Declining Organic Reach on Facebook? Outsmart the Algorithm

As a Facebook Page admin, we’ve all been seeing a noticeable drop in the number of fans viewing and engaging with our organic posts for a number of years.

At first, we might have thought the problem was the way we were posting, the types of posts we were using or maybe even what content we were posting. While that may be true in some cases, it’s actually largely due to changes in Facebook’s algorithm.

How Facebook’s News Feed Algorithm Works

When Fan Pages arrived in 2007, we could create a Page for a business, attract fans and post unlimited messages with the assumption that fans would see them. In 2012, we learnt that on average, only 16% of our fans were seeing our posts. Between February 2012 and March 2014, another study found that organic reach for the average Facebook Page had dropped further from 16% to 6.5%. Other studies estimated reach to be as low as 2 percent for some Pages.

In 2014, after repeated attempts to get a response, Facebook’s VP of Advertising Technology, Brian Boland finally gave us our answer, saying that there were two main reasons for the decline in organic reach.

The first reason is that there was simply more competition. As a result of more content being shared from family, friends, as well as businesses, it was becoming harder for any story to gain exposure in the news feed. In addition, people also liked more Pages, so with each new Page like, competition in the news feed increases even further.

The second reason involved how the news feed works. In an effort to show high-quality content and reduce spam, Facebook changed the way it decided what content would appear in people’s news feed. Facebook’s algorithm was being developed to deliver a better user experience and show only content valuable to that person.

In 2016, another algorithm change was announced to further prioritise content from friends and family. As a result, the organic reach from Pages on Facebook becomes smaller and smaller again.

How to Combat Declining Organic Reach

1. Be more selective about what you post.

Content needs to be of interest to your ideal customer. Too often Facebook Pages only post content about their products or topics directly related to industry – or even worse, their content is only about their company. A hard truth is that people don’t want to hear about you all the time.

Know your target audience. Discover what they’re interested in and start sharing it. Often companies say that they have a “boring” product or service, so there’s nothing that would be of interest to post. By expanding the definition of your business, you can uncover shareworthy topics and areas of interest. For instance, a dentist could talk about healthy eating. A local print shop could talk about all the new businesses opening around them, or local events that they’re printing for. Even “hated” professions, like divorce lawyers, can overcome their negative stereotype by posting articles like “how to help your kids through a divorce.”

When you post content that is of interest to your target audience and they engage with it by clicking, liking, commenting or sharing, then this signals to the algorithm that it is relevant. Little to no engagement means it will mostly get ignored and drop even further down the news feed.

2. Encourage advocates and fans to engage.

Some Pages will ask for the “like” or “share” in their posts. The occasional, gentle reminder is nice, but this approach can get tired quickly. Instead, the best advice is to again focus on your audience.

Encourage visitors to your website to share your content by providing social sharing tools on your blog and taking every opportunity to let them know all the social sites you’re active on. If you want to take it a step further, you can also educate fans about Facebook features, like see first, but realise that only super fans and advocates may take this additional step.

Overall, the best approach is to give them quality content. For that rare time when your Page’s post does manage to make it into people’s news feeds, make sure it is quality content that they want to engage with.

3. Re-allocate your time and effort toward your owned assets.

Unless you’re Mark Zuckerberg, you don’t have any say in what Facebook does next. Social media platforms are constantly changing. They’re adding new features, removing others and making decisions on how they operate. The only space that you can control are places like your website. Be sure, that your marketing strategy priorities these places and gives them a starring role.

4. Treat Facebook like a paid ad platform.

The “build it and they will come” philosophy, no longer applies. Social media isn’t new or novel. And, rarely will people actively search for you. In addition, the continuous decline in organic reach demonstrates that platforms like Facebook are now pay-to-play.

5. If you do advertise, go beyond the basics.

The good news is that unlike traditional media that only allowed you limited targeting options, social media has a plethora of options. There’s no excuse not to take advantage of the different ways to find your ideal customer and target them exclusively.

Using all these ways to combat your declining reach on Facebook, means that you can become better at marketing to potential, current and previous customers. Social media campaigns can be extremely effective and can still provide tremendous bang for your buck. All it takes is a shift in your focus, approach and strategy to get your company’s growth back on track.