Here’s a question for you. What is your favorite social media platform these days? Are you using Facebook as much as you used to?
Researches have shown that almost 95% of the world has access to a smartphone, and 45% of them say that they are almost always online. But when it comes to Facebook users, there’s a dramatic decline according to the Pew’s 2015 study. This year’s research shows that Facebook is no more the dominant online platform among teens.
Facebook, Far From Dead!
Having said that, many people don’t believe in these numbers and the drop in Facebook usage. According to them, if you see these numbers on a broader scale, a few million users leaving Facebook can’t dent Facebook’s momentum. The platform is still reporting 2.3 billion active monthly users. Despite all the data concerns and scandals, according to Facebook’s quarter performance report, “It hits a new high of 2.32 billion monthly active users, up 2.2% on the previous quarter. Facebook is serving 1.52 billion people daily.”
But when it comes to “organic reach,” on Facebook, the Internet is full of theories and conspiracies. One thing we are ignoring in all this transformation is “data.”
Around the corner of 2014, when digital marketers were in the process of understanding the new trend of digital marketing, they had no choice left then to start molding their marketing plans to the “Pay to Play” model. And just when everyone’s favorite king “Content” was about to have the throne, it was auctioned off to the highest CPM bidder!
According to BuzzSumo research, “The average number of engagements with Facebook posts created by brands and publishers has fallen by over 20% since January 2017.”
Since then, it’s getting harder for small businesses and brands to get the engagement organically, without investing some dollars. But one thing that we’ve no shortage of is “data.” And that data can be used to get your marketing campaigns a better response.
Let’s Talk About Traffic and Engagement!
Facebook has ingrained itself in our lives, whether it’s as a consumer or business owner. Many small businesses don’t have a website. But it’s considered dumbfounding if they don’t have a Facebook page. It’s simple, secure, and free to create a Facebook business page for your startup or brand.
You can visit our complete guide on how to create killer Facebook business pages if you haven’t created one.
What about the main element that fuels the online marketing engine? The question that has been a nightmare for a social media manager!
How To Reach The Full Potential To Your Facebook Posts?
Got all the fancy conversion funnels and great content? But with the relevant traffic, you won’t be able to make any headway in the digital space.
Back in the day, the website was the only destination where you used to drive traffic. But things have changed a lot. Now, social media has surpassed search engines in many cases to reach a broad and relevant audience.
Research by Parse.ly shows that “46% of their referral traffic was from social media with Facebook alone accounts for 41.2% of that traffic.”
In many cases, when it comes to traffic Facebook dominates.
But with more than 50M active Facebook business pages, how are you going to promote your business on Facebook? How will your Facebook post reach increase organically?
That’s precisely what we will be covering in this blog.
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15 Simple & Smart Ways to Grow Your Facebook Reach Organically
Attracting the Right Kind of Audience
Let’s just admit.
Random fans for your Facebook page are of no use!
They won’t engage!
They won’t be the influencing audience for your marketing campaigns.Growing your Facebook page deprived of building a targeted audience isn’t recommended at all.
Keep this fact in mind: The number of page likes is not a sign of how well your content will perform!
You need people who are actually interested in your business. So, when you publish content on your page, it is more relevant to them.
The chances of your post reach & engagement are higher when you have a relevant audience.What matter the most is how you build your brand authority. How you command your audience to action.
Posting Content Regularly
According to the latest Pew Research Center survey conducted Jan. 8 to Feb. 7, 2019,
“Facebook remains one of the most widely used social media sites among adults in the U.S.”
This shows that people are always online on Facebook, looking for some new content on their newsfeeds.
So, now the target is to make your post visible on their newsfeed. For which consistency is the primary key!
You should give your audience a bit of content every day.The question that arises here is: Should I post content every hour? What should be the daily post frequency?
And the most common answer to this is, “IT DEPENDS.”But that’s not a satisfying answer. After looking into several stats and researches, here’s a takeaway for marketers according to Hubspot.
Still, want an exact number, here you go, if you have less than 10K followers, you should post one or fewer times per day. 🙂
(Keeping the best time to post in mind, which will be discussing later on in this blog too).Learn More About Your Audience
When we’re talking about Facebook post reach & engagement, the thing that matters the most is your audience’s needs and wants.
Understand who your audience is and what they want.
The best way to know that is Facebook Page Insights. Study the information there carefully. See when your audience is mostly online. What are the countries or region where most of your audience belong? What type of content your fans responded to most?
Analysis of this information can give you unexpected details. By using those details, you can craft content that will help you in building a more meaningful connection with your audience.Focusing on Fan-Centric Content
As mentioned above, keep your fans in mind while crafting your content. Let’s say you’re running a Facebook page for your law firm. Should you exclusively post content related to your law cases?
Of course not.
For starters, you can post things daily about your law firm. But as soon as you start feeling your content is getting repetitive or stale, try something new. Your audience will get bored or tuned out by seeing the same content every time.
Your Facebook content should not be all about you. It should be about your fans. As soon as you embed this concept into your strategy, the increase in your Facebook engagement will become more realistic.
Ask yourself, when was the last time you surprised your audience or made them laugh?It’s All About Perfect Timing
According to the latest updates in Facebook Algorithm, the post engagement and reach are closely related to each other.
Here’s how the Facebook Algorithm treats your post.
When you post some content on your page, Facebook shows it to a small group of people. If they’re interacting with your post, and your post gets a little engagement, it will start showing it to a larger group of audience. Every time your post receives more engagement, Facebook’s algorithm will reward it with more reach.
Don’t just RANDOMLY POST and expect reactions.
Content posting is not just about SPRAY and PRAY.
Post content when your followers are most active, so the chances of getting engagement and reaction instantly increase.
Use Page Insight’s data-driven best times by analyzing your past posts. Make your content calendar according to the preferences of your audience.
We would recommend using a Facebook post scheduling tool to get the most of it.Here’s a pro tip by Neil Patel: “Post when your competitors are asleep.”
And for the best time to post, according to the most loved by Google and expert in digital marketing, Neil Patel,
“I have found that 3 PM works best to get clicks and boost post views.”Take the Leverage of Trends
Trending Topics on Facebook are a powerful way to connect with people. Based on engagement, location, and trends, you can take advantage of these topics for your brand.
There are many real-time happenings around the world. For example, sports events such as the World Cup, presidential debates, last sessions of TV series, award shows, controversies or anniversaries, you name it. Many brands are influenced by those events and use them in marketing their product.
For example, as the world witnessed the last session of Game of Thrones, we also saw many brands using the GOT marketing strategies.
https://twitter.com/johnniewalker_/status/1117412189734883331
Keep an eye on the trending topics. Use them for your brand to create brand awareness and lead generation. Use the trending hashtags and keywords related to the current topic.Keep Reminding Them to Watch For Your Content
“People don’t care about your product.” And that’s the harsh reality of marketing.
No matter how awesome you think your brand/product is, it’s not necessary that the audience feels the same.
You need to remind them that your product exists.
People are busy. And if they forgot to follow your every post, that’s natural. And that’s okay!
Just like every other vlogger on YouTube, ask your fans to follow your page.
If you’re posting a video on your page, put this at the end of it.
Don’t shy to ask and don’t overdo it!Publishing Evergreen Content
Whether your goal is to generate revenue, drive traffic, or spread awareness – evergreen content is the most powerful tool.
But, first, let’s just see what the heck it means when someone says “EVERGREEN CONTENT.”
As you can guess by the word evergreen, this is the type of content that is “timeless.”
For example, if you followed any trending topic, and posted something about it. This will surely give you a boost for a specific period, but that won’t be evergreen content.
Here’s a simple example from Espresso. Rather than sharing the usual posts of their menu and dishes, they shared something different.
Something timeless.
Short. Simple. Relatable.
According to Aaron Orendorff, here are a few types of evergreen content:- Your Original Research.
- Case Studies: Successful or how to fail.
- Statistics and its consequences.
- How-to guides, from beginner to pro levels.
- How-to Checklists.
- Video tutorials.
- Recipes posts.
- Industry news.
- Q&A sessions.
- Testimonials and Interviews.
- Lists of ideas, mistakes, best or free tool, and much more.
- Encyclopedic content: e.g., “Everything you need to know………..” posts.
And as he says, “It’s not easy being green.”
But when you’ve got so many options there, the best you could do is at least try all once!
But going green requires a lot of investment.
Put your best time and efforts to produce evergreen content.
Dig deep.
Get all your resources.
Forget about post engagement for once. Aim for originality.
Be genuine. Be real.
Once you’re equipped with these and more types of evergreen content, you’ll start growing an entire nursery soon!
And as soon as you start publishing timeless content, your post reach and engagement will get better too. People will keep on engaging with your post.So, here’s the formula. Evergreen content will give your post durability.
Related Article: Why Repurposing Content Is Beneficial For Social Media Reach?
Analyzing Your Most Popular Posts
Everyone has that one top-performing post that has the most number of likes, comments, and shares. It can be any type of content. It might be a meme, a case study, a celebrity update, any stats or fun fact, a video message, or a simple poll.
Think what the magic behind it was? What made it epic? Use the same magic to recreate. Follow the same steps as you did while curating your top-performing content. Instead of playing guessing games look closely at your Facebook analytics. The answers might surprise you!Keep it Short and Sweet
Focus on Quality Rather than Quantity
According to Facebook,
“In the News Feed on Facebook, we’re seeing people spend, on average, 1.7 seconds with a piece of content on mobile compared to 2.5 seconds on desktop.”
Which means you need to act as fast as you could to get their attention.
To grab users’ attention quickly, you need to keep your posts short and sweet. Make it enviable for users to stop scrolling for a moment and engage with your post.
Focus on quality.
Quality doesn’t mean anything complicated or expensive.
Facebook recommends keeping things simple. Just follow your brand identity with a consistent color scheme.Use Images & Videos
Not any images/videos, but the great ones. Better quality is equal to better engagement.
For example, you’re starting a new diet series for your fans. “All new green recipes.” Simple shots of the dishes you made will work well. The close-up shot of your final product. Or a photo of you tasting your own recipe.
The point is, don’t wait for a fancy camera or overstated photography equipment. Sometimes, all you need to break the Internet is a single shot taken from your phone.
Just remember to keep the focus right!
If you’re not sure about your photography skills, you can always ask for help. Everyone has a friend who knows to click the best!
Or if you’re shy to ask a friend, you can still find many websites which provide royalty-free images.
Try shooting a video from your phone. Video posts get higher engagement than image posts.
Go live. Can’t think of any reason?
Be creative.
Show your audience the behind-the-scenes of your brand.
Add humor.
Add colors. Provide some entertainment.
Promote your brand.
Tell a story.
Give your audience a reason to follow you.
Add emotions.Add Emojis to Make it More Friendly
Add emojis to your posts. It will help you make your content look more friendly and memorable. Posts that include emojis generally have higher like, comment, and share rates than those that don’t. Using emojis also helps you portray your business as friendly and makes your content more memorable.
Make sure you know the right meaning of the emoji you’re sharing. If you need any help, here’s the guide you can follow.Share Shout-Outs by Your Fans and Customers
You can always ask your customers for their feedback. Many customers would love your product or services. And they aren’t shy in sharing their reviews on Facebook.
An excellent way to show how much you appreciate your community and customers is to share their reviews on your page. Many users look for online reviews first, before trying any new product/service. Involving your customer’s feedback on your page will increase your credibility too.
Pro Tip: Always ask for permission before sharing. And don’t forget to credit the creator.
Keep a Watch on other Facebook Pages
There’s an incredibly fantastic feature provided by Facebook, which can help you spy on your competitors: “Pages to Watch.”
It allows you to check and compare your Facebook page and posts performance with others. You can simply add the pages to you want to watch. And check their top-performing content by simply clicking on their page name.
Don’t limit yourself to your competitors. You can add pages of the same niche to learn from them. Or you can add generic pages, and share their top-performing content on your page.Occasionally Host Giveaways
Every business has something to offer. And the best offers are “Free of Cost.” Depending on your business niche, you can always post some kind of giveaway for your fans. The contest or giveaway posts get the most of the engagement.
Post a giveaway every once in a while. Don’t get too excited. It is recommended to give something relevant and useful. Something that has your brand identity on it. You can also surprise your audience by not disclosing the prize right away.Pro Tip: Try to be as responsive as you can while posting a giveaway. Many people will ask the same questions, repetitively. Respond to every individual in a courteous and friendly manner.
Let Us Know What You Have been trying on Facebook?
If driving the right traffic on your Facebook Page, and increasing your Facebook posts reach has been as challenging for you as it is for us, I hope that you found these smart tips to be useful to you.
I challenge you to use these simple tips to boost your Facebook traffic and let me know which one of these worked the best for you.
Lastly, it took us time, too, to figure out what works best for our Facebook page. And honestly, it’s not a one-day or one-week task. So, don’t be discouraged if you don’t see an immediate increase in engagement. Remember, JUST KEEP SWIMMING.
Enough tips from my side. I would love to hear which tactic worked the best for your Facebook page? What are you struggling with the most when it comes to organic reach? Which tactics keep you going? Share some of your insights. 🙂
