Information for this blog post was obtained from the HubSpot Blog, Neil Patel, and Sprout Social.

If you run any type of business in today's world, you know that having a presence on Facebook is a must. Not only to advertise and communicate with customers, but also to be a information hub for customers.

But how do you do that without a following? You need to increase your reach. What is reach? Well, according to Sprout Social, "your Facebook reach represents the number of unique users who see your post or page". This is an important metric to keep track of and should be a goal to increase this number steadily as your business grows. But how do you do that? Don't worry, we're here to tell you five ways we think you can grow your Facebook reach today. Read on to find out how.

If you would like to review an all-encompassing blog post about increasing audience engagement through all platforms, you can view that here.

1- Create a Strong Brand Presence

No one wants to follow a brand without knowing exactly what the brand is about. That is why it's essential to curate and constantly create content that is specific to your brand. There are a multitude of ways to increase your brand presence and we've listed a few here:

• Try to only post content directly related to your specific industry.

• Continuously reinforce your brand message through comments and posts you put out

• Share content from other pages that are related to your industry

In this way, you can start to put your name with that specific industry and people will too.

2- View Facebook as a Publishing Tool

Since Facebook updated their algorithm, promoting your website has been harder. The new algorithm does not like external links. Facebook wants people to STAY on Facebook and try to mitigate having users use external links because it takes them off of Facebook and onto somewhere else. Businesses now have to adjust how they have been utilizing Facebook because of this shift.

You now have to view Facebook as just another publishing tool, like a newsletter. Essentially only using Facebook to promote brand awareness and again, focusing on your reach, how many people you can get to view your profile and posts.

This means that the focus is now on curating and creating content that is void of external links. Focus on promoting your brand and reach on Facebook. Post blog content without linking back to the original post on your website. Use content found on your website as new, unique content for your Facebook. Repurpose!

3- Time Your Posts

Timing of posts have become a major indicator of how well they will do with regards to reach. You can try the route of posting whenever, but most businesses now follow a time based approach to posting content.

There are specific times when Facebook is being utilized more by users and using this graph to your advantage is a major help in increasing your reach. You can also use tools that are specifically designed to tell you when your target audience is online, that way you can drill down further to figure out when to post.

4- Cross-Promote Via Social Media

If you have other social media platforms, you can cross-promote your Facebook profile link on these platforms to increase reach even across platforms. There are a couple ways to accomplish this-

• Social icons on your website that directly link to your profiles

• Links in your other social medias that take them directly to your Facebook

• Promote your Facebook on other social medias

5- Utilize Facebook Groups

Maybe you have already have a good follower base and just wanting to increase your reach even more. Creating a Facebook group can help you achieve those numbers. Facebook is all about community, so use that to your advantage.

Creating a Facebook group for active audience members is a great way to engage with your audience. The one on one feeling that your audience can gain from this experience is advantageous to your business. They are a brand activist. You now have followers that are promoting your brand for you and bringing in even more traffic and reach.

In review, Facebook reach is a direct correlation to how well you are doing on Facebook. You want to constantly be increasing this number to gain more followers and hopefully, more conversions and loyal customers. You can utilize it as little or as much as you like. It is all up to you!

Resources

Barnhart, B. (2022, April 13). Facebook reach: What it is and how to increase yours quickly. Sprout Social. Retrieved September 19, 2022, from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/facebook-reach/

Patel, N. (2022, August 29). 20 secrets to boost your Facebook organic reach. Neil Patel. Retrieved September 19, 2022, from https://neilpatel.com/blog/13-secrets-thatll-boost-your-facebook-organic-reach/

Santos, D. (2020, May 5). How we grew our organic reach 185% on Facebook. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved September 19, 2022, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-we-grew-our-organic-reach-on-facebook