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.
Jay Thompson
July 26, 2008 at 10:26 pm
JD, you rocked that panel. For those not there, I actually heard suggestions like, “Direct mail the Fortune Billionaires list” and “Go to events like the Monaco Grand Prix, Cannes Film Festival and Wimbledon” to find international buyers.
I’m working on my billionaire letters. So far I have this:
Dear Mr. Gates –
I like Microsoft. You should move to Phoenix and buy a house. Give me a call when you do.
Still needs a little work….
Benn Rosales
July 26, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Jonathan,
I was very impressed at your presence on that panel. You came to relate and deliver and what I took away from you was a ‘have no fear, just do’ perspective. You were easy to listen to, easy to relate to, and came from the hip- it was Genius, really.
Larry Yatkowsky
July 27, 2008 at 1:20 am
JD
I think I missed the ol’ TwoFer!
IE: You are attending a conference on other business and it’s a golden opportunity to pre-screen the attendees to find out who is a ‘foreigner’. They can be great ‘bird dogs’. Might be an extra $ or two to cozy up to these folks but have you ever known a realtor to turn down a free coffee? Hell, in between sips, they might even listen to what you have to say! Don’t forget the opportunity for you and the benefit to them (1 – 3 hours of work) by squeaking in a guest post on their blog.
Now, about the lunch! 🙂
Jonathan Dalton
July 27, 2008 at 1:30 am
Does this mean I owe you a lunch, Larry?
Larry Yatkowsky
July 27, 2008 at 1:40 am
JD
No worries. After all the eats at Inman I gotta hit the slim fast regime so I can get back to being pretty. 🙂 However, if you are feeling obliged, put it on the cuff of your T-Shirt and I’ll collect when snow flies in downtown Phoenix.
Bill Lublin
July 27, 2008 at 1:44 am
JD (I like that sobriquet) Nicely put, and a matter of great interest, but why can;t I write just one post and then have a zillion Canadians come down to Philly for the great real estate values and cuisine (soft pretzels, cheesesteaks, hoagies, and water ice yummm)
Larry; You’re already pretty 😉
Lani Anglin-Rosales
July 27, 2008 at 8:49 am
Jonathan, what I really enjoyed about the panel you were featured on was that the speakers represented many different types of international brokers. I think the room was seeking an “up and coming” approach like you represented- one they can go home and attempt right away rather than after years of cultivating their airmiles to go visit the Dubai Hob Nobbers Convention. You were spectacular and I know that the audience was perceptive to your approach of combining technology with specified niches- very well done!
Vicki Moore
July 27, 2008 at 9:56 am
Jonathan – As self-deprecating as you are, you are much more of a Genius than you lead readers to believe. It was an absolute pleasure to spend time and get to know the man behind the keyboard.
ines
July 27, 2008 at 4:11 pm
you look very pretty in your gray sweater second from the left (ahem!)
The truth is that you brought a down-to-earth perspective to the panel, without having to own a Chateau in France or Villa in Italy. Maybe I’m biased and could apply your strategies right away…..maybe I’m jealous that I can’t go to the Monaco Grand-Prix…whatever it is…..you rocked!
Jonthan Dalton
July 27, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Thanks for the compliments, folks … my wife is interested in Cannes, but I’m not sure that it’s a feasible option.
Jed Lane
July 27, 2008 at 6:56 pm
I enjoyed this panel especially Janet Choynowski. Her honesty and her ability to see the big picture was very enlightening. We aren’t all going to be in the same market for castles and mansions as Olivia Hsu-Decker, but more of can find our way into selling a second home to someone or attracting an investor like I’m trying to do.
I have a building for sale here in San Francisco. It is paying the present owner very good return but he has made all the imporvements and wants to recapture the investment. Everyone here wants upside, even if they never actually do anything to acheive it they all want it in the deal.
This building will pay off well especially for someone that is spending Euros or any of the other strong currancies.
Paula Henry
July 27, 2008 at 9:37 pm
I didn’t make it to Inman, but having read your blog – I am way impressed with how you have effectively dominated the market in Phoneix for Canadian buyers.
I am currently working with a client from England. Yes, there are a few issues; for the most part, it’s like any other transaction.
Glenn fm Naples
July 28, 2008 at 6:24 am
Back more than a decade, when it was much easier to find e-mail addresses, you could easily find buyers from Asia, Europe and Canada. Today, it is a lot harder, but of course, you could be spamming. 🙂
Learning the lingo used to describe a building design is a challenge.
Is anyone using any of the translation services?