Facebook organic reach is not dead, but you will need to work harder to get eyes on your pages. Here’s a rundown of what experts are saying will help you reach your audience. Facebook is still the top social media platform that marketers use and where consumers tend to look for and follow brand pages. So don’t despair!
Those running Facebook business pages have been seeing ever diminishing returns on their effort at getting their content in front of their audiences and fans, especially since around 2016. Yet Facebook remains the #1 platform for building an audience. Once upon a time, Facebook was incredibly fertile soil to grow our entrepreneurial and creative gardens in, at little to no cost to us. Many businesses are seeing a drastic reduction in reach, meaning that a tiny percentage of people are seeing our posts, even among those who follow our pages.
Have you ever heard something like, “The first one’s always free; that’s how they get you”? This has long been a business philosophy to hook prospective customers, used by savvy marketers and drug dealers alike. Facebook went and took that to the next level, introducing an easy-to-use platform where almost anyone could find and engage with their target audiences of customers, fans, members, and more.
Of course, there had to be a reckoning, and now that Facebook has more than 2.6 billion active monthly users worldwide, they continue to change the rules. Consider the amount of users and the amount of posts being made, and it makes more sense that Facebook tries to narrow the audience for any single post to a reasonable chunk. Otherwise, our brains would explode (okay, my words, not an actual medical opinion). Really, you don’t need to reach everybody, because not everybody is interested in what you’re offering. You need to reach the right people who are going to engage and build a smaller, engaged loyal group of diehard customers.
Community is key
Here are some of the latest tips and best practices to increase organic reach in 2021, provided by Facebook pros. Mark Zuckerburg keeps bringing up the concept of community, and the algorithm favors engagement, not only on Facebook, but across platforms. Nobody wants products and services constantly jammed in their faces.
This is a conversation, not a one-way portal into your customers’ brains and wallets. A constant barrage of salesy content, urging people to buy buy buy, grows real tedious real fast. “If you build it, they will come.” Only instead of a baseball field in the middle of nowhere, work to build a community.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Are you creating conversations?
- Are you using your platform to act as a resource and provide helpful or inside information in your niche or area of expertise?
- Are you asking your audience what they want and would like to see more of from you?
- Are you taking current events and trends into account, reacting to local/national/world news at all, and creating timely posts?
- Are you using a variety of post types (photos, videos, links) and taking advantage of Facebook’s built in post tools?
- Are you taking data into account for what content people are responding to favorably and when?
- Do you ever invest in Facebook ads or boosted posts for important content or events?
Find the answer to these questions to reevaluate your strategy, work on promoting a dialogue with your audience, and ideally you will see more engagement on your pages, fruitful interactions that ultimately lead to loyal customers and bigger sales.
Create Conversations
Zuckerburg himself comes back to this point repeatedly in his regular updates on the state of all things Facebook and how the algorithm works, saying Facebook will “prioritize posts that spark conversations and meaningful interactions between people.” Not every industry lends itself to deep thoughts, but it can be simple enough to engage your audience with community questions. People love giving their opinions or talking about a shared interest.
Community questions can be fun, lively, and create fun interaction between your audience and the business. A simple This or That question posted on one of the background color templates can get the conversation started. If people don’t have to invest a lot of time to answer, then great! Depending on the industry, these can be easy one-offs: Red wine or white? Beach vacation or mountains? TikTok or Reels? Mac or PC? Harley Davidson hogs or Kawasaki crotch rockets? Early bird or night owl?
Hot takes, unpopular opinions, are another way to get people chatting. I’m not espousing trying to stir up controversy here, unless that is appropriate for your business, but people get emotional as all get out for something as simple as pineapple on pizza or beans in chili. What’s a popular or common opinion in your field? How can you introduce a hot take to get people chatting? For an entrepreneurial page, you could put out a hot take on a cluttered desk, or making lists, or standing desks.
Sure, these conversations may start out superficial, but who knows? When people begin interacting on your page more, they begin seeing more that you post, and that’s when you can introduce something a little weightier, asking them to share their expertise or advice on a relevant topic.
Become a resource
Whether your business is a science journal, digital marketing, interior designing, or a Texas Hill Country resort, your business and your audience is unique. Real estate agencies have become good at this, so we’ll use them as an example. If you are selling or leasing properties in Austin or San Francisco, sell the area. Don’t only post the properties you’re selling or agent profiles. Post those, yes, but also post industry news and local attractions.
When people are interested in moving to a new city or a new neighborhood or investing in opening a business there, they need to know why the area is attractive. What is the business climate? What are the financial perks associated with living there? What is the area known for (local restaurants, live music hiking trails, swimming holes, no traffic)? Has the area made a list for quality of life, affordability, great job prospects in X industry? Sharing blogs, articles, infographics, videos, and photos highlighting any of these can help your page serve the interests of your target audience. This is a good thing.
Ask your audience
This is a simple tip for keeping things closer to your audience’s interests, helping you identify areas where your page may be lacking–and opportunities for growth, and keeping the conversation going. Be careful not to overuse this one, but it’s an important tool.
- Try a simple question, such as “What would you like to see more of on this page?”
- Create a poll, which is much faster to answer, and helps you narrow answers down to what you really want to know.
- Similar to the community questions, ask them to share something that has helped them. A classic example would be “What is the best entrepreneurial advice anyone has even given you?” Or “Please share some tips to fight procrastination.” Or “What is the top time-saving tool you use in your business (or for scheduling)?” Having your page followers (and hopefully others) chat with each other this way is helpful for them and for your organic reach.
Take current events and trends into account
This one’s simple: Read the room. This goes both ways. If there is renewed interest in, say, downtown lofts or sea shanty dances on TikTok, can you use this momentary heat to bring interest to your page? On the other hand, if there is a natural disaster, tragedy, or financial crash that has caused great suffering in an area? That’s a good moment to review your scheduled posts and delete or postpone anything that could be unintentionally triggering or offensive.
Some types of businesses are better suited to jumping on the latest trend. Do you have a bar or restaurant with a fairly young, social media savvy crowd? Go ahead, Photoshop that Bernie-Sanders-in-mittens image sitting on your patio (only if you can do it as the trend is hitting). Are you targeting an area that has recently been hit by extended power outages? I’m sorry to tell you, but this is not the time to promote that popup restaurant where diners experience eating in the dark.
Mix it up and use native Facebook tools
Of course you want to stay on brand, but please don’t get caught in a rut where all of your posts are one type. Consistency is one thing, but beware that this doesn’t turn into monotony. Assess where you can change things up. Add photos, videos, links to relevant blogs and articles, or community questions. Different people respond differently to different types of input. Use all the tools at your disposal to generate interest, draw people in, and get them reacting to and engaging with your page.
Facebook and all social media platforms have built in tools. They want you to use them. Often, this is a Facebook effort to capitalize on a similar, competing app. Trust me when I say, you will get brownie points (higher reach) when you take the time to use these native tools. Facebook Watch, Facebook Live, Facebook Stories, even using a background color template from the Facebook options, are all ways to show Facebook you’re paying attention and want to optimize the tools they are giving you.
Use provided data
You need to be able to look for patterns, evaluate the factors that made a particular post popular, and know when your customers and followers are likely to see your page and interact with it. Facebook provides a number of insights in the platform, but there are numerous external marketing tools you can purchase or sometimes use for free (depending on how many pages and platforms you are running, and how in-depth you want your data to be).
Posting willy nilly is not the most effective way to be. Decide what data is useful to you and make time to study it, and be willing to make changes to your content strategy based on the data. Like many other aspects of marketing, expanding your organic reach is a mixture of art and science, a balancing act of intuition and cold, hard numbers. Use them.
Consider paying to play
I know, I know, this story is about organic and not paid reach, but the fact is strategically paying for a Facebook ad or boosting a post to highlight a launch, event, special deal, or other important news will bring more people to your page. If the other tips, tools, and best practices referred to here are in place, once they find your page, you have the ability to keep their attention through organic means.
Keep on truckin’
These tips should help you expand your page’s organic reach. More importantly, they should help you build and support a community, earn loyal followers and customers, and generate positive buzz about your business. Keep working on becoming a resource and sharing helpful information. Have fun with it and experiment with new media and types of posts. Know yourself. Know your audience.
egoldre
December 21, 2009 at 8:05 am
Good Stuff as always Ken. I’m sharing this with the other agents in my office!
Best,
Erin
Ken Brand
December 21, 2009 at 8:21 am
Thanks. Glad you found it helpful. Cheers and Happy Holidays:-)
Missy Caulk
December 21, 2009 at 10:22 am
Ken, cliches don’t make money or explain a darn thing. They are passed over. You gave some great illustrations on how to build trust.
Ken Brand
December 21, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Good point Missy, TRUST is the straw that stirs the drink, and the ice cubes and the mixer and the al-ka-doll, I guess we’re the glass and our SOE is the party. Who’s thirsty? Thanks for the compliment and cheers for a Merry Christmas.
Fred Glick
December 21, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Your problem is you are correct!
I only say that because there are too many people that believe the simple things out there and get bamboozled by bad agents.
But, we have to keep on pushing the truth!
Ken Brand
December 21, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Amen Fred, the “truth” will set you free, the days of BS, sucking up, posing and generally being faux are bye-bye, if you want to succeed anyway. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Ken Montville
December 21, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I love the post and the concept. Now, Ken-to-Ken, your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to explain how you can get from Context to Trust in 60 seconds. That’s about how much time any of us have to get through to someone before their eyes glaze over and they get bored.
Oh, can I really use words like “bullshit” and “whacked”. I’d love to.
Merry Christmas, Ken!
Ken Brand
December 21, 2009 at 4:34 pm
60 seconds from Context To Trust. You know what? I think it happens that fast. The in-between stuff; clarity and understanding is the subconscious connecting the nano-dots. Add context, not just the good, but the bad and ugly, people will respond positively.
As for bullshit, whacked, WTH, crap sandwich, douche bag, etc., most definitely use the correct words (sparingly), it’s surprising and therefore attracts interest and makes you Top Of Mind Awareness sticky.
Of course, avoid overuse and unnatural adjectives, verbs and nouns, doing so is viewed as crass-punk-ass-grand-standing and generally being a “dick”, which of course is counter productive and self destructive.
Merry Christmas to you too Ken.
PS. Have I ever told you what a cool name you have?
Gwen Banta
December 21, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Well said, Ken. Educating clients with facts and clarity is as important as educating ourselves. Too many people in sales spew so much bull they can no longer discern the truth themselves. My grandfather used to say, “If you are going to throw around a lot of bull, you’d better wear galoshes.”
Ken Brand
December 21, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Ha, yeah, sometimes the galoshes need to be hip-waders. Cheers Gwen;-)
Ryan Hartman
December 22, 2009 at 11:22 am
Damn Ken. This was solid solid. Thanks. As more agents become content creators posts like this message should resonate stronger and wider…
I’m gonna plug it to me list 🙂
[Plus “bullshit” and “douchebag” certainly make for a more trustworthy read imo… Who can trust anyone who doesn’t use these words regularly?]
Ken Brand
December 22, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Thanks Ryan. And, Damn-Straight, when someone is pristinely correct and poofy-proper…you gotta wonder?
Cheers and Merry Christmas
Houstonblogger
December 22, 2009 at 5:04 pm
I enjoy it whenever I can use the word “douchebag”. ‘Tis one of my faves.
Ken Brand
December 22, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Yeah, me too. It sorta rolls of the tongue and makes you laugh-inside when you say it. I think the same thing when I call something a crap-sandwich.
Merry Christmas to you. Cheers
Joe Loomer
December 23, 2009 at 6:47 am
Ken,
You peggged this 21-year Navy man between the eyes with your bullshit, woke me up, got me FOCUSED!
I certainly liked: “Anytime we can use third party proof, we should.” This solidifies your place as the market expert, especially when you show cause and effect…. As you can see (from the chart provided), the increasing inventory of homes in that area has pushed prices down, and Days On the Market is up, if you want to sell, you’ll have to price ahead of the market….
Navy Chief, Navy Pride
Terry
January 4, 2010 at 1:07 pm
I am going to start reading what you have to say not sure I understand everything. Have to get into this blogging and twitter stuff.
Paul
February 7, 2011 at 5:43 pm
Holy Shit Ken,
That was awsome stuff. I see it to be a far reaching problem in our world. I like to call it completing an idea or one’s thoughts by including the context for clarity purposes. Anytime I proof someone’s writings it is almost always my number one message to the writer and that is to finish the idea, thought or complete the sentence. Don’t leave the reader hanging and or make the assumption that the douchebag reader has any idea what it is you are trying to say. Leave nothing to chance and make sure you spell it out for them. Only then will they get it and you.