Learn the best practices to maximize your organic reach - aka, reach as many of your followers as possible in your social media posts on Facebook.

Over the last 3 years, Facebook's algorithm has changed where it is now more challenging for businesses to reach the majority of their followers.

Most Facebook posts only reach between 2-5% of followers organically.

Rather than posting, "just to post"; post content that is:

RELEVANT

RELATABLE

VALUABLE.

Each of your posts should have purpose.

Are you bringing to your audience's attention that you are now providing a new service? Are you launching a new product? Do you have an offer?

To determine your purpose, you need an understanding of your audience, as well as, your social media goals.

In the social media marketing world, this is the ratio that has proven to be best for balancing promotional material with other relevant and interesting content.

Value can come in a variety of forms: inspiration, humor, education, etc. For instance, people love stories!

Think to yourself: How are you making your audience want to interact and return to your social media profile?

Not only do you want to provide value to your customers, but you also want to engage with the larger social media community! Share content from other social media accounts, build relationships with influencers and tag them in content you've shared, or collaborate with other small businesses to provide a special offer, package, or even create a contest together!

Finally, spend 10% or less of your time on social media promoting your actual product or services. You don't want to come across as "spammy", and further, Facebook will reduce your reach on posts that seem promotional in nature.

GREAT TIP: Avoid words like: "Buy Now", "Shop Now", "On Sale Now", etc. Instead, use

promotional language in the graphic or image on Facebook rather than in the actual caption.

Whatever you plan to create for yourself, stay consistent. Be sure to post each and every week. If you stop posting, this hurts your organic reach for the future.

Rather than deciding to post multiple times a day, set a goal for 2-3 days per week. Something that is doable and that you can keep up with! You don't want to set a goal that is impossible to keep up with and then hurt your chances of your audience seeing your post in the future.

Finally, VIDEO. Video is THE BEST way to reach your audience. If you're not using video right now, this is one of the most important tips you can walk away with.

When ranking best reach based on the content you post, here is what Facebook has told us with regards to their algorithm:

1. Video

Use subtitles as much as possible. 85% of people will keep videos muted! 

Outbound links are one of the worst posts to have on your Facebook Page. Facebook wants to keep their users on Facebook!

Videos, on the other hand, have the best organic reach out of all types of content posted on Facebook.

Videos do not have to be created by a professional videographer. There are many apps you can use and programs to create high quality videos without needing to hire someone professionally to do it!

Further, many videos that aren't professionally created, can do well on their own! You don't need fancy editing programs!

I will be devoting a future blog JUST on how to incorporate more video on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, so stay tuned!

Happy Posting!