You want reach your fans on Facebook? You’re going to need to pay up.
With Facebook being more honest about the decline of the organic reach of Pages, what can marketers and brands do to continue to organically reach their fans without paying for advertising?
Focus on engagement.
Engagement is any interaction your fans have with your page. So, “Post likes, comments, and shares” are the biggest indicators.
And why is it important? Engagement = increased visibility.
Facebook’s goal is to show content to your fans that they will like. The only way they know what content to show your fans is through their interactions with content on Facebook. So for example, every time a fan “likes” a post on your Page, they are essentially putting a “vote” in to Facebook letting them know that they would like to see more of that type of content.
How do you increase engagement?
1. Interact as your Page.
No one ever talks about this tip but it totally works. Take 10-15 minutes every day and interact as your Page with other Pages on Facebook. Like posts, comment, share content… and do this like it’s your job. You will see an increase in engagement on your page and your total reach.
2. Reflect your in-person personality on your Page.
When we connect with people in person we are hyper aware of our appearance, body language, tone and speech; ensuring that we are professional and our message connects with our intended audience.
But are we this meticulous on our brand’s Facebook Pages? If you want people to engage, help them better connect with you, the brand. Irrelevant, spelling errors, typos, misguided attempts at humor, sloppy messaging, inconsistent tone are all engagement killers.
3. Find your content “sweet spot”.
I’m not going to sit here and tell you that “content is queen” and that the key to increasing engagement is through posting quality content, because everyone knows that. But many brands still aren’t doing it! Why?
Because they don’t know what quality content is in relation to their brand.
Figure out what the content is that your fans find valuable. Do this through your Facebook Page Insights dashboard and look at your “organic reach” to see which posts ranked the highest. Take note the type of post it was (text, link, photo). Another option? Ask them! Reach out to your fans and clients and ask how you can better serve them on your Facebook Page.
All in all, when it comes to engagement, creativity is always rewarded on Facebook. Run a clever contest, interview an expert, create your own infographic, post a “how to” collage (people love those!) Do something different and unique while staying true to your brand.
Your fans want to like your content, they really do! According to Pew Internet, it was found in a study on social networking sites that commenting and ‘liking’ another user’s posts makes up the majority of what users engage in while on Facebook on any given day.
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15% of Facebook users update their own status.
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22% comment on another’s post or status.
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20% comment on another user’s photos.
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26% “Like” another user’s content.
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10% send another user a private message
Have you found a type of post that your fans LOVE? Share it below – I am always interested to see what is working for you!
Photo Credit: us.fotolia.com
