How To Improve Your Reach On Facebook
“My Facebook reach is going down, and no one’s seeing my posts! I’m posting, but I only have three or four people who see them!”
This is the number one complaint I get from small business owners who are doing their own social media. Maybe they’re used to the way Facebook used to be, which is that if you had 100 followers, all 100 of them saw your post. Things have changed! Someone recently asked me, “Mario, how do I get people to see my posts?” So here are four tips that will help you improve your reach, and have more people see your Facebook business page posts.
1. Post content that your audience cares about.
Don’t just post stuff that you care about. At the end of the day, no one really cares about our awards, our specials, our sales, and buying from us. They really don’t (although those types of post do help build trust). Solve problems. Think about your industry, and what your end-user cares about and post about those types of things. If you’re an A/C repair company, your audience cares about being cool in the summer and warm in the winter. So provide tips on how to do those things. Don’t just say, “Hey—We’re a great A/C repair company, let us come into your home!” Post about things that your audience actually cares about and they’ll want to engage with it. The more you engage with a page’s post, the more Facebook thinks that you want to see those posts and you’ll see more of them. So you want people to engage with your posts!
2. Post more real pictures.
If you’ve been following my videos and my blog for awhile, you’ll know that I say this a lot. I say it a lot because it works! I’ve seen it work time and time again. What I mean by “real” pictures is pictures taken with your camera or your phone, not stock photography. When someone sees a stock photo they immediately think, “Here comes another commercial,” or “Here comes another ad.” You want to blend in with the other photos of friends and family members, etc. on Facebook. You want your own pictures to become a part of that. The more people see your real pictures, the more they’ll want to engage with those. They want to see projects happening. They want to see your team. If they see a stock photo, no emotion arises and they just move on. Again, you want people to engage with your page. The more they do that, the more likely they are to see your page in their news feed.
3. Take advantage of short videos.
Videos will show up in the news feed a lot more than regular posts, or text posts. When I shoot a video I just use a small tripod that I got on amazon.com. Or, have a team member shoot the video for you. They don’t have to be fancy! Another great option is Facebook Live. Facebook Live will shoot you to the very top of the news feed! Just be sure that you understand it’s live, so be sure you control the environment—you never know what can happen in live streaming!
4. Pay for it.
I know some of you aren’t going to want to hear this! But every week I pay to have more people see my blog posts, and I get a lot of return on that investment because my audience cares about the content that I’m putting out there. I go to what’s called Tuesday Morning Live every Tuesday (Allen Fairview Chamber networking event), and I pay to have people hear my commercial. I know that’s weird because my focus is always on networking and relationship building. But business isn’t free! And if you think you’re going to run a business 100% free, then I have horrible news for you. It is a pay to play culture, but it’s a pay to play business environment as well. Whether you’re paying for a networking group, or a conference, or advertising in a magazine, you have to pay for these things. Facebook is no different!
The good news is that even boosting a post for just $5 can get seen by 500-1000 people, once the people who see it first start to like it and share it around. (There are some things you need to know before you start boosting posts, and I’d be happy to talk to you about that.)
So advertise on Facebook, throw some videos up there, post some real pictures (Get your phone camera out!) and make sure you post content that is relevant to your audience, and not just what is relevant to you.
I hope this helps get people engaged with your Facebook page and actually seeing your posts, improving your reach, and improving your business! Want to increase your exposure, but lack the time? Check out how we can manage your social media for you here: