I am often asked by people how does Facebook work? Why can only some of my likers see my posts and how can I get more likers to see them? Now before we get started, I wrote a blog on Edgerank, the algorithm Facebook uses to determine what appears in users’ newsfeeds. Click here to read this blog.
Hopefully, you now know why your posts may not be reaching your likers but the answer you probably want answered is – how can you get them to your audience. Not surprisingly, Facebook offers you were several options in regards to increasing the reach of your post. Firstly, you need to understand the difference between organic, paid and viral reach.
Organic reach: is defined as the number of people who saw a post in their newsfeed, tickers or on your page.
Paid reach: is the number of people who saw a post as a result of a sponsored product and this includes ads for page post or sponsored stories.
Viral reach: this is the number of people who saw a post as a result of some action from a friend. This means that the story was initially published in a friend’s newsfeed. Your friend then actioned this story, meaning they liked, commented, shared, accepted an offer, responded to an event or answered a question.
I am going to write a series of blogs covering how to improve your reach. In this blog I am going to look at how to improve organic reach. There are several strategies that you can implement on your page that will improve the reach of your posts. These hints are based on evidence and not published facts from Facebook (there aren’t any!) but just like SEO and google, we social marketers use observation to determine what works.
1. Get to know your LIKERs (audience)
Facebook created Insights as a tool to help your business. Get to know the insights on your page and work out what your audience is responding to. Test out different numbers of posts and different times of the day. Are they responding more to images or polls? Understanding your audience means you can play with your content and increase the chances of your posts appearing in your audience’s newsfeed.
2. Short and sweet
Numerous studies show that lengthy Facebook content goes unread and discourages action from the user.
3. Be direct
It is ok to ask your audience to take action – ask them to like you, make a comment or share a post. You may be surprised that people are just waiting to be asked. And remember, by getting your audience to take action, you are increasing not only your organic but also your viral reach.
4. Be topical
Keep up to date with current events and local activities and comment or post on these. Make reference to local holidays. But remember, you need to consider what is consistent with your brand voice so think about the fit of these things before posting.
5. Go for quality
Above all else, create quality content for your audience to engage with. Images and photos are by far and away the most engaging type of content so use these where possible.
6. Just Ask
Asking questions and using polls is a terrific way to get interaction with your audience. Keep the questions simple and consider using words such as “where”, “when”, “would” and “should” as these increase engagement.
7. Respond
It is so critical that you respond to all comments on your page. A simple like is a great start but don’t be afraid to write “Thanks”. You can create a new post and tag the fan thanking them for their comment. This fan will almost always like, if not comment on your post, spreading your visibility.
In summary: What you need to remember above all else is that the Edgerank algorithm rewards brand that create content for people to consume. Ultimately, Facebook wants users on their as much as possible and you can assist them in this goal, they will reward you. I hope you have found these tips useful. In my next blog, I will be covering paid reach and how to get the most from this.
