Have you ever wondered why you have so many followers on Facebook but only a few are seeing your posts? Well, you are not alone. On average, a Facebook post will organically only reach 6.4% of your page’s total likes, and that’s on a good day. You might be wondering why that is. Put simply, Facebook is driven by a powerful algorithm that prefers page activity and engagement over a long list of followers. This means that your posts have to gather enough engagement to effectively boost how your page performs, also known as your rank, in order to be seen. Bummer, we know!
During the pandemic, were you aware that over half a billion people joined social media, bringing the total number of users to 4.2 billion people worldwide? That’s approximately 54% of the world’s entire population. Even with those staggering numbers, businesses still can’t seem to figure out how to get followers to see their posts without spending big bucks on boosting them. It’s just not fair!
Luckily, there are some things you can do to effectively increase your page’s performance while boosting your organic reach almost overnight! To get you started, we’ve compiled a list of 15 Bulletproof Strategies to Increase Your Facebook Page Reach without emptying your pockets.
- Switch things up
If you mostly use images in your posts, try mixing it up by adding a LIVE video! Live videos are a great way to boost engagement and widen your reach by allowing you to connect with your audience directly. You can also upload a video you’ve already created, or get really wild and make a Facebook 360 video! People are 3x more likely to watch a live video versus a regular video, so you’re sure to see a spike in activity when you add video content to the mix.
- Start a new group
Facebook groups are a great way to grow your audience and engage with your customers in a meaningful way. Customers are very much like friends, the more you nurture them the more likely they are to come back! Better yet, the more likely they are to actually buy from you. By establishing a Facebook group for your followers, you’re creating a space for your customers to talk about the things that matter most to them. And let’s face it, people love to talk. Make a group that’s relevant to your business and watch as your page climbs in rank!
- Recycle your evergreen content
Content that doesn’t lose its relevancy, also known as Evergreen content, is optimized to grow over a long period of time. Unlike regular content, it has no expiry date. This means that it can be reused and recycled to bring continuous traffic to your page long after it’s been published. The best form of content is content that does the work for you. Answering frequently asked questions, providing useful information on things that never go out of style, and sharing product reviews are all evergreen formats that will keep your content, well 🤔… evergreen!
- Engage, Engage, Engage…
Engagement is key to growing your Facebook Business Page reach. You need to be commenting and liking on other pages. Engage more with your followers. Join some Facebook groups for small businesses and network. Join local area groups and mingle with people there. And most importantly don’t be afraid to ask them to like your page. There’s nothing wrong with that. Engagement is vital to your page growth!
- Hashtag it
Hashtags are a fantastic way to elevate your content, especially when it comes to increasing your reach. Using popular or trending hashtags when talking about your business will put you in front of new customers in a natural, non-salesy way! Now, this doesn’t mean that you can just throw on a bunch of hashtags and expect them to work for you. You need to be strategic in the hashtags that you use, making sure they’re relevant to what you’re talking about and don’t use more than one or two for Facebook. Use hashtags that are prominent in your industry, and that your customers are using, and you’ll be reaching new heights in no time.
- Tag people, places, and things
Tagging people, businesses, locations, and relevant groups in your posts can increase your page visibility. When you add a tag, you’re bringing multiple audiences together: yours and theirs. Chances are if the content you’re tagging is relevant, then they will like the post and engage with it. When you see an opportunity to mention someone or something in a post that you’ve created, try tagging them directly. This also applies to locations, such as cities and attractions. This will open your business to a whole new slew of customers. Just make sure you don’t overdo it with the tagging. Tagging too many people is not good and could get you unfollowed.
- Discover your best posting time
By digging around in your Facebook analytics, you can easily see when your fans are online, as well as, peak days and times to post your content. If your peak time happens to be the same as the average peak time to post you will be competing with all the other content out there. A simple trick is to schedule your posts 5-15 minutes before your peak time to get ahead of the game! A great tool I recommend for seeing when your peak posting times are is Sendible.* (👈 Link) You can post, schedule, and track everything right from their online platform and they have AWESOME 😎 analytics.
- Play with your post frequency
According to social data, the optimal posting formula is one post per day with a minimum of three posts per week. Social pages with under 10,000 fans experienced a 50% drop in engagement when they posted more than once per day. That’s huge! But just because that is the average for all businesses, doesn’t mean it is true for your business. If you’re posting 7 days a week, try posting a bit more and a bit less, then see which one gives you a better reach overall!
- Start a contest
Creating a contest is FUN! It does cost a little money upfront but it is definitely worth the engagement and reach you will get from it. People love to get free stuff, and you’d be surprised at how little you have to give away for people to participate. Asking your followers to engage with your content to be considered for a giveaway is a great way to draw interest and up your rank. Just make sure to follow Facebook’s contest rules.
- Change your cover photo
I know simple… right? This is a super simple and effective way to reach your Facebook followers. Changing your profile picture or cover photo shows your audience that you’re active and says “hello!” without saying hello. The more changes you make, the more likely you are to pop up on their news feed. Cover photos can be used to showcase products, promotions or events, and should be changed with every season. Likewise, your profile picture should be switched out for something new every few months, as long as it remains on brand! Just make sure you keep it consistent across all your social media channels. Not a graphics designer? Don’t worry Canva* (👈 Link) offers a great way for people who are not graphic designers to be able to update their social media cover photos. They size it to the correct dimensions and you can export the picture ready for use.
- Post a 360 Video
360 photos or videos are a fun way to grab your audience’s attention. You can create one by taking a panoramic photo on your 360 camera or smartphone. Then when you create your post you upload the photo as you would a regular photo and add your caption. This is a great way to highlight your products, a special event, or the red carpet at your next launch party!
- Promote user-generated content
Simply put, user-generated content is anything that someone else has created or shared on a social platform that didn’t come from you directly, like an image or a product review. The benefit of promoting it on your Facebook page, especially when it’s a post relating to your business, is that it builds trust among your customers. When someone sees a real person using your products or applauding your services, they’re more likely to trust your brand.
- Host a Q&A
Q&A’s are informative and a great way for people to get to know your brand. They’re also a clever way to generate a ton of engagement. And what does engagement mean? Higher ranking! When you host a Q&A, you’re essentially asking your audience to engage with it by providing their opinion. When people are asked a question, they can’t help but give it…it’s human nature. In this case, it works in your favor. Hosting a Q&A can also spark a conversation in the comments, which equals even more engagement. It’s a no-brainer!
- Create a surprise flash sale
We love flash sales, and your audience will too! Flash sales usually come in the form of limited-time offers, meaning the buyer has a limited amount of time to take advantage of the available promotion. This can be a discount on your products or a buy-one-get-one deal – ultimately, it’s completely up to you. Flash sales are great for giving your company a boost in sales over a shorter period of time, or during a sales drought. When you share deals and discounts on your Facebook page, it makes your audience feel like they’re getting in on something exclusive.
- Improve your link posts
When you post something on Facebook it generally has a link associated, also known as a call-to-action. The links are used to take your audience to a site to get more information, like a blog, or to buy a specific product. But did you know that Facebook prioritizes posts based on those links? Whatever you’re linking to, you have to ensure that it’s a fast-loading webpage. Pages with disruptive ads or mediocre content can lower your ranking overall. Make sure whatever links you include are of the highest quality.
Now that we’ve established that increasing your FB Business Page reach is not out of reach, it’s up to you to start incorporating these best practices into your business page. Whether you decide to launch a new Facebook group, or surprise your followers with an exclusive flash sale, rest assured that these top tips and tricks will help you achieve an engaging Facebook page that ranks above the rest. Having a Facebook page that does the work for you is not an easy feat, otherwise, everyone would do it! It takes time, strategy, and patience. But with a little elbow grease, you’ll be able to transform your page into the sales engine that you’ve always dreamed of.
Want to learn more about Social Media Marketing? Several times a year I do a free LIVE 4-day workshop called Social Media Marketing – Made Simple. We dive into all sorts of tips and tricks on how to increase your reach and grow your social media pages. If you want to be informed of our next event that will be coming up soon. Join our private Facebook page, Marketing Happiness Hour. (👈 Link)
*Please Note: I am an affiliate of Sendible and they do give me a commission for sending people to their website. However, I ONLY recommend products I use and LOVE – and this is one of them! I highly recommend trying Canva and Sendible, (👈 Links) both have free trials for you to test them out.