In the past 12 months, Facebook has been making updates to its ranking algorithms – and some say, for the worse. Thanks to the Agorapulse’s Facebook Page Barometer, we have access to metrics of more than 7,000 pages of all sizes, spanning all industries and regions. These changes and updates to the algorithms have had a negative effect on many industries.
We work with our clients to check their Organic Reach Per Post against the averages and gaining them more visibility and engagement for their posts. Below, we’ll dish on some of the tips that we typically reserve for private clients:
Post about current events: Facebook’s algorithms work in such a way that you will achieve a higher organic reach when you are posting about current events – especially national news. How can you tie this to your business’s content? People will already be searching for current event-related content, so you’ll have an easier time catching their attention. (For this strategy, it’s critical to be timely and relevant, so it works best for those who have someone managing their social media.)
Post early, post again, and post often: The benefits of posting on a regular scheduled basis are well-proven. You must get committed to posting enough so that more opportunities for organic reach pop up. If you don’t want to be tied to your Facebook page to manually post 3-5x a day, curate and schedule content on a platform like Hootsuite or Buffer.
Your job here is not done: Once you post a piece of content, it is critical that you also work on its promotion. Without paying to boost a post, you can very simply embed the post on your blog, website or other social media pages.
Write the good stuff: Be compelling in your content—keep it short, sweet and make sure that it keeps people coming back. To drive the most engagement from your Facebook posts, we find that these topics generate the most activity: invoking nostalgia, asking to tag someone you know, asking thought-provoking questions, and extending a challenge to your audience.
Utilize analytics: When we approach a new social media account for a client, our virtual assistants see analytics as the primer. You can even use Facebook’s free analytics tool to determine the peaks and valleys of your audience. Create a comprehensive strategy based on that foundation.
While analyzing your Facebook reach and audience engagement can seem complicated, the tips above can help you form your basic game plan. Consistency and relevance is key (which is why so many of our clients use us to ensure their social media is covered!), but it is also important to think about creating compelling content and making use of whatever analytics system you can to determine if your strategy is working.