Organic reach is the number of people who see your content on Facebook for free. In recent years, brands have seen their organic reach reduced, mainly due to three factors:
- More content: With more than 2.8 billion monthly active users sharing an average of 1.55 posts a day, there is more flow of content in the same space.
- News Feed Algorithm Change: Facebook prioritizes content to increase engagement and optimize the experience for its users.
- Paid advertising: Some specialists believe that another reason has to do with the intention of encouraging brands to spend more money on paid advertising.
THE NEWS FEED ALGORITHM
When talking about the algorithm, reference is made to the programming parameters based on machine learning that the social network uses to classify the posts that a user sees in their feed. The content is not presented chronologically, but the software evaluates and organizes the content from higher to lower relevance, according to the interests of each user.
Facebook released some details about the latest algorithm update, which is aimed at ensuring that organic content is the most interesting and useful for users, with the main focus being more meaningful interaction. By this he means the number of people who interact with the post: number of reactions, comments and shares, prioritizing posts from friends or family.
Facebook rewards for posting content that people engage with. Brands need to gain much more high-value engagement, for example comments, reactions and responses to comments. Understanding this system can help you make the most of your organic reach by getting your posts to appear in more news sources, and more often.
BASIC CONSIDERATIONS WHEN CREATING CONTENT
You may have already heard some of the recommendations mentioned below, however, it is important to remember and emphasize them because they have an impact on the results.
- Value content: You can use the most advanced techniques on Facebook but if you don’t create high-quality posts, you won’t be successful. Content of value is content that teaches people something, entertains them, inspires them, makes them think, or in some other way improves their lives. On the other hand, it is important to follow the rules: do not post fake news, misleading information or manipulated videos; don’t bombard your followers with low-quality updates either. Do not do anything similar to this.
- Determine when and how often to post: You can improve your organic reach by posting when your audience is online. One way to determine the optimal posting time for your business is to analyze your performance data and find the pattern of highest engagement.
- Know your followers: To maximize the actionable potential of your content, understand the demographics, affinities, and behaviors of the people in your audience.
STRATEGIES TO INCREASE YOUR ORGANIC REACH
Here are some steps that work great for increasing the organic visibility of your content in your community feeds.
1. Interact with your audience
The algorithm prioritizes posts from pages a user has engaged with in the past, so improving engagement is key. Make your audience feel cared for and inspire them to maintain an active dialogue with the brand, asking questions and dynamics.
2. Get your audience to engage with each other on your posts
If a post has sparked a lot of conversation among a user’s friends, the algorithm prioritizes and shows that post again. That means creating more interesting conversations gives you more reach in the form of second chances.
3. Encourage the use of reaction buttons
For the last few years, the platform has given more weight to reaction buttons than to “Like”, so aim for emotional reactions in your posts: love, affection, laughter, sadness, anger.
4. Take advantage of Stories
Because stories are not part of the news feed, they are not governed by the algorithm. In addition, according to Facebook, they are very effective in generating traffic: 58% of people say they have visited a brand’s website after seeing a story.
Additionally, Facebook asserts that people want the following from brand stories: 52% want stories that are easy to understand; 50% want to see new products; 46% want advice or suggestions.
5. Use user-generated content
If you have earned brand loyalty, your fans can provide you with organic content. User-generated content is created by your fans and shared by you.
This content is high impact because it is genuine and spontaneous, it is ready to be used and has the potential to build trust in your products, persuading other consumers to try them.
6. Harness the power of video
Statistics show that videos generate more engagement and are shared more frequently. The average engagement rate on a video is 26% compared to the average engagement for all posts, which is 18%. Videos are not only good for engagement, they are also good for product education.
So how do you get the most out of the format? Create content that increases engagement, for example by arousing emotions, expressing understanding of your audience’s needs, and offering solutions to their problems. An important aspect is to deliver the most valuable and compelling information in the first 3-5 seconds of the video, to engage viewers.
7. Use the “Live” format
Due to the pandemic, live video on Facebook increased by 50% in the US during 2020. Live video receives more engagement than regular video. One topic that works well in this format is questions and answers; this dynamic helps you make an authentic connection with your audience and give back to your followers. It also allows you to learn more about your community and tailor your future content accordingly to deliver maximum value.
8. Explore long-form videos with topics of interest to your audience
Watch time and completion rate are crucial ranking signals for your video because they indicate that the viewer enjoyed the content enough to watch all of it. The longer you keep people engaged, the higher the video will be rated by the algorithm and the higher it will appear in the news.
Facebook prioritizes the following signals: videos that people search for and return to; videos that haven’t been reused from other sources, videos that people watch after the 1-minute mark, and especially videos that hold attention for more than 3 minutes.
9. Invite participation
Encourage friends, family, and colleagues to engage with your business content, thereby increasing the number of people who share your posts with their private networks, naturally increasing your organic reach on Facebook.
Add a Facebook page link to your important contact areas, like your website, your email signature, and your other social media accounts. Also, if you have a blog with a following, you can add links or embed your Facebook posts into relevant blog content.
10. Create a community
You can increase your organic reach by creating a community and building more connections. However, you should keep in mind that building a community takes time, effort, and ongoing engagement with your followers, but it can also give you long-term, ongoing feedback.
11. Humanize your presence on the platform
Keep in mind that Facebook is par excellence a social platform, so your brand must have a human essence. Don’t just promote products, make it social, fun and creative. Take advantage of that potential to build a community.
By interacting with Facebook users like a human, personalizing your responses, and showing that you really care about your community, people will feel more connected to your business and more motivated to spread your message.