5 Ways to Increase Your Facebook Engagement without Ever Paying for Ads

Does it feel like your Facebook Page’s Organic Reach is slowly declining?

You are not alone.

Last year, Facebook announced that they would be reducing the number of promotional Page posts that show up in the news feed to present users only high-quality content.

While it’s easy to blame Facebook News Feed algorithm and assume organic reach is dead, there are actually a few ways you can increase your social media engagement without having to pay for ads.

1. Stellar Content

Content is king. You’ve heard this phrase so many times that it lost its original meaning. Despite becoming an annoying cliché, the truth is that Facebook puts a lot of emphasis on quality content. When considering which posts to show up in users’ newsfeeds, Facebook looks at core factors, such as likes, shares, clicks, type of post, and so on. Facebook also takes into consideration the number of times a user interacted with a particular page.

It goes without saying that one of the most effective ways to increase Facebook engagement is to create constantly stellar content that is fresh and relevant to your audience.

2. Create a Group with Your Most Loyal Audience

Hootsuite.com presents a peculiar case:

When Sarah Schupp, founder at UniversityParent.com posts on her Facebook Page, which has around 3,000 likes, she can reach only 110 people. But, when she posts the same content in her private Facebook group – a community of fewer than 800 users – she generates much more engagement.

Why?

According to Hootsuite.com, the fact the Schupp’s Page is invite-only might trigger a hint to Facebook’s algorithm that is stronger than a normal like or share. While brand Pages are used by companies to promote themselves, private groups are communities in which users are opting into.

Even though it may sound counterintuitive, by limiting membership you can boost your social media engagement.

3. Use Competitor Insights

One of the main advantages of social media is that it’s relatively easy to see what your competitors are doing and whether their strategies are working or not. However, many small business owners neglect this factor and miss out on what is going on in their industry.

There are numerous tools you can use to get competitor insights, such as Buzzsumo, Social Baker or Simply Measured. You can use them to check top content, keywords, influencers, number of backlinks, social shares, domain authority, and so on.

4. Post at Non-peak Hours

There are a lot of studies about the best time of the day to post on Facebook. One interesting approach is posting during hours when fewer people are sharing content on Facebook. That way, your posts are more likely to show up in your fans’ news feed.

Go to Facebook Insights to see when your fans are active. Then choose a time when the majority of your users are online, but your competitors aren’t posting.

5. Post The Type of Content That Resonates With Your Audience

According to one study cited by socialmediaexaminer.com, Facebook users like videos and links more than images. However, before jumping on the bandwagon, analyze your insights to see what type of content your audience likes. If they prefer images, don’t change your strategy now.

Facebook organic engagement isn’t dead. It’s simply evolving. The best way for your small business to keep up with the changes is to invest in quality content and learn from your competition and the industry.