Reach is all about the number of unique users seeing your posts. Tracking this is important because it measures our ability to show content to new users that we haven’t connected with yet. For a business, this is important because new users could equal potential customers!

The average organic reach rate on Facebook is 5.2% (Source: Organic Reach is in Decline—Here's What You Can Do About It (hootsuite.com))

The average organic reach rate on Instagram is 5.8% (Source: https://www.socialstatus.io/insights/social-media-benchmarks/instagram-organic-reach-rate-benchmark/)

What this means is, if the average Facebook Page had 100 followers, an average of only about 5 of those followers would be seeing each post. Well, that's just terrible! But, I'm happy to report, we recently did some statistical analysis and it turns out, for STGP clients in 2021, if a Facebook Page had 100 followers, the average was almost 30 people seeing every post! And we had similar success on Instagram.

Let's take a closer look at those stats:

Global Average on Facebook: 5.2%

The STGP team average for Facebook: 29.9% This is more than 5 times the average!

Global Average on Instagram: 5.8% The STGP team average for Instagram: 25.3%

This is more than 4 times the average!

How do we do it? We'll share some secrets below...

1. Work with the Algorithm: Post Type

Although the Facebook algorithm is always changing, there are some basics that stay fairly consistent. There are certain types of posts that the algorithm prefers over others. In other words, your posts will reach more people if you create certain types of posts. In order, the Facebook algorithm prefers:

1. Video a) Facebook Live Video b) Natively uploaded video from your device

2. Image with a caption

a) Images created by you

b) Royalty-free stock photography

3. Words only

4. A share of another Facebook post

5. Any type of post that includes a web link to another website

So, focus on the top two: videos and images, and leave the links out.

Instagram is a bit of a different beast. The Instagram algorithm doesn't have a preference in the newsfeed for photo or video conent, so when you're posting to the Instagram feed, feel free to use either. However, if you're really wanting to reach new people on Instagram, check out Instagram Reels!

2. Authentic, Fresh, and Engaging

Your video/image should be authentic, fresh, and engaging. Let's break that down a little.

Authentic means that it should be an accurate representation of you and/or your business. Bonus points if you can share a little piece of you as well - because people have a longing to connect with others, so give them a way to connect with you!

Fresh means that it shouldn't be a boring image that you find from your phone from 8 years ago. The image should be new-ish. If the image has made its rounds around the internet already, it won't garnish much attention because both people and the algorithms prefer new content.

Engaging means that it should draw you in, and hopefully, cause you to stop scrolling and pay closer attention! Images that make you feel something when you look at them... those are gold! Again, we are people, and we crave connection. We are emotional beings, so put some emotion into your images/videos.

3. Verbiage

Please, please, please, stop filling your images up with words. We are trained, as consumers, to see images filled with words as ADS... and we don't like ads, as a general rule.

Make sure your text is well-written and properly edited. If you're wanting to showcase your business as a professional organization, this is not the place for spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors.

4. Share, Don't Sell

Successful marketing doesn't look the same as it did 20 or even 10 or 5 years ago! We all grew up watching commercials on cable TV, but now we skip through the YouTube ads or use the PVR to fast forward through the commercials. And we certainly don't start scrolling Facebook or Instagram in the hopes of seeing a really great commercial.

Generally, people spend time on social media because they want to escape reality, be entertained, and connect with friends, family, and their communities.

So... be a story-teller! Connect with your audience! Share a piece of yourself! Create posts that people like, love, and comment on! Ask a question that they can respond to.

If you are consistently and constantly creating posts that say "on sale now", "call us today", "today's special" and so on, your audience will tune you out.

The infographic below gives several examples of ways in which you can engage with your audience and find a balance. Generally, we recommend a balance of 3 "non-salesy" posts to every 1 "salesy" post... we call it our 3:1 rule!

If you'd like a copy of the infographic to print and hang in your workspace, no problem. Grab it here, along with some post ideas under each category: 30 Social Media Post Ideas (social-media.academy)

5. Help your posts out!

There are a few things that you can do after your post is published that will help it to reach an even larger audience...

1. Share, share, share!

You shouldn't be creating a "salesy" post for each of your posts, but when you do create a post that has the purpose of selling something, be sure to share it around! On Facebook, share it into groups that allow business posts, and consider sharing it onto your personal timeline. On Instagram, share posts into your Story.

2. Respond to Comments

Always, always, respond to comments on your posts. If you ignore comments, you are showcasing your poor customer service and you are missing out on an opportunity to show the algorithm how awesome your posts are!

3. If a post is performing well, consider adding an ad budget

I know this is getting off topic for the purposes of this blog, but it's important to note that posts that perform well organically will also perform well if you add an ad budget (put a bit of money towards the post so that more people will see it).

Our team creates fantastic Facebook posts for awesome businesses. If you are ready to trust someone else to create your posts for you, our team is up to the task!

Click here to get started and we will talk soon!