Has your Facebook page organic reach dropped significantly?

Has your Facebook page organic reach dropped significantly?

The Trusted Team pride ourselves on being Saskatchewan’s experts when it comes to social media. As such, we are always watching for shifts, changes and algorithm updates. We then use that information to improve the results of our social media management, marketing  and website design. In this blog Sara our founder shares what is  going on with Facebook and why organic Facebook reach is dropping for business pages. She also explains why it costs more to reach less these days! 

THE DECLINE OF FACEBOOK PAGE ORGANIC REACH 2016

by Sara Wheelwright – Trusted founder April 9th 2016

 

 

A post on Facebook caught my eye recently….

“ Is anyone else experiencing an almost NON existent Facebook reach recently?”

so I halted my home feed scrolling.  I was curious to see what the response was from the businesses fans and friends…

It was clear that business owners are concerned about their business being seriously affected by their post organic reach dropping to tiny % of their fans, and they are clearly frustrated with the Facebook for business experience!  

Well the first thing I have to say is they are not alone and others that saw the post replied echoing their frustrations.  Trusted is a company that does social media management for many businesses across Canada. Be assured, we have also noticed that organic reach has dropped for posts ( both paid and not). In fact, TIME shared in an article last year that outlined just this …. 

A recent study found that companies’ Facebook page organic reach dropped from reaching 12% of their followers in October to just 6% by February! 

In the case of the business that prompted this article,  the page has well over 100,000 fans and some of the recent posts had as little as 7 likes!! That’s 0.0053% engagement ( just in case you were wondering)  Of course this page has a way higher than average number of fans compared to most small business pages in Saskatchewan, wouldn’t we all like that many! So I can understand why they are shocked at this new algorithm shift.  So what should they do?? It seems obvious that the answer for them and others is simple… paid Facebook ads…but is it really that simple?  The answer of course is absolutely NO! 

It’s not ‘just Facebook ads’, it is now mainstream mass advertising and to get best results you should have a good grasp of marketing. You probably don’t produce your own radio ads, do the graphic design for your logos or design and deliver your own flyers,  which is why more and more local businesses are handing the reins over to social media management companies like Trusted Marketing Services! They don’t have the time or the skill set to get the results they crave! 

HERE’S THE FACEBOOK MARKETING SKINNY. 

 

Facebook Ad Prices Increased By 247% in 2014

 Due to higher quality, Facebook reported during its Q3  2014 earnings call that price per Facebook Ad has  increased 247%. Businesses, especially the 40 million  small businesses using the platform, need to have a  much better understanding of who their target audience is  in order to generate a better return on investment from their ads. It’s no longer cost effective to throw together an ad and cast it out using the widest net. You really have to dive into your audience segments and tailor your ads to best meet their interests. at Trusted we consistently get video views and post engagements for under $0.05, we are always looking at the ads to check their results and to see if they need to be refined! Also understand that Facebook advertising, like Google adwords is an auction….so as more and more people enter the auction prices go up and reach ( and results) will continue to decline.  

WHY IS FACEBOOK MAKING YOU WORK SO HARD ?? 

 

Well, the first thing you have to understand, is that Facebook DOESN’T WORK FOR YOU! Yes that’s right, Facebook was created and is updated & improved for the PEOPLE using it, not for the businesses who want to sell / reach those people.  Once you acknowledge this simple fact, you can stop getting mad and start getting BETTER at posting……because if you improve your business page quality (in the eyes of Facebook – who is looking out for your ideal customer) , you will be rewarded with organic reach! 

Here are a 7 Trusted tips for you, so you can start upping your game on social media. 

1. Show Your Personality

Social media is just that — social! And everything you post for your business on Facebook should portray your company’s personality……whats your tone?? 

2. Ask Questions

Asking your fans questions and their input are some of the easiest ways to get people to engage with your posts.

3. Use Images

If you’re trying to get more engagement, images are great to tell stories quickly & powerfully — and thereby get more exposure in the news feed.

 

 As you can see from this graph, posts with at least 1  image gets nearly double the average number of  shares.  

 Plus they just look good! ( just be aware if you have more than 20% text on an image you may not be able to pay to boost it – check your images here  ) 

 

4. Show the people who you are! 

One cool thing about using Facebook as a marketing tool is the way it lets you promote your business without appearing overly promotional. 

Facebook Page organic reach

One way to do this is to post photos and info of employees, customers & the town where your business is based. At Trusted Marketing Services we have noted posts like these get WAY more fan engagement!  See the post on the right from Leipzig Serenity Retreat’s Facebook Page.

We share team bios and pics on a regular basis and they always get great organic reach ( over 2000 were reached and 54 likes for this one alone ! ) 

 

 

5. Stay RELEVANT

Pay attention to what types of content your fans respond to. Facebook’s news feed algorithm ties organic Reach to how much fan engagement your posts get. So the more Likes, shares & comments you get on your posts, the more fans will see your future posts.

That means you gotta get fans clicking!

6. Keep Posts Simple & Concise

Sometimes a simple text-only status update will go LARGE!

BUT NOT if it is a huge long ramble!

Remember, it’s all about knowing your fans & seeing what they like.

7. Buy into all of Facebook Business Page features 

  • Mix your type of posts up
  • Add links to videos
  • Design your page by refining the layout of your main menu and left of page zone’s
  • Do different type of ads
  • Look at your insights and know what they mean.

These are just a few things we do for our social clients!

If you enjoyed this article please share and I recommend checking out  Google algorithyms value of social media..click here to read! 

The Trusted advantage 

Trusted Saskatoon directory and Trusted Regina directory partners along with our Trusted Marketing clients have HUGE advantages. All Trusted directory partners are offered one on one and group training sessions as part of their Trusted partnership, we are there to guide them through the online marketing minefield. Our social media management team implement any and all changes for our social media management clients and we do whatever needs to be done to ensure all of our clients get every advantage online!  

Contact us today if you want the Trusted advantage

Article written by Sara Wheelwright 

Owner of Trusted Marketing Services

Connect with her on Twitter: @Trustedcanada.com  &  Linkedin

 

 

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