2.74 billion. That’s how many active users Facebook has in a month. If you want to tap into that market, you’re going to need the right Facebook organic reach strategy.
That’s where we come in.
Organic reach marketing may not be as easy as it once was, but it isn’t dead. When done thoughtfully and intentionally, Facebook organic reach marketing is still one of the best ways to boost awareness of your product or services online.
What Is Facebook Organic Reach?
Facebook organic reach is a measure of the number of people who see your content on the social platform when you don’t pay to boost that content. On the other hand, advertising and boosted posts on Facebook involve marketers paying the platform to make these promotions visible.
As time goes on, it has become harder for advertisers to leverage organic reach on Facebook. This decline is primarily due to changes in their algorithm, which promotes content you are connected with. But that doesn’t mean that this type of marketing still can’t be done on Facebook.
Does Organic Reach Still Matter on Facebook?
The short answer is yes.
Even though Facebook organic reach has been in decline across social media platforms—especially on Facebook—it can still play an important role in your overall Facebook advertising strategy.
But you might wonder: Can’t I just pay Facebook to get the same results?
The critical thing to remember is that paid ads are usually intended to get people in the door. You still need a consistent stream of quality organic content on Facebook to convert these viewers into believers in your brand and product.
Think of your Facebook strategy like a magazine. Your paid ad is the flashy cover that draws people in and entices them to leaf through in the checkout line. Organic content is the juicy stories and scandalous articles that convince people to buy the magazine and take it home.
Both types of content are important for your overall Facebook marketing success.
If you want to learn more about paid advertising, you can check out our beginner’s guide to Facebook advertising.
6 Ways to Improve Your Facebook Organic Reach
Creating compelling organic content for Facebook isn’t easy. There is a lot of competition on the platform, with the average Facebook page sharing 1.55 posts every day.
With that in mind, we’ve come up with six actionable ways you can improve your Facebook organic reach. In no time at all, you and your company can reap the benefits that a strong presence on Facebook can bring.
1. Nail the Basics
It sounds obvious, but it needs to be said:
MAKE GOOD CONTENT AND FOLLOW THE RULES.
You can use all of the most advanced techniques on Facebook, but if you don’t create high-quality posts and follow Facebook’s guidelines, it won’t really matter.
So, what is good content?
According to Facebook, good content engages, educates, or excites your readers. Ideally, it does all three!
Consider this post from Walmart celebrating Valentine’s Day. It’s cute, it’s humanizing, and, most importantly, it’s engaging.
A Valentine’s Day post from Walmart’s Facebook page.
There are currently 1.3K comments on this post, mostly of people reminiscing with their own stories of love found at Walmart or other grocery store chains.
Next up, how to follow the rules.
Before you begin posting, make sure to read and understand Facebook’s community standards. In total, there are six sections for you read over. Make sure to pay close attention to Objectionable Content so you know where the lines are drawn on Facebook, as far as what is acceptable and what isn’t it.
The repercussions for violating any of these terms range from a warning to removal from Facebook altogether. Facebook has a system of strikes and appeals for people who violate the platform’s standards. Make sure to understand this process as well, just in case you ever get flagged.
With those basics out of the way, we can move on to more advanced organic reach strategies.
2. Study Facebook’s Algorithm and Optimize for it
To determine what people want to see, Facebook uses an algorithm to rank current posts on your news feed. Understanding this system can help you get the most out of your Facebook organic reach by having your posts appear on more news feeds more often.
So what does the algorithm look like?
Facebook keeps things pretty close to the vest, but we can still do our best to figure out how to have our organic posts show up on more peoples’ feeds.
Hootsuite, the parent company of AdEspresso, recently did a deep dive into Facebook’s 2021 algorithm, and it concluded that there were a couple of main ranking signals that Facebook was considering when ranking posts:
- The relationship of the poster to the owner of the feed
- The kind of content that is being posted (video, picture, etc.)
- How well that post is being received by others in terms of reactions and comments
- How new that post is
Based on these findings, Hootsuite recommends 11 tips on how to improve your chances of having your organic content appear on peoples’ feeds, including:
- Replying to your Audience
- Encouraging Your Audience to Reply to Each Other
- Aiming for Love More Than Likes
To see the other eight tips, you can head over to Hootsuite’s article on 2021 Facebook algorithm changes. With these insights, you’ll be able to make Facebook’s algorithm work for, not against, your organic reach campaign.
3. Make Shareable Video content
Videos may not be as easy to make as basic picture posts, but statistics show that they get more engagement and are shared more often. In fact, the average engagement rate on a video is .26% compared to the average engagement of all posts, which is .18%.
Videos aren’t just good for engagement—they’re also good for product education. Create organic videos to introduce people to your products and show their value. In fact, according to Facebook, 48% of users that took part in a survey claimed they bought a product after watching a video on Facebook.
Luckily, it’s easier than ever to make professional-looking videos to put on Facebook, even for people with no experience in the field.
Video-creation programs like Vyond allow you to easily make animated videos that look professional without any film experience. With this platform, you can tap into a market craving more and more video content.
An example of a video from Vyond.
If you want to learn more about making great video content on Facebook, take a look at our how-to guide on Facebook video ads. It includes step-by-step instructions so that you can get people consuming and interacting with your videos and boost your brand awareness and organic reach.
4. Post Regularly and At Strategic Times
When you post on Facebook can be just as important as what you post. Improve your organic reach results by thinking about when and how often you post.
Let’s start with how often we should post.
You first should consider how much quality content you can make every week. As we’ve already discussed, Facebook’s algorithm prioritizes content that gets reactions and comments. Making this engaging content takes time and energy, so consider your bandwidth and plan accordingly.
To figure out posting frequency, some marketers just want a number. How many times a week should I post? Just tell me!
According to Facebook, the answer is “at least 2-3 times per week.” They argue this regularity is enough to keep your brand firmly in the minds of your readers.
But when, exactly, should you post during the day?
To find an answer, Hootsuite crunched the numbers to see when posts got the most clicks.
The best times to post for B2B brands
The best times to post for B2C brands
As you can see, the best time for B2B companies appears to be between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. For B2C, it’s around noon.
However, the time that is best for you to post will depend on your audience. You can figure out the most successful times to post for your brand by:
- Using Facebook Analytics
- Doing some A/B testing
- Checking when your competitors are posting
Want to learn more about posting at the perfect time to get the maximum organic reach on Facebook? Take a look at our full guide on picking the best times to post on Facebook.
5. Cultivate Loyal Fans
Loyal fans are the people who, day in and day out, love your product and advocate for it across Facebook. These people are critical because they will share, comment, and interact with your posts. This interaction helps Facebook’s algorithm see that this post is something that people find interesting, and so the algorithm is more likely to put it on other people’s news feeds.
Sounds great. How do we get more of them?
The first step is having an awesome product or service. We’ll leave that job to you!
The next step is building a community on Facebook so all of your fans have a single place to congregate and discuss your most recent posts, offerings, and more.
These Facebook Groups become echo chambers that help you build momentum for a post so that it can reach as far across Facebook as possible. In fact, the engagement rate for groups of fewer than 10,000 people is .52%, which is nearly triple the average post’s engagement rate (.18%).
More engagement from people who generally like your brand can only help your overall metrics for each post.
Once you’ve garnered some brand loyalty, your fans can help you by supplying you with ready-made organic content. User-generated content is created by your fans but shared by you.
An example of user-generated content from Toyota.
User-generated content rocks because:
- You don’t have to make it (duh).
- It is more likely to be viewed as authentic by readers.
- It builds trust in your products.
User-generated content is truly a win-win. It boosts your organic reach and helps you harness the loyalty of your fans to help persuade other consumers to give you a try.
6. Don’t Be Afraid to Try Something Different
Don’t just rely on tried-and-true strategies. Experiment with your organic Facebook content to see how your audience reacts to it. You may strike on the right content that will get your fans sharing and engaging even more.
Here are a few content ideas to try to see what works best for you and your organic content.
Facebook Live
According to Fidji Simo, head of the Facebook App, Facebook Live receives six times more interactions than regular Facebook videos. More engagement means more organic reach, so what are you waiting for? Take a look at our guide on how to make awesome Facebook Live videos.
Popular live videos on Facebook
Contests
Facebook contests are another fun way to drum up engagement with your brand. Who doesn’t like free things?
A giveaway contest from Doritos
Facebook Stories
Facebook stories are great for directly reaching out to your audience because they aren’t affected by changes to the news-feed algorithm. Facebook stories last for only 24 hours, so they offer a chance for businesses to make fun, experimental content that keeps their brands top of mind. If you are looking for some inspiration, check out our post on the best Facebook Stories and learn why they are so successful.
A Facebook story from Banana Republic
Content Curation
Content curation involves posting about other people’s content in your field. It is easy to put together, it helps you network with others, and it helps you appear to be an authority in your field.
A piece of curated content from Lululemon
Put your thinking cap on, and try something different for your brand’s organic content. You never know what the next great idea will be.
A Strong Facebook Organic Reach Strategy Is Still Important
Despite its recent decline, organic content remains an important part of building a strong social media presence online. It’s a critical way for brands to build communities, earn trust, and find fans that will help their company succeed.
That being said, Facebook organic reach isn’t easy. It takes a lot of time, experimentation, and know-how to get the word out about your brand without paid ads. Luckily, we do have paid ads, and it’s easier than ever to use them to reach out to customers.
How does organic reach help you on Facebook? We’d love to hear about your successes with Facebook organic content in the comments section below.