Organic Reach: How to Fight the Decline

It might not be as easy as it once was, but organic isn’t dead!

Organic reach used to be the cornerstone of social media platforms like Facebook, so what’s changed and how can you fight back?

Did you know, on Facebook, roughly only one in every 19 fans sees a page’s organic content?

While social media is turning into a pay-to-play situation, organic social is still the foundation for your digital marketing strategy and works in synergy with paid advertising. When done thoughtfully and intentionally, organic social reach can increase awareness of your business online, build communities and earn trust from potential customers.

Read on how to improve your organic social reach 👇

1. Understand who you’re talking to

The key to high organic social reach is to understand each platform and its different audiences fully. Use in-app analytics or third party websites to find critical demographics for each channel, including age, gender and location. It is common for the same business to have different audiences on different platforms; for example, your Facebook audience may skew 45-54 year old male and females to a 25-34-year-old female audience on Instagram.

2. Utilise each platform’s strengths

The content you are posting must be fluent in the language of each platform, it’s why you’re never going to post a TikTok video on LinkedIn or ask your followers on Instagram to “pin” a post. Get familiar and utilise all of the features and highlights each platform offers that has made them popular in the first place. For example, on Snapchat, play with filters and effects, go live on Facebook, experiment with long-form blogs on LinkedIn, regularly post Reels and use tags, geotags, hashtags on Instagram. By using each platform to its full potential, you are boosting the reach of organic content.

3. Be quick to respond

Across all platforms, comments are a top-ranking signal that the algorithm takes into account. Schedule content to when you can actively view and respond to the early commenters. It will increase the chance of more people commenting as people are more likely to engage if they know too, they will receive a response. It also positions your business as genuinely caring about your followers by taking the time to engage with them.

4. Focus on quality and consistency

hen creating and scheduling content, ask yourself whether the content is adding value to your audience. Are you posting for posting’s sake, or will your audience want or need this piece of content? Many people assume you have to post on social once a day (it depends on your business). Work out a consistent posting schedule, so your audience doesn’t forget about you and remember consistency in your messaging, tone of voice, and your account’s look and feel.

5. Balance your content

You can’t always talk about yourself on social media. The traditional rule that applies here is the 80/20 balance, where 80% of your content should be valuable and helpful, while 20% can promote your brand and products. This method will build trust in the existing follower base and attract new followers.

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