In 2015, the top social networks drove 31% of all traffic to websites. Facebook alone was 24.63% of this traffic. As Shareaholic stated, “The shift from search to social isn’t just in progress: it’s already here.” That’s why all businesses need to get really serious about boosting their Facebook reach, organically. But how?
Publish Great Content
Facebook wants to increase the engagement in its News Feed. So, its algorithm ensures that only the most relevant and high-quality (300 or so) stories appear in a user’s feed. Businesses should be consistently publishing content that teaches people something, entertains them, makes them think or, in some other way, adds value to their lives.
Publish Native Videos on Facebook
It’s no secret, Facebook favors video updates, especially “Live” updates and videos uploaded directly to the platform (not today, YouTube). The featured video also appears prominently below your About section (cool, huh?). So, if you want to reach more users, video is a great way to do so!
Ask Friends to Share Your Content
Like other websites, Facebook cares about its users. In a recent survey, Facebook noted that people want to see updates from their friends and from pages they care about while seeing less promotional content.
In their last algorithm change, Facebook reduced the reach that business page’s get per post, unless the user has specifically chosen to see those posts first. So, how can you drive traffic from Facebook when these algorithmic changes are continuously decreasing your reach? Get real people to share your content.
If you have a few close friends or regulars at your business, there’s no harm in asking them to share your posts from your company page. You can send them messages via Facebook Messenger when you have a new post and when they share that post, their friends will see it in their timelines. Don’t want to ask friends? Share your post to your personal profile and ask your spouse/parents/children to do the same.
Create a Facebook Group
Facebook is about building a community, and a tightly-knit group is the closest you can get to it. If you take this path, you’ve got two options:
- Start your own group.
- Join a highly engaged and relevant group that serves your business goals.
However, as a warning, groups require a time commitment. You’ve got to show up to welcome new members and constantly be encouraging discussions.
Invest In Facebook Ads and Boost Posts
Besides posting engaging content on Facebook, BuzzFeed is spending millions of dollars on Facebook Ads. But, at $5 per post, Facebook doesn’t require a heavy investment. Choose your best posts (preferably ones from your blog, which will link back to your website) and boost them. You can even set a monthly budget of $10, $20 or $50.
You can get started with testing one or two of the strategies that I shared in this post. Then, dig into Facebook Insights and analyze your data.
