One of the big issues for businesses using Facebook is reach. Reach is essentially the number of people seeing your Facebook post. When Facebook pages first came in to existence, your Facebook page posts would appear on the timelines of all those who liked your page. That is no longer the case. If Facebook displayed all posts of pages that an individual liked, and all posts of their friends, it would be too much content. And users would be more likely to leave Facebook.
So, how can we improve our Facebook reach and ensure that more people see our posts?
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Increase Engagement
One factor, amongst others, that Facebook uses to decide whether to display posts to a user, is how engaged they have been with your previous posts. It is also more likely to show that post to others who like the page, if there are high levels of engagement on the post. The thinking is, if lots of people are showing interest, then more people will be interested. It also means that the friends of those who engage with the post have a chance of seeing the post too. Engagement is definitely vitally important. If you’re seeing your reach decline on your Facebook posts, take a look at how much engagement there has been with your posts (engagement being clicks, likes, comments and shares). You then need to ensure your share posts that are likely to encourage engagement.
2. Ask Questions
And one such way of encouraging engagement is by asking questions. Users are more likely to comment if there is a question to reply to. A statement doesn’t open up conversation. A question does. Ask people to share something about their life. Or ask them to fill in a blank.
3. Post Videos
You might have noticed more and more videos appearing in your Facebook timeline. This is because Facebook is more likely to show your post if it is in video format. Upload a video to your page, and you will see the reach numbers for that post are much higher than for your other posts. This doesn’t have to be a slick production. It could be a quick tips video that you record on your smartphone. Also consider that a lot of people will watch your video without audio, so add subtitles to it. Facebook will allow you to either upload a .SRT file with your captions, or you can use Facebook’s inbuilt captioning tool.
4. Go Live
Live video also sees a much larger reach. Facebook will notify your audience that you are live. Users can watch your broadcast while you are live. And the recording of your live broadcast will also appear in timelines. It’s a great way to show authenticity to your audience. It’s much easier than creating and editing a video. And, you’ll get in front of more people too!
5. Pay
And finally, you could just pay to be seen by more people! For as little as £1 per day, you can pay for a wider audience to see your page posts. This could be people who like your page already, people who like your page and their friends, or people you choose through targeting options. The more you pay, the more people who will see your post. It’s a great way to boost engagement again, if you find both your engagement and reach are low. Try promoting a simple competition that requires people to comment in order to be entered in to a prize draw (but don’t ask for shares, as that is against Facebook rules!).
Reach doesn’t have to be your nemesis. You just have to work hard to achieve it. Give these a go and let me know if your Facebook reach increases!
