Organic on Facebook? Not so much...

Organic reach always sounds like a fantastic idea, especially for a nascent company. However, it is increasingly becoming a pipe dream, especially on Facebook.

Facebook has announced changes to their algorithm for 2018 that all but eliminate organic reach for companies. The point of this is to ensure that what Facebook users see is, in fact, what they want to see, and not just a stream of ads that take the place of their best friend's wedding photos.

In this article from Women's Marketing, it is recommended that companies reduce the frequency of posts to 3-4 per week (!) and promote those posts to ensure a wider reach. I like this idea for several reasons:

1. A company can be more considered about the content they post, as they only have to post 3-4 times per week, which should increase the quality and reduce the spam-iness of posts;
2. A budget can be more targeted and focused, as the data will be more conclusive instead of spread out across too many posts to understand adequately what is working and what isn't;
3. This change does not affect influencers (yet), so they are still a worthwhile channel to pursue within Facebook.

It is estimated that adults will spend 47 minutes per day on Facebook, 27 minutes on Snapchat, and 26 minutes on Instagram, so Facebook is still the most viable social channel and should not be cut out of a monthly spend. It does need to be done thoughtfully, though, and this change should definitely help reinforce that.

A surefire way to increase user engagement, especially with fewer posts per week, is the use of video. Engagement generated by Facebook Live is six times higher than a video post alone. This honestly sounds a bit exaggerated to me, but I suppose that numbers don't lie, and you can save a Facebook Live and allow users to view after it's completed.

Initially, I thought, how wonderful, this will slow the pace of things, but it just increases the stakes. That said, making customers more difficult to reach should, as I said earlier, result in much more interesting, relevant content, that actually provides an end benefit to the user, which is what we're all after, anyway.