Despite popular belief, increased reach on Facebook is not entirely in the hands of the algorithm.
Below are some of Facebook’s best practices and key tips to ensure your content gets the exposure it deserves.
1. Optimize the format and subtitles of your content for Facebook
This is especially important as cross-posting on Instagram or Twitter has become more and more common.
Simply put, you can’t treat Facebook like a dumping ground for content destined for other platforms. Specifically, emphasize:
- Create unique captions (think: don’t include unnecessary hashtags or use the exact same captions)
- Avoid posting only external links – Focus on formats that keep people on Facebook (videos, infographics, etc.)
- Consider including a call to action (“Comment below”) or question to prompt discussions
These tips are crucial for Facebook Organic Reach and getting more love from the platform’s algorithm.
2. Schedule your posts for consistency
It’s no wonder that many of the most engaged accounts on Facebook post daily (or almost daily).
That’s because consistency is important to grow your presence and let the algorithm know you’re active.
Apps like Sprout Social and native tools like Facebook Studio allow you to queue content to ensure you’re posting new posts regularly.
3. Schedule your posts perfectly
We’ve seen firsthand, coming to the best times to post on social media, how time to post and engagement correlate.
Optimizing the timing of your content isn’t the end of engagement, but it does increase the likelihood that your last posts will be soon.
Given how fierce the competition for organic reach is, anything you can do to increase your content’s visibility is a plus. With tools like Sprout’s ViralPost, you can adjust your post times based on when your unique audience is most engaged.
4. Use videos and Facebook Live to encourage engagement
Facebook has been pretty explicit in recent years about the performance of videos.
Whether it’s a live session or a small promotion, integrating video into your content strategy is a smart move, regardless of whether you’re worried about Facebook reach. Keep in mind that many posts that gain viral reach through likes and shares are often videos.
5. Get in front of new followers with Facebook ads.
Depending on your business or industry, paying for reach through ads is a matter of “when” and not “if”.
The drop in organic reach has resulted in a direct increase in Facebook ads. While your potential reach is largely based on your bidding and targeting strategy, ads are a direct way to get your audience’s attention.
6. Use groups and third party participation to increase visibility.
Supplementing your page with engaging activity from Facebook groups or individual accounts (think: employees or partners) is another way to gain viral reach.
Please note that any given account or page is limited in terms of who can see a given post. However, interactions from outsiders can create a snowball effect where non-followers are recommended content over and over again.
How to measure your reach on Facebook effectively
As noted above, Facebook reach can be assessed on the entire page or on a per-post level.
We recommend keeping an eye on the long-term range and spotting trends (either up or down). There will always be outliers in terms of your content, so obsessing over an individual day or week won’t mean much in the long run.
The good news is that you have many options in terms of how and where you monitor your reach. For example, Facebook Insights provides a robust breakdown of post reach along with page interactions.
In the meantime, you can measure impressions and engagement compared to people reached for individual videos in Facebook Creator Studio.
But again, it is important to monitor trends and conclusions instead of obsessing over individual numbers. For example, think about questions like:
- Is my Facebook reach growing or shrinking? Why?
- How does my organic reach compare to my paid reach?
- What individual content gets the most reach? Is there a connection between them (think: format, length, timing)?
Identifying the common threads between your best performing posts is a must for marketers. With a platform like Sprout, you can easily monitor your impressions and reach out over time to see how you’re trending and if changes to your content strategy are moving the needle.
How are you increasing your reach on Facebook?
Getting more reach on Facebook doesn’t have to be an uphill battle.
That said, it’s important to understand how reach works as a metric and what you can do to increase yours over time. Use these breakdowns and tips as a starting point to grab your target audience’s attention and keep it for the long haul.
And if you haven’t already, try Sprout Social to more closely monitor your reach on Facebook and discover new opportunities to grow.