if you want to increase the paid reach of your posts, we recommend these Best Practices for Facebook Video Ads.
Now that this is clear, let’s move on to the tips!
1. Mix your post formats
Our first tip for expanding your organic reach on Facebook is to test a wide variety of post types.
If you mainly post images and your reach has been declining lately, try creating videos and see how they work. If your videos don’t have the same reach as before, try making posts with links that highlight content that your audience likes.
Even if you get decent reach by regularly using the same types of posts on Facebook, trying new ones will keep your content stream fresh and engaging for your audience. Plus, you may find that there are Facebook post formats that work even better.
Although Facebook has never officially confirmed it, many social media marketers believe that it prioritizes posts in new formats in the News Feed, allowing them to gain more reach. Testing newly invented post types like 360 video or Facebook Stories can have an added benefit if the algorithm prefers the new formats.
Most social media managers are familiar with the standard Facebook post formats, such as images, text and videos, but there are currently a crazy number of post formats available on Facebook.
There are no wrong answers. By tracking the average reach of posts in each format over time, you’ll be able to understand which types are most relevant to your audience and end up in their News Feeds most often.
2. Go live and be authentic.
Speaking of trying new types of posts on Facebook, it is highly recommended to work with live video content and Stories.
Live video is unique because it creates a real sense of community in the comments section. Everyone is sharing the same experience at the same time, so everyone has a common touchpoint to connect.
And with Facebook’s algorithm update that prioritizes posts that generate the most “meaningful interactions ,” more interactions mean more organic reach.
So create live video content and Stories that resonate with your audience and start conversations in the comments. This will help achieve the result of your organic reach growing.
3. Use eye-catching images and videos
It is essential to have visually attractive content to stand out in the public’s increasingly crowded News Feeds. That’s why a recent survey revealed that more than 60% of marketers believe that visual content is crucial to your social media strategy.
And that’s not just in their heads: Facebook posts with images get 2.3 times more engagement than those without images. Nothing to worry about.
Additionally, posts that get more engagement rise in users’ feeds, which also gives them more reach. That is why visual content is so important to improve the dissemination of your posts on Facebook.
However, you can’t post just anything on Facebook. Posting low-quality images and videos could damage your brand reputation and make you look unprofessional.
But that doesn’t mean you should avoid making visual content because you don’t have a professional photographer or videographer in your company. A smartphone camera can give your images and videos a natural, casual look and help them fit in with other personal content in your audience’s News Feeds.
That said, make sure the audio is audible, the lighting is good, and the shots are in focus. When uploading videos and images with the appropriate dimensions, we recommend consulting our Social Media Image Size Guide.
4. Find your best time to post
The moment in which you publish content on Facebook is almost as important as the content itself. If you share an amazing article at 4am, when your target audience wakes up it will already be lost in the background of your News Feeds.
Instead, use your Facebook Analytics to determine when your fans are online. You can see the days and hours of greatest influx of your followers in the posts section of your page.
If you use a social intelligence suite like ours , you can also easily access data about your fans’ peak times.
By posting when your followers are most likely to be browsing Facebook, you increase the chances of your content appearing first in their feed, and that means more organic reach.
However, posting at peak times also means that you’ll face more competition to get your posts seen in people’s feeds because there will be more people posting at those times.
The best solution is to publish your content just before peak traffic times so that you are the first to publish it when people open Facebook. For example, if Facebook Insights shows that 6:00 p.m. is the high tide for your fans, try posting at 5:45 p.m. to catch the wave earlier.
5. Experiment with your posting pace
Once you’ve figured out when you should post on Facebook, the next step is deciding how often to post.
As with posting schedules, the cadence of posts depends on your audience – there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Your organic reach depends largely on your followers’ willingness to engage with your content quickly and enthusiastically.
This means that if your brand posts four times a day and continues to attract followers, reach will remain strong. But if they tire of interacting with your content after one post, reducing posts can help you preserve your mid-range numbers.
The key is to experiment with post frequency and track Facebook post analytics to see how each posting cadence affects your organic reach.
Try to have tests that run for at least two weeks and collect data on the performance of your posts. For example, try posting 5 times a week for two weeks, then 15 times a week for two weeks, then 10 times a week for two weeks.
At the end of each two-week period, calculate the average organic reach and engagement per post.
If your posts during weeks when you’ve posted 5 times have gotten a higher average reach than when you’ve posted 15 times, that suggests that posting less has been good for your organic reach.
Try to run these tests for as long as possible on as many accounts as you can, as more data means more reliable results. When you have the results, adjust your standard publication rate to what it has been in the weeks in which you have obtained the best reach and average engagement .
If you don’t have the time or manpower to try it, Coschedule has compiled research that suggests posting once or twice a day is optimal for most brands.
6. Focus on engagement first
Do Facebook posts have a high level of engagement because they have a high reach, or do they have a high reach because they have a high level of engagement ?
Although this is a “chicken or egg” question, some of the changes to Facebook’s algorithm have shown that engagement has more impact on reach than reach has on engagement .
Facebook will show your posts to more people if they inspire users to interact with each other. In particular, content that gets people talking in the comments section will have a big boost in organic reach.
So how do you motivate users to connect with each other? Ultimately, this depends on who your audience is and what they’re interested in, but here are some suggestions to get you started:
Include questions at the end of your posts, asking people for their opinion
Post about the trending topics that everyone wants to comment on
Respond promptly to all comments on your posts
Stream live video content and talk to your audience in real time
Start an interactive poll or “Ask me anything” thread.
Ask the community for feedback on a new product or idea
Share content that addresses your audience’s emotions in Stories.
7. Never resort to engagement bait
While getting users to engage with your content is crucial to increasing organic reach on Facebook, doing it incorrectly can hurt you.
Keep in mind that Facebook’s update doesn’t just prioritize posts that get a lot of engagement; it’s about elevating posts that inspire meaningful discussions and interactions.
That’s why Facebook reduces or bans your organic reach if you use manipulative tactics to fish for engagement .
Facebook calls posts that use these tactics ” engagement bait” , and defines them as “spam posts on Facebook that encourage [users] to interact with likes, shares, comments and other actions.”
For example, posts that say “Like it if you’re a Capricorn, love it if you’re a Virgo” or “Tag a friend who likes pudding” would be considered engagement bait because they push users to fill out their engagement stats. engagement of a post asking for interactions.
Avoid making these types of posts to achieve easy engagement and reach, because when the Facebook algorithm realizes that you are doing it, your entire page will have its reach limited as punishment.
8. Make your audience feel something
You should never beg for reactions from your followers, but rather inspire your followers to react.
One of the most effective ways to increase engagement with your posts (and therefore increase organic reach) is to appeal to the emotions of your followers. The more people engage with content, the more likely they are to react, share, or comment on it.
However, not all feelings encourage people to share posts. The Harvard Business Review magazine has published a study on the emotions most associated with viral content :
Positive emotions were more common in viral messages, but posts that provoked negative emotions remained viral when they created a sense of anticipation and surprise.
Highly shared content often inspires a feeling of admiration.
The five most important emotions associated with viral content were curiosity, amazement, interest, stupor and uncertainty.
To increase reach and engagement on Facebook, consider creating content with headlines that inspire curiosity and interest. In the content itself, include twists, fascinating facts, and surprises to keep your audience’s attention.
9. Start a contest
One of the best ways to get users interested in your content is to start a contest or giveaway on your Facebook page. After all, who doesn’t like free things?
You can boost your organic reach by organizing a contest that encourages people to comment on your post.
For example, a caption contest in which users have to give a funny caption to an image you posted can spark tons of responses and push your post to the top of the News Feed.
There are a number of good practices that you should keep in mind to ensure that your content is effective. First, make sure your prize or giveaway is related to your brand to attract entrants who are interested in both you and the reward.
Second, encourage users to interact with the contest post, preferably by commenting. Encouraging users to comment on your contest is the best way to show Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm that your content is engaging and therefore increase your reach.
Third, be careful that your contest post doesn’t seem like engagement bait or ask users to post to their personal timelines. Although Facebook establishes that pages can organize contests , they cannot require users to share the contest on your timeline or that of their friends in order to participate. Pages also cannot ask users to tag their friends in the contest post or ask for a specific reaction as a condition of participation.
Keep these guidelines in mind and you’ll be on your way to running a successful Facebook contest, increasing reach and expanding your audience in the process.
10. Reuse the usual content
Don’t play with success. If you have content that has gotten a lot of reach and engagement in the past, there is a good chance it will work again.
It takes a lot of time and resources to create a great video or blog article, so there’s no reason not to repurpose evergreen high-quality content.
Very often, articles that haven’t had massive reach on Facebook when they were first shared become a hit the second time around.
This is, in part, because reposting quality content gives you the opportunity to learn from what you did right or wrong the first time you shared it. Perhaps the text or headline could have been more eye-catching. Maybe you posted at 9:00 a.m., when at 3:00 p.m. you would have gotten more reach.
Think of rethinking as a second chance for posts with great potential and a comeback tour for those that have already been big hits. In either case, you will achieve more reach and obtain conclusions that you can use to improve your social media strategy.
However, before you remove that content from the recycle bin, make sure it is still fresh. Content linked to a specific date, time or event can quickly become out of date.
Try to share content such as comprehensive guides, best practices, tips and infographics that have a long shelf life. For best results, start with the pieces that have the greatest reach.
11. Get verified on Facebook
You probably already know what Facebook verification is. It’s the pretty blue badge next to your page name that shows you’re important.
Being verified on Facebook shows users that your page is the official representation of your brand. This helps you distinguish yourself from fan pages and imitation accounts, while establishing trust and authenticity with your audience.
Having the blue verification badge also means that your Page will rank above other pages with similar names in Facebook searches. This means greater organic reach for your brand.
Additionally, they will be able to find your page more easily and will be less likely to follow or interact with unofficial pages instead of yours.
Ultimately, getting verified is worth it. But what do you have to do to show Facebook that you’re worth it?
To start, your page must be complete. That means it has a cover photo, a profile photo, a name, and at least one published post.
Next, you need to make sure your Page meets all of Facebook’s terms of service .
For more information on how to request verification, see this Facebook Help Center article . And if you’re interested in getting a blue verification on Instagram too, here’s How to Get Verified on Instagram .
12. Ask your followers to turn on notifications
The best way to increase your organic reach on Facebook is to work with the Facebook algorithm so that your posts appear at the top of your followers’ news feeds.
But what if there was a way to make sure your followers saw all your posts without the algorithm intervening?
It turns out there is. On your Facebook page, there are settings that your followers can select to make sure they see everything you post.
We recommend that you mention it to your followers in the copy of important content, such as a video or a successful article. Once they have enjoyed your post, they will be excited to follow your page more closely.
Just be sure to specify exactly how they can turn on notifications and prioritize your posts in your News Feed .
If you ask your followers to activate notifications and see your posts first in their News Feed, you guarantee an increase in organic reach.
13. Get your team engaged
As Facebook increasingly focuses on meaningful interaction between particular users, it’s now difficult for brand pages to fit together. A good way to boost your reach is to encourage other people in your company to participate and share your posts.
Some statistics show how branded posts get 561% more reach on average when shared by employees instead of company pages.
If you get your coworkers to share your content, you will get a much larger audience. And because the content comes from someone they know, that audience is more likely to consume and engage with it.
In addition to sharing brand content with your own networks, your colleagues can also help by commenting on your posts, especially right after you publish them.
A large number of post interactions immediately tells Facebook’s algorithm that you have interesting content and puts it in front of more eyes.
How can you motivate your coworkers to share company posts? Here are some tips:
Share links to important Facebook posts in company communication channels such as Slack, Skype, etc.
Offer an incentive or prize to the employee who best defends your interests for the month
Inform new employees of your social media presence and encourage them to follow and interact with your Facebook page.
14. Optimize link posts
If you share content on Facebook, you probably do so through posts with links. What you may not know is that Facebook checks the quality of your links and, based on this, places them higher or lower in users’ News Feeds.
For example, Facebook announced in 2017 that it would start prioritizing links posts that lead to fast-loading pages . On the other hand, it also penalizes posts that link to slow landing pages.
However, page speed is not the only factor that affects the position of your posts in the News Feed . Facebook also penalizes link posts with “clickbaity” headlines.
Additionally, link posts that lead to “low-quality website experiences,” such as a lack of real content, excessive or annoying ads, or sexual or shocking images, will also see their rankings reduced.
Facebook also takes into account the number of people who click on the link and then become interested in the post. If more people interact after seeing the linked content, it is a sign that they liked it or at least found it interesting.
If you follow these guidelines for your link posts, they’ll end up at the top of your audience’s feeds and give you tons of organic reach. So, don’t link to pages with misleading or spammy content, keep your website’s loading times low, and share links that your audience finds relevant and attractive.
15. Try a user-generated content campaign
User-generated content (UGC) on Facebook is all the rage, but it’s more than just a passing trend.
If a user likes your brand enough to create content with it, it’s an important trust signal for other users. People are more interested in the content produced by their friends and family than in the brand’s posts.
That means more engagement , and as you may have already understood, this means greater organic reach.
To get people excited about creating UGC that engages your brand, try one of these ideas:
Invite people to write reviews of your products on Facebook and then share the best ones
Create a branded hashtag for your UGC campaign so customers can relate your content to your brand and be inspired by others’ posts
Launch a UGC contest, asking users to post photos or videos related to your brand for a chance to be featured on your page (or even win a prize).
Bonus Tip: Give Ads a Chance
Okay, okay, it’s not technically a tip for increasing your “organic” reach. But if your goal on Facebook is to reach the widest audience possible, using a relevant advertising budget to boost organic posts could be just what you need.
If you want to increase organic reach on Facebook because you don’t have money for ads, don’t worry. Depending on the content you’re promoting and who you’re targeting, you could reach hundreds more users for as little as $5 or $10.
You can start by using organic Facebook posts as a testing ground to discover what content is worth boosting. See which of your organic posts get the most views, reactions, comments and shares, and then boost the winners.
If you haven’t already, experiment with limited ad spending to increase the reach of your posts on Facebook; You may be surprised by the results.
Why it is important to increase organic reach
Organic reach for brands on Facebook is like water in the desert: it’s essential, but it’s hard to come by.
Keep trying new tactics, experimenting with your strategy and publishing good content, and eventually you will see the results. So keep calm and keep posting!
If you want to know more about how to improve your social media strategy, take a look at our guide.