First, let’s define ‘organic reach.’ Coming directly from Facebook itself, organic reach is defined as, “The number of unique people who saw your post in News Feed or on your Page, including people who saw it from a story shared by a friend when they liked, commented on or shared your post, answered a question or responded to an event.”
A company or organization’s organic reach for their average post currently sits around 6.5% (as of April 2014) of their total followers. For example, say your organization has 5,000 followers. On your average post, only 325 of them will see that post. Maybe you think that number isn’t that terrible, well it’s expected to go down even further, most likely down to 1% – at that point, you’ll only be reaching 50 out of your 5,000 followers. At what point do you decide if creating the content and spending time on social media is even worth it anymore?
There are ways to overcome this dwindling reach.
1. Play by their rules. Facebook is now a publicly traded entity; they want to make their shareholders happy. This means you’re going to have to pay for Facebook ads to boost your posts if you want a respectable number of people to see that post.
2. Ensure your content is something people want. Even if you shell out money for your post to be boosted, it is not going to create the engagement you want unless it is content that is both striking and worthwhile to your social media followers.
3. Engage your supporters to tell your story. Many organizations are moving toward a customized mobile app for engaging supporters, those they are there to help, donors, advocates and volunteers. With your own mobile app, you can push through your content and ensure that you are actually reaching your followers; making it easier for you and for them. When it’s easier for them, they’re more likely to share it with their own followers increasing your engagement and reach in one fell swoop.
For more on this hot topic, read these great blogs:
For Brands, Facebook is Now a Content Publisher – Not a Community
Four Ways to Fix Your Facebook Problem
Hopefully you’ve already read one of our most popular blog posts on ‘The Emergence of Earned Media in 2014,’ – if not, check it out!