The great battle: organic reach on Facebook. Picnic community managers have been frustrated for several years with the constant changes that Facebook has been applying to its algorithm, harming the organic reach of brand/organization/company page posts. From the social network they claim that these changes have been designed to give priority to the visibility of the content published by users. However, in the digital marketing sector, the general perception is that these changes are aimed at brands and organizations going through the checkout and investing in advertising to achieve the desired reach.
We do not want it to be understood, far from it, that we are against advertising on this channel. Facebook ads are one more tool of the digital marketing strategy. In this article we tell you a lot of things about digital advertising, and more specifically, advertising on social networks.
These changes had very negative consequences at the time for recently created media companies. We are talking about Buzzfeed, Playground… native digital media that based their business model on income from organic traffic generated largely from platforms like Facebook. The drop in organic visibility caused a drop in traffic and therefore a drop in revenue. Buzzfeed Spain has had to close and Playground has fired half the staff. The situation is for many dramatic marches, with publications that barely reach 10% of the community.
What can content managers do with respect to organic reach on Facebook? How can we give visibility to content on Facebook? Let’s review some of the keys:
Strategy and planning to get organic reach on Facebook
It is essential to work from a solid strategy. It’s not enough to just start posting. To develop a strategy on social networks we have to set some goals, get to know our audience, release content at times when we maximize results and, above all, monitor to reinforce or correct. It is a day-to-day job.
Quality content
Seek differentiation through different formulas. The quality is determined by the value of utility, entertainment, sentimental that it contributes to the user who receives the content. We must be clear about what we are looking for with each publication and give it the appropriate focus and execution.
The importance of formats
Facebook is giving a lot of importance, and therefore visibility, to video content. The award for this format is due to the fact that the social network wants to compete with YouTube as an online video repository, which is why video has an increasing presence in the strategies of the brands present in Zuckerberg’s social network. On the other hand, there is the ephemeral content, the well-known Instagram Stories have also reached Facebook and although they have penetrated with less intensity, they also contribute their share of visibility. Conclusion: the organic reach on Facebook of the videos is greater, bet on the video.
Seek User Collaboration
It has always been said that social networks are a multidirectional communication channel. If we understand that priority that Facebook gives to user-generated content, we must seek that our brand content is shared by our community. This is not something easy and we must resort to different tactics: contests, raffles, questions… these gamification dynamics are usually very useful in order to get the participation of the audience. They also help find an engaged audience. In the end, it is about acting as a catalyst so that our community becomes an ambassador for our brand.