There are still ways to maximize your reach on Facebook organically and make your posts more visible. Here are some suggestions about how to maximize your Facebook exposure — without paying for it.
Create Engaging Content
Create good, quality content that people actually want to see and increase engagement with your fans. Re-share old content that is highly beneficial to reach different audiences within a short span of time. Make sure the content is relevant to your audience.
Share Up-to-Date News and Trends
Facebook ‘likes’ are the most popular forms of user engagement. Comments and shares are also an important aspect of social engagement. It has been observed that comments and shares of post engagement increase by 16 percent year over year and 40 percent quarter over quarter. However, this is only possible when viewers see the latest news or content based on current trends. So experiment with new styles of content for your audience.
Dig Deep Into Data
It is possible that status updates might work best for one business while videos and links may be the most effective for another. Dig into Google Analytics to see your Facebook website conversion for insights into what works best for you and determine the best time to post your content on Facebook. The Facebook Insights tab is the best place to see when your fans are online under the section “when your fans are online?” This gives you a clear picture of how many of your fans are online each hour or during specific days of the week. Ideally, when you have the most fans online, that’s the best time to post your content.
Increase the Frequency of Posting
Once you review your Facebook Insights, you will most likely notice that there’s really never a time when none of your fans are using Facebook. People tend to remain on Facebook for an average of 30-60 minutes. So if you post content only once a day, you can only reach fans who were on within that time frame. To reach more people, post content multiple times a day. Focus on the quality of your content and the preferences of your audience.
Understand the Facebook Algorithm
It’s necessary to understand the Facebook algorithm to understand what drives users, so you can determine how well you can affect engagement. EdgeRank does a constant calculation between users. To know what goes into the calculation you need to know the basics.
- The freshness of interaction: the more recently a customer has interacted with your page, the more likely your page will show up in their feed. More frequent posting with varying subjects gives users more chances to engage with your post.
- Type of interaction: there are different actions a user takes to affect EdgeRank. They can like your post, share your post, comment, click links and follow your page. Different kinds of content attract different forms of engagement.
Utilize Facebook Insights
With Facebook Insights, you are better equipped to see who your posts are reaching. Look at age, gender and location to make sure you are reaching the people you want to reach. Facebook Insights can reveal which content is working for the audience you are trying to target.
Story Bumping
Through story bumping, Facebook ensures that your audience sees content that is highly relevant, even if it’s a little bit older. For instance, when your friends like or comment on an old photo, it tends to rise to the top of your News Feed. With story bumping engaging content will be pushed to the top of a user’s News Feed. The more people engage with your content, the more people will see that engagement in their News Feed.
There is a feature related to story bumping called Last Actor. Facebook favors any page or person you interacted with you during your last 50 interactions.
Create a Fan Base
Creating good quality content frequently and consistently helps you create a fan base. The best way to hit the right target is to use Custom Audiences to target people who are not your current fans. Use Lookalike Audiences and Graph Search to find people who are similar to your fans and like specific pages and interests relevant to your niche.
Use the tactics above to maximize your Facebook reach and organically create your fan base.