If you’re a marketer or publisher, you’ve likely tried to stay ahead of Facebook’s declining organic reach due to its ever-changing algorithm. And, despite your efforts to follow best practices for publishing, you might be seeing some subtle – but noticeable – changes to the organic reach of your Facebook posts.
For years, Facebook has been laying the groundwork for these changes – explaining that there’s an enormous amount of content being published every minute of every day: “on average, there are 1,500 stories that could appear in a person’s News Feed each time they log onto Facebook.” So, it’s inevitable that there will be some competition to be visible in the News Feed.
In 2016, Facebook tweaked its algorithm such that content from family and friends was prioritized to appear in the News Feed over content from Pages. As Business2Community writes, at that time, “Facebook warns Pages could anticipate a dip in organic reach which could be as low as two percent or even lower in some cases. Think about that. Based on that two percent figure, for a brand with 10,000 fans, only 200 people will see its posts. If you had one million fans, only 20,000 would see your company’s posts.”
Digiday shared numerous theories on Facebook’s declining organic reach this year, too. Some believe it’s because Facebook wants publishers to spend more to promote their posts, while others think it may be that people are tired of reading about the election and subsequent coverage.
Though we’re all at the mercy of the Facebook algorithm, here are some tips on how publishers can combat Facebook’s declining organic reach:
1) Use Facebook Live: Last year, Facebook invested more than $50 million in deals with media companies and celebrities to develop content for Facebook Live, so it’s evident that they’re interested in maximizing the success of this feature. Read about best practices for going live here and here.
2) Publish Videos: Facebook reported that 100 million hours of video are watched each day on the platform, and according to Socialbakers, native Facebook videos have a greater organic reach when compared to other forms of content. (“Native” means that they should be uploaded directly to Facebook – not shared from other video platforms.)
3) Employ Social Listening and Respond Accordingly: Knowing what your audience is talking about and joining in on the conversation is crucial to staying relevant. Pay attention to trending topics and chime in!
4) Be Human and Not Overly Promotional: Businesses naturally want to promote their products and services, but to maintain interest and engagement with your community, balance those posts with interesting, interactive and authentic content.
Have you noticed Facebook’s declining organic reach on your page? How are you staying ahead of these changes? Tell us in the comments!
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