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.
Genevieve
April 24, 2011 at 6:13 pm
For some reason, I read the " no glamor shots line twice." Paranoia will destroy ya; thanks for the reminder, LAR. I'll forward you my new headshot before I post that bad boy.
Lani Rosales
April 25, 2011 at 12:43 am
Paranoia is funny! Thanks for not using any old nicknames, that's awesome. 🙂
Jason Sandquist
April 24, 2011 at 6:23 pm
I always see Groupon offering Glamour Shot deals… #justsayin
Lani Rosales
April 25, 2011 at 12:45 am
Seriously? They're still around? Well we know who is keeping the in business then…. lol
Heather O
April 24, 2011 at 6:26 pm
Okay, I'm only the marketing girl … but I notice these things working for my REALTOR® hubby. So my favorites agent poses are listed here: 1. Super-crossed arms, elevated w/cocked eyebrows and all while posed, back-to-back with their teammate agent. 2. Agents with elbow on an oversized ampersand (always are on the vertical bus cards) 3. Lens-flared, glamazon shots 4. 72 DPI photos – c'mon now … hire a pro or a college kid.
Lani Rosales
April 25, 2011 at 12:46 am
Back to back is the WORST, I totally forgot about that one. Nothing screams "I'm 40 and haven't moved out of my parent's house" more than a back to back with your broker/mom…
Lori Luza
April 25, 2011 at 8:23 am
Heather, I'm sad to say it, but some of those sound like they did use a pro. The problem is that they either hired the studio at the mall, where props are part of the shtick. Or, maybe they hired a kids/family photographer instead of someone with experience in doing headshots.
Good headshots come from a professional photographer with experience in that area… not from an hourly employee at the mall.
Heather O
April 25, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Lani, I just about snorted coffee all over my screen. You nailed it. And for the record I'm still giggling at the "How Not to Look Like a Tool" comment. ~ I am still a fan of someone leaning on the "ampersand" or the "&" sign on their business card … I completely blanked on the "on my cell phone and that means I'm busy" photo. ~ Lori, hey you tried right? 🙂 Can't hate on the fact you were trying to get the photo. It's true, but I think with Facebook, for my observation, photographers are at an all-time high and for someone not to get a new photo is more "I don't want to make the time" or "I'm afraid to reach out and get it done." Heck Yelp and Google reviews are a great way to find portfolios of local photogs. ~ This post rocks my marketing socks. :-)))
Mike McGee
April 25, 2011 at 8:24 am
Ah, you guys beat me to the back-to-back photos! There seems to be an epidemic of those in our market. Another one I hate is the jacket-over-the-shoulder look. Whose idea was that? If your photographer suggests an unnatural pose like that, fire him! I would love to post a link to my favorite example, but I guess that would be mean. 😉
Paula Henry
April 24, 2011 at 7:32 pm
My favorite is the with the agent on the phone, then it was the cell phone. Really? Who thought that made us look cool. I'm certain someone is laughing at mine, but I do NOT have a phone. I could use a picture from a professional photographer. I do change my picture about twice a year, because my hair grows that fast. I have one with short hair and one with longer hair. Maybe, when I get my hair cut again, I'll try a professional shot. Of course, as i age, I think I'll just use my picture from when I first started in the biz 🙂
Lani Rosales
April 25, 2011 at 12:47 am
That's a good point Paula- for those of us who change our hair frequently, the profile shot HAS to be updated. I used to go from brunette to blonde and back a lot and constantly had to update!
Ann Cummings
April 25, 2011 at 7:02 am
I've seen a few who've posed with their cars….still trying to figure out who said that one was cool. Or how about one using the computer that looks really really fake?
Lani Rosales
April 25, 2011 at 8:54 pm
The box computer prop? Bleh!
"Tracey, the Safety Lady"
April 25, 2011 at 6:17 pm
I hate to be a spoil sport, but as a real estate agent safety trainer, I have to caution you about where, how often and the types of pictures you use. Having been an agent and with a sister who is an agent, I know that pictures are important for branding. I also know they are important to criminals for profiling. I cannot stop you from using pictures everywhere, but can offer some great points.
Glamour Shot-type pictures are a no-no. Pictures on your yard signs are a no-no. Criminals see what they want, (I hear agents say that they are too old or ugly and no one wants them, it doesn't matter to a criminal), they may be looking for someone old; (supposed easier target), younger (more technology tools to steal), males and females both have cash, credit cards, jewelry, etc. Everyone is a target. You make it easier to find you. If they see the perfect victim pictured on the yard sign, all it takes is one phone call to get that would-be victim (you), to meet them at that empty house, (and you all meet strangers at empty houses!).
Use professional pictures if you absolutely must! Use them with care and distribute only to your known COIs.
sfvrealestate
April 25, 2011 at 9:39 pm
Lani, I'm so happy to know that you're a cat person!
Lani Rosales
April 25, 2011 at 9:45 pm
Oh Judy, it's almost an OBNOXIOUS affinity. Hi, I'm Lani and I'm a cat person. "Hi, Lani," the support group says. 😉
Cliff Stevenson
May 13, 2011 at 3:25 pm
The phone pose kills me. Surprisingly, this shot is everywhere (at least in my market). You're so busy that you couldn't put the phone down for the shot? Having said that, I'm sure many could make cracks about my marketing photo.
Valerie
December 21, 2011 at 12:10 pm
Our team doesn't use photos. Our team is a green team and our logo is a green door which is on our cards, signs etc. Never felt the need for a photo and our customer's don't seem to mind. One less thing to worry about.