Is your brand highly active on Facebook and/or Instagram?
Are you noticing a dramatic dip in organic reach and organic engagement?
You’re not alone.
When I say you are not alone, the average brand with followers with as little as 5,000 to upwards to the millions, is struggling to reach 1% of their audiences. Just see for yourself.
Crazy, right?
Before you decide to dump money into paid strategies, there are some explanations.
Why has my organic reach decreased?
Algorithm changes.
Facebook and Instagram are constantly changing what content appears to their users. The goal is to keep users on these platforms as much as possible. These algorithms learn what specific content users are interested in and they show said content.
Since these changes, your audience's social media feeds are dominated by the content they interact with the most.
So not only are you competing with your competitors to reach your target audience, you are competing with the pages your target audience is interested in. That means the algorithms are rewarding the most creative brands.
Platform changes.
Another way for Facebook and Instagram to keep users on their platforms is by adding different features.
Reels is simply dominating Instagram feeds. This means the Instagram algorithm could be rewarding the content shared via Reels the most as opposed to a static image.
If you want to get ahead, make sure you are creating content with the latest features on these platforms.
Not optimizing organic content.
Optimizing your content is crucial if you are continuing to grow your audiences.
If you notice a particular type of content you share isn’t performing as well as it used to, then it should be time to take it back to the drawing board and see how you can do it better while having it resonate with your audience.
Sticking to the same strategies and posting habits will cause fatigue in your audiences. Don’t be afraid to try different features or content to keep your audience on their toes.
How can I improve my organic reach?
Despite the changes to the algorithms of these platforms, you can still optimize your organic reach to the numbers you used to generate by following these tips.
Engage with your employers and followers.
When you encourage your employees to interact with your content while responding to comments from other users, you are giving your post a “boost” and the algorithms will continue to reward engaging content.
In addition to responding to your audience, it’s important to use social listening tools to stay current with conversations surrounding your industry and competition. Also, do not be scared to pull inspiration from other brands in different industries – this could be a great way to stand out from your competition.
Respond fast; respond often.
Stay up to date with features and best practices.
Understanding a platform is not always enough; you will want to understand best practices for each feature the platform offers. Additionally, you will need to know when to use these features.
You will also want to optimize each piece of content across all platforms – never opt to follow a “one size fits all” strategy when it comes to distributing content. That video you shared on Instagram may not be appropriate for your LinkedIn audience.
Know your audiences; share what they want to see.
Consistency is key.
Consistency is key when establishing and maintaining an audience on social. The caveat to that is that quality will always trump quantity when it comes to creating content. This will require some testing.
Be sure to use your insights and discover when your audience is the most active and then test the number of posts you share in a week. Then either increase or decrease the quantity the following week then compare engagements over time.
Key takeaways.
The Average brand fails to reach 1% of its audience with each post.
Understand your audience; optimize when necessary.
Listen to your audience, competition, and industry.
Stay current with platforms and their features.
Stay consistent.