In the first quarter of 2018 Facebook reported over 2.19 billion users worldwide.

If you’re still figuring out whether Facebook has a place in your digital marketing, that’s a whole lot of potential customers you’re not getting in front of.

Our recent blog, How Facebook’s Native Advertising Has Changed, highlighted a new campaign optimisation option which Facebook have implemented called ‘landing page views’ which introduces new targeting capabilities. The new feature will help bring higher quality traffic to websites by optimising ad delivery to people most likely to visit a landing page.

So, in terms of increasing organic reach on Facebook, my 17 favourite tips are:

  1. Posts that include ‘steps’ typically do best. Like “7 Steps to profitable Facebook ad campaigns.”
  2. Don’t include a link to a website that competes with Facebook, like Google, YouTube, or Twitter. Facebook will charge you more for your ads if you do.
  3. Don’t include a link in the actual ad or post itself. If it takes you off Facebook, the reach will be lower. If you want to post a link, put it in the comments.
  4. The more story-driven your post is, the more attention you’ll grab.
  5. People love suspense. The more white space and dots “…” in a Facebook Post or Ad the better it will do.
  6. A photo or video usually increases engagement. The video or photo doesn’t have to connect directly with the ad, but the more it does connect the better.
  7. But…video can actually decrease your reach because of Facebook’s settings. Also, Facebook will show less video when the user isn’t connected to Wi-Fi.
  8. So if you are using video, always add captions. No exceptions.
  9. The more people click “continue reading”, flick through photos, view videos, comment or like, the more your ad will be shown organically. A higher CTR (click-through rate) also increases your relevance score and lowers the cost.
  10. Don’t post more than 5 times a day. There is such a thing as over-exposure. Just ask a Kardashian.
  11. When people save your posts, Facebook knows they’re interested, and it’ll boost your reach.
  12. Make sure you know when most of your users will be online, and post then. The first hour of your post is the most important. Posting at 7pm results, on average, in more clicks than posting at 8pm (source: Forbes). Don’t forget the time zone of your market.
  13. Respond to every one of the comments on your post. It will increase the # of comments and organic sharing. 
  14. Don’t use apps like Hootsuite to schedule posts. People can tell, and Facebook hates it, so it kills engagement and reach.
  15. Never repost stuff from your personal profile in a group without changing it first. AI will spot it.
  16. ‘Learn more’ isn’t always the most popular call to action. Think about other options for your CTA.
  17. Inside the Facebook Ad system, you can add multiple pictures. The more pictures, the better the ad performs – plus it also performs better on Instagram. Bonus.

One final thing. Talking about yourself all the time will get you very little engagement – don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Thanks to Scott Oldford for these, and you can find out more about how to use Facebook to boost your business here.

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