How to Boost Your Facebook Organic Reach: 10 Powerful Ways

Boost Facebook Organic Reach: Facebook’s ever-changing algorithm has made it difficult for influencers and marketers to rank their content organically. However, believe it or not, Facebook’s organic reach isn’t dead yet.

It may be difficult for your content to achieve the top-performing spot on the social media platform but it’s pretty much alive. Dwindling organic Facebook reach is a matter of hot debate ever since the algorithm changed in 2014. 

The platform has become highly saturated with content which is why Facebook analyzes the intent before ranking your page and content. Let’s explore what exactly led to the downfall of Facebook’s organic reach and how you can counter it!

Ways to Boost Your Facebook Organic Reach

Between 2014 – 2018, the organic reach of Facebook content took a nosedive. Why do you ask? It is because Facebook’s latest algorithms place greater priority on posts from groups, family, and friends over business pages.

The purpose is to “encourage more meaningful interactions”. This is why users’ news feed is filled with interactive posts from close connections rather than business content. 

As a result, Facebook became a more competitive space for marketers who are looking to promote their products or services through the platform. There’s a plethora of content that is posted on Facebook.

For this reason, makers decided to change their algorithm to prioritize meaningful content in the news feed section. 

Gaining visibility for your content has become more challenging than ever. However, do not give up just yet as it’s still possible to drive engagement and traffic through organic Facebook marketing strategies. 

Interesting Read: How to Add and Pin Restaurant Menu on Facebook

What Exactly is Meaningful Content?

It is important to understand what meaningful content is before divulging the details of how to increase your Facebook organic reach.

There are literally thousands of factors taken into account by Facebook algorithms for ranking your page. When people talk about Facebook’s organic reach, they talk about ‘meaningful content’. 

It means that if your post has a higher probability of initiating positive interaction among users, it will be ranked higher by Facebook! Your posts don’t appear in chronological order in the Facebook news feed section.

Instead, they are ranked according to how meaningful the content is. It may be a qualitative metric but Facebook algorithms analyze certain metrics to determine exactly that!

Some key Facebook ranking metrics include:

• Content posted by family or friends
• Number of shares, comments, and reactions
• Rate of interaction

Don’t try to sell incessantly while aiming for organic reach on the popular social media platform. 

Take a look at these 10 powerful ways of enhancing your Facebook organic reach in 2020:

Partner with Influencers

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Collaborating with social media influencers is an incredible way of boosting the organic traffic on your Facebook business page. According to a study by MuseFind, more than 90% of users trust brands endorsed by influencers over celebrities and Facebook ads. While it may not be a “conventional” organic reach strategy, it’s still a great way to acquire potential customers. 

It’s true that there’s a price tag attached to this technique. Therefore, in order to reach an equilibrium, you can promote their brand’s websites and social media links on your Facebook page as part of the deal.

You can discover and analyze influencers working in your niche through BuzzSumo and then proceed with inviting them for collaboration through email.  

Here are top reasons why you should partner with social media influencers for improving your Facebook organic reach:

• Acquire new customers
• Achieve a higher conversion rate
• Generate brand awareness
• Establish brand trust
• Improve your content strategy 
• Offer amazing value

Select Optimal Times

Is timing important when it comes to enhancing the organic reach of your Facebook posts? Absolutely! Facebook’s algorithm allows people to see your latest posts which is why timing is another crucial ranking metric for marketers and business owners.

You can use analytics tools such as Facebook Page Insights to understand when your followers are online. 

For instance, you created an amazing piece of content that you decided to post at 4:00 in the morning. Chances are, your followers will not even discover your photo, video, or article when they start scrolling on their Facebook newsfeed after waking up. Because of how Facebook’s algorithm works, your content will be pushed to the bottom. 

When Should You Post?

As per a report by Hootsuite, the best time to post B2B content on Facebook is between 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, Wednesday, and Tuesday.

On the other hand, if your business caters to a B2C audience, then the best time to post your Facebook content is during afternoon on Wednesday, Tuesday, and Monday. Moreover, you don’t want to look spammy by posting excessively on Facebook. 

Facebook’s algorithms don’t prefer active brands unlike other Famous social media platforms such as Instagram. Hence, it’s best to limit your activity to just one post per day on Facebook. According to a 2017 research by Sprout Social, baby boomers are more likely to unfollow a spammy brand compared to Generation X and Millennials. 

Hence, apart from ‘when’, you should be careful about how many times you are posting on Facebook every day. 

Post Consistently

“Consistency is key” – a phrase we have heard numerous times. That is absolutely true for Facebook organic reach as well. Once you have determined the best time to publish your Facebook content every day, stick to it. It is because consistent content is the key to revamp your organic reach on the platform.

By posting consistently, you are not only boosting visibility but also building clear communication lines for your audience. Remember that over-posting will harm your engagement rate on Facebook. While it’s important to remain consistent, you must adhere to the “one post per day” rule that we discussed earlier. 

Prioritize Quality Over Quantity

Facebook keeps altering its algorithms to accentuate quality over quantity. Apart from maintaining a moderate frequency of publishing Facebook content, creating high-quality posts will go a long way for your organic reach. Keep your audience in the loop by addressing new marketing strategies, product updates, and holidays. 

Moreover, you can leverage the scheduling tool by Sprout Social to keep track of all the content that is being published on Facebook. 

Interesting Read: Top 10+ Sprout Social Alternatives for 2020

Leverage Facebook Videos

Videos are attractive visual content formats that help you boost your organic reach. As a business owner, you must capitalize on Facebook videos that offer greater organic reach as compared to photos, links, and statuses. Your videos should address the pain points of your audience and how your products or services can help them. 

What Should Videos Be About?

During the first five seconds, your Facebook videos should convey compelling and valuable information to your followers.

This tactic will drive engagement on your Facebook page like no other. Your focus should be more on buyer personas and community rather than just the brand itself! Don’t forget to add captions on your Facebook animations or videos. 

Native Facebook videos can lead to 10X higher reach as compared to YouTube or Instagram video links. Therefore, for scaling-up your organic reach, you should create videos exclusive to Facebook.

As news feed is increasingly becoming a crowded space, Facebook videos will increase your chances of standing out amongst millions of other businesses. 

However, publishing low-quality videos on Facebook can damage the reputation of your brand. Therefore, collaborate with experienced content creators in the niche to ensure high-quality content delivery on Facebook!

Go Live

Piggybacking on the previous point of leveraging Facebook videos for organic reach, live videos are gaining paramount significance as well. They offer a common touchpoint for your audience where they can connect with your brand in real-time! “Live videos get six times as many interactions as regular video content”, stated Facebook recently. 

Hence, going live on Facebook is an effective technique of boosting organic reach. Since Facebook emphasizes on meaningful interactions, live videos are prioritized by its algorithms in users’ feed. Moreover, you should time your live videos according to when your followers are mostly online. It’s because recorded live videos have a low engagement rate as compared to live streams. 

Spice Things Up!

Publishing videos on the Facebook page is a remarkable way of enticing your audience. However, you should not rely on just one content format to attain the desired organic reach. Try to spice things up by using diverse post formats that keep your page interesting and attractive. Sky’s the limit when it comes to creating different posts types for Facebook!

Some of the examples include:

• Blog posts
• Polls
• GIFs
• Quotes
• Stories
• Images
• Looped videos or images 
• Behind-the-scenes
• Sneak-peak

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You should make sure that the content suits the interest of your followers and compels them to share their insights, views, queries, and experiences!

How to Create High-quality Facebook Posts?

You have an idea of what to create and when to post. Now you must be wondering what does it take to create high-quality Facebook content?

The first trick is to analyze and understand the interests of your audience. Find topics that your followers are constantly looking for and create posts that are both relevant and shareworthy. 

For generating high-quality content, your approach should be targeted and not random. This strategy will certainly improve the quality of your posts.

Moreover, instead of just following what your competitors are already doing, try something different. Only after testing something new can you start observing the changes both in terms of reach and engagement. 

Just remember, successful Facebook posts are both educational and entertaining!

Build A Community

As a business owner, you should use Facebook as a community-building platform rather than just for gaining more followers. Most people don’t bother to click the like button in the first place! Your followers should be part of a larger community that you have built on Facebook. They must have a compelling reason to hit the like button on your Facebook post.

How to Inspire Your Followers?

Transform your Facebook page into a discussion hub through simple Q&As, digital industry gatherings, and weekly chats. It should be a go-to-spot for your audience where they can find viable solutions to their problems.

You should be able to inspire your existing followers to engage more and new ones to join the community by offering them something unique that other businesses aren’t. 

Remember to ask for suggestions from your audience. This way they feel valued and are encouraged to provide their inputs for discussion topics. Moreover, your brand stands a better chance to rank organically on Facebook if you use this strategy.

The greater the interaction, the greater are the chances of your Facebook content appearing in users’ news feed. 

Join Facebook Groups

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Learn to leverage the power of Facebook groups in order to expand the organic reach of your brand. It is where you will find like-minded individuals sharing insights on their common areas of interest. Tapping into Facebook groups will widen your organic reach as you are likely to find your target audience there. 

Hence, you should post more often in relevant Facebook groups. The likelihood of group members clicking-through your content is high. Just like your Facebook page, you can create your own Facebook group as well! Add industry experts, users, potential clients, and professionals who can add value to your group. In addition, it’s a great method for extending your email lists!

Integrate Paid Ads with Organic Reach

Once you have gained enough followers through organic marketing activities on Facebook, you can then opt for paid advertising. For that purpose, you should advertise your existing Facebook content such as eBooks, native videos, and blog posts to amplify visibility. Organic reach strategy is great for upcoming brands that do not have the budget required for running paid ads on Facebook!

However, once you reach that level, you can gradually shift your efforts to paid advertising. Make your advertisements more targeted according to your consumers’ web behavior, interests, and demographics.

It is recommended to create a buyer’s persona before moving forward with Facebook paid ads.  Do not just limit yourself to basics to realize the full potential of Facebook as a “paid ad platform”. 

You should target Facebook ads according to:

• Your email lists
• Existing Facebook audience
• Potential customers similar to your existing ones
• Frequent website visitors
• People who have visited your service/product page
• Customizable metrics as per your business requirements

An integrated strategy will bode well for your brand in the future. Therefore, you should combine your organic reach tactics with paid strategies for the best results!

Engage with Followers

Engagement is not solely determined by the number of likes and comments that your Facebook post received. In fact, engagement means actually interacting with your audience. While it’s not practically possible to respond to each and every one of your Facebook followers, you can certainly reply to at least 4-5 comments and like some of them on a regular basis!

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What comes first? Higher reach or higher engagement? It was a chicken-or-the-egg question for a long time until Facebook updated its algorithms last year. According to those latest updates, higher engagement prompts higher reach rather than the other way round. In other words, Facebook posts that spark conversation in the comments are more likely to show up in people’s news feed. 

Avoid Click-baits At All Costs

It’s quite understandable that expanding your Facebook organic reach is a strenuous endeavor. However, you should never resort to click-bait tactics as there is no easier way of tarnishing your brand’s reputation.

Facebook’s algorithms elevate meaningful interactions and discussions and recognize manipulative techniques followed by businesses to drive engagement.

Resorting to such measures will result in reduced organic reach on Facebook when you are trying to achieve the exact opposite. Because of these tactics, the post can be marked as “spam” or “engagement bait” by Facebook.

It means that a particular post encourages comments, shares, and likes through manipulative techniques. 

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Facebook engagement baits can look something like this:

“Click if you’re a Virgo”

“Like if you’re a Leo”

“Comment YES if you love rock”

“Tag friends who look like Johnny Depp”

“Share with 10 people for a chance to win a convertible!”

The list goes on. Avoid these at all costs! 

In a Nutshell

To summarize the steps, consider your Facebook followers as your community members. Win their trust and expand your reach by partnering with influencers. Schedule live videos to encourage real-time conversation with the audience. 

Furthermore, be consistent but don’t be pushy with your content. Fine-tune your Facebook posts according to whether your brand targets B2B clients or B2C consumers.

One of the best methods of augmenting your Facebook organic reach is to create high-quality and engaging content such as native videos, live videos, and Q&As that gets your audience talking.

Moreover, you can find your target audience in Facebook groups where you can offer value through your posts. Avoid clickbait titles and content, failing which Facebook can downrank your page.  

These efforts are strategically directed towards boosting your reach on Facebook organically. Hence, they would certainly pay off in the long run!