When it comes to social media, there are a few words we hear all the time. Two of these are Reach and Engagement.  Reach refers to the number of people who see your content, and engagement refers to the action(s) those unique viewers take on your posts.

An easy way to explain it is like this: You create a post, it reaches ten people; if two of those people engage with it (drop a like, comment, or share), then Facebook will deem your post relevant and show that post to more people.

Of course, this means that you have less control over your engagement than you do your reach, but if you don’t know how to reach your followers, then you certainly won’t know how to increase that reach and thus your engagement.

Reach is one of the significant ways that marketers can measure a brand’s awareness. You may have noticed you haven’t changed how you’re posting on Facebook, yet your organic post reach isn’t what it used to be. You may have 100’s or 1000’s of likes and/or followers on your page, but you get the feeling that the people on the page don’t actually see the content your posting. Here we look at 10 ways to increase your Facebook reach.

 

High-Quality, Varied Content

 

Although Facebook is not an image-led platform like Instagram, your content’s quality is still crucial. The fact is, if your content is engaging, then people will engage. If people engage, then this will automatically boost your reach. Make sure your content varies. Use videos, photos, some viral content, and some self-promotional content. Keep your images clear, and make sure to check your captions for spelling errors. Know the difference between their and there!

 

Inject Personality

 

While promoting your business is, of course, important, you want to make sure to inject personality into your socials. Showcase your staff, highlight your customers, show those behind-the-scenes moments. Explain your product or service and join in the trends. You can find out what your audience is really talking about, stay up to date and get involved using a social listening tool.

 

Don’t Forget Those Hashtags

 

Certainly, a few years ago, hashtags weren’t seen very frequently on Facebook. If you have had your account for a few years, it may be something you forget to include. Try to remember to incorporate them in every post. Try and use a specific one for your brand, whether that is your business name or tagline, and then choose one or two relevant or trending hashtags to add to every post. It is important to remember when posting that while 20-30 hashtags are considered standard on Instagram, you cannot use that many on Facebook without a post looking like spam. This is especially important if you do use automatic scheduling software. Make sure you don’t just create one post and push it out to all the platforms without considering the number of hashtags on each post.

 

Remember a Call to Action

 

Calls to Action or (CTAs) are a fantastic way to engage with your audience. They also offer an organic way to boost your organic reach with CTAs, such as “share this with your friends.” Remember that more is not always more, be careful about your CTA usage and make sure they are meaningful.

 

AVOID Clickbait!

 

What is clickbait? Clickbait is content that is specifically created to draw the attention of followers, encouraging them to click links that, in the end, provide no real benefit to the follower. It can be tempting to post clickbait content, it’s quick and engaging, and it will get visitors to engage. However, this type of engagement is counterproductive; while you may get an initial rush of clicks on your content, followers will very quickly associate your brand with clickbait, and your reach will immediately and irreparably drop.

 

Talk to your Followers; Ask Questions.

 

One of the best ways to increase your engagement and, therefore, your reach is simply asking questions. It can be a simple chose A,B,C or D type question, or something that requires a written answer. People automatically want to answer questions, so wherever you can, add one.

 

 Be Valuable, ALWAYS

 

Everything you post on Facebook should have value to your followers. Whether it makes a follower laugh, teaches them something, or offers them a deal of some type. Every single piece of content must bring value. A follower must feel as though your content gives them something. This value will automatically increase engagement. If it’s funny, they’ll drop a lol or tag a friend. If it’s informative and intelligent, they will share that with their peers. If it offers them something to take away, they are likely to investigate further, quite possibly by heading over to your website.

Connect With Your Peers and Fellow Facebook Users.

 

Taking the time to engage with the content on relevant pages is really important. Like their posts or add a comment. One of the key benefits of this is visibility, if you like or comment on posts, your name appears on the timeline or newsfeed of their followers. This means that they will be exposed to your page when they may not have before. If you stop at a local café, tag them – they will likely engage with or even share your post, therefore, spreading your name and increasing your organic reach.

 

Monitor Your Results

 

Blindly posting without actually paying attention to engagement is a common error. While it’s important to follow the other tips we’ve included here, it’s essential to monitor the outcome. This will help you to understand the types of content your followers actually want to see and also what times and days they engage with your content the most. By knowing this information, you can use it to truly hone your content and invest the time and energy in the right place and on the right type of content.

 

We know that it can feel very challenging creating and posting content, hoping that your followers will drop a like or a share on a post. We hope that this guide can at least take most of the guesswork out of the type of content you should be posting and the best way to ensure that content gets to the people you want it to.