Three Things You Should be Doing on Social Media to Combat Declining Organic Reach

On the brink of 2019, high social media engagement through organic reach is virtually impossible. Organic reach is defined as how well your social media posts perform without any money behind them.  And as organic reach has declined, it’s become even more important to implement proactive strategies in your social media plan. 

Here are three things you should be doing right now on
social media, to help offset the lack of engagement through organic reach.

Post, post, post!

It’s no longer enough to only post one-to-two times per
week.  Although it varies by industry,
the optimal posting schedule is three-to-four times per week.  While posting more often is important, it’s just
as important to make sure the content you’re posting is quality because of ever-changing algorithms.  

On Facebook, organic reach has been on decline for sometime.  The world’s largest social media platform is opting to give users more content from friends and family in their newsfeeds.  At the same time, according to HootSuite, it’s showing less from publishers and business pages.

And if it’s happening on Facebook, it’s happening on other social platforms too.  You just can’t count on social media posts to reaching as many people as before organically.  (More on what this means for your marketing budget below.) *

Create unique content for each platform

Never, ever, ever post the same exact post on different platforms.  This includes the creative element, post text, hashtags, etc.  Your content needs to be tailored to the social media platform it’s being posted on. 

For example, many businesses use Instagram as a more casual, behind-the-scenes approach to their social media postings.  LinkedIn meanwhile is used more for sharing industry trends, HR announcements, or other exciting company news.  Being thoughtful about content presentation and having a strong focus on high-quality differentiated content may take more time, but it’s considered a best practice for combating organic reach’s decline (along with paying more, which we’ll dive into next.)

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Consider a boosting or advertising budget

Social media ads, sponsored content, and boosted posts are some of the best ways to reach your audience as organic reach falls.  Creating a social spending budget is also a great way to get exposure from non-followers and grow brand awareness.  Once these non-followers become official “followers,” they are more likely to see your organic content in the future. 

Here are some of HootSuite’s reasons for moving forward with paid social media advertising: 

• Achieve higher conversions:  With more options to target different audiences, your content is noticed more easily.
• See results:  Most social networks will send a data report following your advertising run.  This report gives you the ability to see how many people were reached, how many impressions were gathered, and how your audience interacts with your content.
• Mobile-friendly:  80% of social media users are viewing content from a mobile device.  You will be able to leverage that power more fully when making sure your ads are mobile responsive.

Like what you’re reading and want to learn more?  Contact Red Sage Communications, Inc. to connect with our team.  Whether you’re in Huntsville, Decatur or Birmingham, Alabama (or anywhere in the Southeast United States for that matter) our social media specialists can show you how to take your social media strategy to the next level. Email us for a free consultation!