Is Organic Reach on Facebook Dead?

Facebook for me was always a fun platform and the cool thing about it is that you can use it for both fun and connecting as well as using it as a tool for your business.

Something I love doing in the morning when I’m checking notifications is to look at the memories that Facebook shares with you. It’s great to see what I was doing in previous years on any given day but it’s also cool to see the different treads while comparing what was working then to now. I sometimes question why I posted some of those things I did.

Early on Facebook positioned the posting area to make it seem like you were telling your audience what you’re doing in the third person. I still see the odd person do this today but I see a lot of what I posted when I first joined look like this…”Is going to (insert pace) to hang out with (insert friends name)”

Seeing how trends have changed over the years is fun and what’s working now will definitely not work 10 years from now.

Using Facebook for your business is constantly changing as well and back in 2018 Facebook announced it was cracking down on branded content and working to make the platform more social, like it was intended to be in the first place. 

This is something that scared a lot of marketers but it doesn’t mean using it for your business is a bad idea, it’s actually still the number one platform to be on for your business.

How you use Facebook is the key!

Post at the right time!

Facebook’s algorithm is based on engagement and if you’re posting at a time your audience isn’t on you won’t get the engagement Facebook needs to push your post out right away.

You can look online for “posting times” and places like HubSpot and SproutSocial will have a generic infographic that shows the best times they have researched. This is still a good tool but I wouldn’t create my entire strategy around those times.

Your best option is to know your audience and know when your audience is online. If you have a dance bar, your posting times will be a lot different than a lawyer that wants to reach their audience.

Using the insights in Facebook is a great tool to see not only what time is best to post but see the type of content that is working as well.

Make video apart of your strategy

I’ve talked about the different types of content you can post. I have also talked about making content (a hook) that will help make your audience stop scrolling to see what you have to say or offer and the number one way to do that is video.

Think about how you scroll on Facebook, if someone posts something simple and it’s just plain text, chances are you might just scroll past. Next is posting an image to your feed with your copy that tells your audience a story. This is something that will get most to stop but if your image is bland or a generic stock photo, you might miss your audience. 

That brings us to video and chances are, you will at least stop scrolling long enough to see what the video is on your feed before you keep scrolling.

This doesn’t mean you need to go out and spend thousands on a full production crew to make full commercials to post, we all have the tools to make a good video that has the 3 elements we talked about the other week….the 3 E’s.

Using your BlackBerry, (sorry, had to throw that in there) Android or iPhone will work just as well and you can also use tools like Canva that will allow you to animate your content so if you’re not comfortable on camera, that will do the trick.

Use one of the 3 E’s…Engagement!

Facebook doesn’t like “engagement bait’ posts and what I mean by that is if you make a post and in the copy ask your audience to comment something. As an example, you make a post that has a quote and you ask your comment a question, “If you agree, comment YES”.

This is something that Facebook will flag and you will see your reach on that post go down.

That doesn’t mean you can’t ask your audience a question and have them comment. This brings us back to what I talked about before in this article with Facebook being social. Facebook wants to connect people and a great way to do that is to ask an open ended question to start a conversation with your audience. 

By asking an open ended question you’re starting to build that relationship with your audience through your conversation as well as starting to build your trust as a brand. Doing this is huge for your organic reach.

Get your team onboard!

This is a way to get a lot of great organic reach and most people overlook it. Your team plays a key role for your brand on Facebook.

When I worked with the Beer Store all those years ago, I was a huge ambassador for the brand as were most of the other 7000+ employees the Beer Store had. We were always talking about the beers we’ve tried and tagging the Facebook Page, sharing the sales tBS posted as well as anything else that was relevant at the time.

This is something your team can do for you as well. It all starts from the top and if you did your job and hired a team that is in love with your brand as much as you love it, they will have no issue at all sharing your content. 

Taking things one step further, depending on your social media policy, you can have your team use stories on Facebook and share their day and what’s going on. This is a great way for your audience to see what’s happening behind the scenes.

Make the most out of Facebook Groups!

Facebook is all about being social and connecting with your audience and a great way to do that is with a Facebook Group. That’s another way for you to provide value to your audience after they have joined as well as continue the conversation.

A great way to help your page organically is to join other groups in your target audience and provide value in those groups. If the group allows you to join as your page, that’s the best way. If not, joining with your personal profile is a great way to provide value as long as your profile is optimized.

Doing this will help the audience in that group see who you are and when your profile is optimized, they will be able to easily find your page and see the great content you have there as well.

With everything I talked about here, it’s a great way to get you started and there are some amazing ideas to get your Facebook Page on the way to get some great organic reach. That said, I want to help you even more.

For just a couple more weeks I will be offering my 30 Days of Content that gives you all the ideas you need to create content for your Facebook page so you don’t have to waste valuable time.

Part of that free offer for the 30 Days of Content, I will be offering something that will be gone very soon, a Strategy Session that is a fraction of what I normally charge. 

If you’re ready to take action and finally get the organic reach you want, click below and let’s get started!