How To Deal With Decreasing Organic Reach On Your Facebook Page
It’s no secret that the organic reach of your posts on your Facebook page has decreased – drastically. There’s been a lot of bitching about it all across the interwebs but let’s focus on what to do instead of complaining. After all, we’ve all had a free lunch for a really long time and Facebook is a publicly traded business responsible for making money & creating profit for shareholders.
I want to talk about the place that Facebook should have in your business for a moment. You don’t own Facebook, so it’s essentially rented land and we all know that you’d never build on rented land so building your business on rented land is just as crazy. Facebook is a great outpost for your business, but it shouldn’t be the only way you’re staying in touch with your customers/fans. This is why I am such an advocate for building an email list because you own that and you can contact your subscribers whenever you like. So I want you to keep this one thing in mind – don’t build on rented land.
Facebook tries to show you posts that are most relevant to you, and while their algorithm is complex and secret we do know that they really values engagement. Engagement means that someone is taking an action on your post by liking it, commenting on it, sharing it or clicking on a link that you post. If you can increase your engagement, you’ll increase your reach so let’s get into some actionable steps you can take to increase fan engagement.
1. Create posts that are engineered to drive engagement
Increase likes by asking people to like your post or by posting something likeable.
Increase comments by asking a question or for their opinion on something.
Increase shares by posting shareable images. Inspirational quotes always get shared.
Even if you aren’t a graphic designer (which I am very far from) you can create these images with free tools like Quozio, Canva, Picmonkey & Recite This. They are all super easy and fun to use.
Increase clicks on links by describing what the link leads to or prefacing it with a question.
2. Build your email list
Like I said, you don’t own Facebook but you do own your email list. Email marketing is a big part of creating a system to bring in leads and generates more business but many people don’t know a whole lot about what it is, how it works and what the value of it is. That’s why I created an entire podcast episode dedicated to email marketing and how it can be the most valuable asset in your business.
3. Be a real person because people engage with people
Show people what happens behind the scenes and speak in your actual voice, not a weird corporate tone! People want to know who you are, so share bits of that with them! When people comment on your posts, respond to them. It’s all about being social!
4. Run some Facebook Ads targeting your fans
You don’t have to have a large budget to run Facebook ads and you can get a lot out of them, if you do it the right way. I highly suggest driving people to something free that they get when they join your email list so that you can market to them afterwards. People generally do not make sales directly off of Facebook ads so don’t rush the process and drop them onto your services page. Give them something of value first to demonstrate how awesome you are and the sale comes later. Sales is a lot like dating, so remember that you have to go on some dates before proposing marriage!
5. Check in with your Facebook Insights to see what people like
Once you start to see what people respond to, you can tighten up your strategy and post more of what you know works. Marketing is all about testing & experimenting so don’t be afraid to do that. Not sure how to use Facebook Insights? I created a video showing you how.
Facebook is just 1 tool in your marketing tool belt so don’t get too concerned about your reach but when you see people complaining about it, remember that there are things you can do about it!
Which of these tips will you be trying on your Facebook page?
Thanks for sharing this helpful information. It’s basic and simple with an excellent reminder that building a business on Facebook alone is just ludicrous.
Yeah for that reason, at the end of the day it’s not all that big of a deal. So 1 tool isn’t what it used to be. Oh well!
What a great article with many insights, the podcast was engaging and informative- don’t send those facebook messages out to too many people at once too! Facebook has a limit. The analogy of rented land is a good one- you have to play by the landlord’s rules!
Yup! And people often forget what they own and what they’re just renting.
Heidi, I totally need to get back into Facebook! I’ve definitely slacked off . So, this is a huge help! For me, it’s all about starting slow and not overwhelming myself. And, I believe I hit that point of overwhelm with my Facebook page. I like the types of posts you listed, and I may just start with one type a week and then build from there! Thanks for the inspiration!
Maybe making a plan will help you manage that overwhelm. Outline how many posts you’ll have each day (which you can schedule) and what type they’ll be. Then you just have to fill in the blanks!