Facebook: 11 tips to increase your organic reach

Is the post from a person, business, news source or public figure that the user often engages with? (i.e., messages, tags, engages with, follows, etc.)

What type of media is in the post, and which type of media does the user interact with most? (i.e., video, photo, link, etc.)

How are people who have already seen the post reacting to it? (Especially your friends). Are they sharing it, commenting on it, ignoring it, smashing that angry face?

How new is the post? Newer posts are placed higher.

Now that you know how the algorithm works, here are several tips to make it work for you.

11 tips to increase your organic reach

Since Facebook Stories aren’t part of the newsfeed, they aren’t governed by the algorithm. They are shown above the newsfeed and, according to a Facebook IQ-commissioned survey by Ipsos, 62% of users said they have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in stories.

While your company’s content will never be able to compete with anyone’s new puppy, it’s still very important to prioritize building connections with each person in your audience. If a person takes the time to comment or react to one of your posts, don’t waste the opportunity! Make them feel heard or make them smile by replying to their comment.

This tip comes from Facebook itself. If a post has triggered lots of conversation among a user’s friends, the algorithm applies “action-bumping logic” to show that post to the user again. That means that the most conversation-starters posts will get more reach, in the form of second chances.

For the last few years the algorithm has weighed reaction buttons more heavily than a simple Like. So target emotional reactions in your posts: love, caring, laughter, sadness, anger.

You’ve heard this one a thousand times, but we have to stress it again. The newest posts go to the top of the news feed. It is therefore essential to schedule your posts to go up at the best time for your Facebook audience.

Did you know that every Facebook user has thirty slots for their favorite Pages and people? Those thirty lucky get an automatic free pass from the algorithm.
This is part of Facebook’s push to let people have more control over what they see. Let your followers know that they can prioritize your content in their own timelines, if they want to. In order to do this, they must go to your page, click on subscription settings and select Favorites.

The benefit of running a business Facebook group is that it opens up another channel to connect with your customers, fans and community. The Facebook algorithm prioritizes posts from groups that users care about, so a post that gets amplified in a popular group by enthusiasts and fans is more likely to gain more reach.

Because Live video receives 6x more engagement than regular video, the algorithm really likes it. For businesses, this takes a bit of know-how but it’s an effective tactic to reach your audience.

Watch time and completion rate are both crucial ranking signals for video because they indicate that the viewer enjoyed the video enough to watch the whole thing. In short, the longer you keep people interested, the higher your video post will be scored by the algorithm, and the higher up in the Facebook newsfeed it will appear.

Your employees have more credibility and authority with the Facebook algorithm than your brand page does. This is because they have more credibility and authority with their own followers and friends. If your employees share or comment your posts, they will have more reach.