If your brand uses Facebook, you’ve probably heard about organic reach declining.
Organic reach is a measure of the audience you’re able to capture on Facebook simply by making posts that others see in their News Feed. It wasn’t really that long ago when posting was a nearly-guaranteed way to get attention from virtually all your followers.
Now, posts reach only about 2% of their potential audience!
There are many reasons why:
- Facebook’s algorithm aggressively weeds out content it “thinks” may be uninteresting;
- More businesses are posting at a greater daily rate, competing for few News Feed slots;
- Brands with larger fanbases are actually reaching a lower percentage of their followers;
- Facebook has a strong vested interest in forcing users onto its PPC advertising platform.
Although the signs are grim, it doesn’t mean that only people using Facebook PPC will be able to get ROI from the network going forward. However, social media marketers will have to adapt new approaches and challenge their preconceptions.
What Works on Facebook in the Age of Declining Reach?
Many B2B and B2C enterprises haven’t built a Facebook strategy beyond “post and hope for the best.” Unfortunately, this is the kind of approach that will be almost useless in 2017 and beyond!
Whether your current Facebook presence is successful or marginal, introduce these tactics:
Start a Facebook Group
It’s no longer enough to have a Page for your brand – this should be considered the starting point for social relationship building. To bring it up to the next level, start a private Group. Many firms have developed high-impact, value-added social communities with Groups. Since they can be invite-only, they’re a great way to centralize interaction with your most engaged users.
Emphasize Visual Content
If you need to connect with as many Page followers as possible, the most efficient way to do it is through visual content. Research has demonstrated that video content enhances reach. In many cases, adding a video creates an instant fourfold increase in organic reach. Video posts often exceed 8% total reach, versus reach just over 5% for text-only posts.
Consider Some Paid Social Ads
With the right approach, combining paid and organic social strategy can greatly expand organic reach. Starting with a modest paid social budget allows companies to get a grip on using and analyzing Facebook campaigns without betting the farm. Done right, paid social can be a cost-effective force multiplier for your most shareable and compelling content.
With 1.65 billion monthly users – and more than half of those only on mobile – Facebook isn’t going away any time soon. Savvy marketers can continue to get great value from the ubiquitous website without spending a fortune to do it.