9 Essential Tips for Reaching More People on Facebook

Facebook is by far the most popular social media network out there. According to the last count, the site has an astonishing 2.96 billion active monthly users. That’s almost equal to the populations of China and India combined. While you may not need or want to reach so many people, it's likely that just about any demographic segment you want to target is active on Facebook.

Unfortunately, Facebook’s organic reach (i.e., unpaid content distribution) has steadily declined over the years. From an average reach of 5.5% in 2019, it dropped to 5.2% in 2020 and 2.2% in 2021.

That means if your Facebook page has 1,000 followers, your post will reach 22 of them organically.

This decline is why most businesses couple organic reach with paid advertising in their Facebook marketing plans to push their content to larger audiences.

However, you can improve your Facebook reach without spending too much. The most important tip is to trigger Facebook’s algorithm with engaging and trendy content.

Facebook’s algorithm analyzes every post and determines which types of posts are more likely to engage users. Then, the platform decides which posts people should see on their news feeds and in which order.

Here are some ways to reach a larger audience on Facebook:

1. Understand your target audience
2. Converse with fans
3. Create content specifically for Facebook
4. Post at the right time
5. Use boosted posts to promote your best content
6. Experiment with new content
7. Use calls to action (CTAs)
8. Connect with other pages
9. Host giveaways

1. Understand your target audience

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You should have a clear idea of who your audience is and what they want. People who follow a Facebook business page expect to see a certain kind of content within a specific niche. Whether you’re promoting products or posting relatable material, it’s important to keep content in tune with your brand identity.

Make sure your content is:

• Meaningful. Content that appeals to your followers will keep your brand fresh in their minds. The idea is to produce relevant content that aligns with your Facebook marketing goals.
• Informative. Telling them something they didn’t know will make your page valuable to your followers.

Having a clear idea of your audience and their characteristics will help you better design your content and promotional material. One of the best ways to define your target audience is by creating audience personas—narrowly-defined fictional profiles representing your ideal audience. These profiles are composed of target demographic and psychographic attributes.

Let’s assume you’re a small business that sells shoes. If Gen Z is the target audience for your trendy sneakers company, you don’t want to create a piece of content that resonates with what was relevant in the ‘90s, for example. Such content will have little relevance for your target audience; you might even lose followers.

2. Converse with fans

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Engaging your audience in organic conversations has two key advantages:

• Facebook prioritizes content with high engagement. If you can get your audience to like, comment on, and share your posts, Facebook will push the posts to more people. Posts with low engagement keep people scrolling, and Facebook’s algorithm will likely ignore them.

• Conversations are the first step to building an organic community. When audiences recognize your type of content, they’re likely to initiate conversations and recommend your page to others. People are also likely to trust your products if they find your content to be in line with their own values.

So how can you effectively converse with your followers?

Always reply to a follower who leaves a comment under your post. Any comment is an excellent opportunity to thank them for their interest and leave them with a clever quip. Remember, the more you engage, the more Facebook promotes your content.

Another great way to keep your audience talking is to ask them questions. The human need to express opinions and emotions is a great way to build engagement! A simple way to do this is through social media polls, which have a high chance of engagement because of the minimal effort they require on the part of audiences. Polls are an effective and fast way to get feedback, conduct market research, and derive insights into audience preferences.

Many Facebook users are very active in Facebook groups. Posting your content to groups and interacting with users can go a long way in opening new doors. Facebook groups provide a direct line of communication with your target audience. For instance, an outdoor equipment manufacturer will likely drive engagement by posting messages on adventure groups or those related to particular hiking trails and treks. Similarly, a baby care company might get a great response by posting content on groups for new mothers.

Put a bit more effort into your interaction with audiences and go live. Facebook Live videos help build a sense of community and allow people to see the people behind the brand. Focus on anything relevant to your business or industry, like DIY, explainer, and behind-the-scenes videos and product reviews. During live broadcasts, use the comments section to get your audience to engage with you and each other.

3. Create content specifically for Facebook

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Facebook supports several different content formats. Use stories, posts, videos, live video, and Reels to create Facebook-specific content. Copying and pasting generic text content across several social media platforms may not provide the desired results, but repurposing in different formats can be very effective.

Social media is leaning increasingly toward video content. With the success of TikTok, Facebook is eager to make its “Reels” an important part of the platform. Reels are short-form videos that allow text overlay, AR effects, voice-overs, music, and a host of other features. In fact, Facebook believes Reels are its fastest-growing content format.

Make short-form Reels based on trending music and topics. Short Reels are particularly useful for bringing new users to your page and increasing your following. Since Reels are not dependent on the feed algorithm, they’re a great way for people to discover new pages. A recent Facebook memo suggests that the tech giant will soon start “recommending posts, regardless of where they come from,” much like Reels.

Similarly, Stories are another highly engaged segment of Facebook. Stories can include photo or video content that disappears within 24 hours. Facebook seems to emphasize new formats like Stories and Reels over other longstanding formats.

4. Post at the right time

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Posting at the right time can greatly impact the number of people your post reaches. According to the American Marketing Association, the best times to post on Facebook are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturdays are universally acknowledged as the worst days to post content.

Besides figuring out the right time to post, it’s also important to post daily. Uploading new content daily lets Facebook’s algorithm know your page is very active and pushes your content to more people.

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5. Use boosted posts to promote your best content

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Given Facebook’s poor organic reach, you’ll likely still need to use ads or boosted posts to attract new audiences. You can do this by picking great content from your page and boosting it for a reasonable price using Facebook Ads to provide substantial paid reach.

The good thing is that Facebook Ads let you define a very specific target audience based on multiple demographic metrics, like age, location, gender, interests, and so on. This means that a small investment can get your page post in front of hundreds of people who fit your audience definition.

6. Experiment with new content

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Investing in high-quality content that reflects a high engagement rate in Facebook insights can really change the game. It can take you from a small Facebook Business page and transform you into a major player on the platform. While every page uploads photos or videos, most do this without a social media marketing strategy in place. With a proper plan, you can stand out from the crowd by experimenting with new content styles and ideas.

Here are some creative content ideas to explore:

• User-generated content (UGC). UGC is all the rage these days—and for good reason. Customers often make photos or videos featuring products they bought from a brand. You can use such content to post on your Facebook page. It helps keep customers happy and also tells new users that people like and trust your products. A great example is GoPro, which uses UGC to drive engagement on its YouTube channel.

• Collaborate with influencers. Influential social media accounts can impact an audience. Bring influencers on board to create fun and snappy video content and entice new followers.
• Video tutorials. Offer tutorials that are relevant to your brand. For example, a restaurant might make cooking videos that help people prepare simple dishes at home. PlayStation is a great example of a brand using video tutorials to empower customers. The company posted a comprehensive video to educate customers about setting up its VR system.

• Video testimonials. Collaborate with your customers to produce text or video testimonials. Testimonials can also establish trust in future customers.
• Behind-the-scenes posts. You could share interesting photos and videos of how your company operates, who works there, and how they make your products. The mega-budget Hollywood movie “Avatar 2” is one example of successfully driving audience interest with behind-the-scenes videos.

• Intelligent use of hashtags. Hashtags can help you reach new audiences. Watch for trending hashtags and use them appropriately in your page posts.
• SEO-friendly text content. SEO isn’t just limited to websites. Facebook pages also need to be optimized to improve their reach and ranking. You can do this by frequently using keywords throughout the page, using a smart URL instead of the one generated automatically, and adding backlinks to your website.

7. Use calls to action (CTAs)

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Facebook Ads and boosted posts always ask you to choose a “call-to-action” or CTA button. These are incredibly useful for encouraging users to translate their interests into action. Each has a different function—some drive engagement or traffic, and others push sales and inquiries.

CTA examples include:

• Book Now
• Call Now
• Contact Us
• Download
• Send Message
• Get Quote
• Like Page
• Order Now
• Subscribe

8. Connect with other pages

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Engage with other pages on Facebook. Like and comment on their posts often. Starting conversations with other brands will lead their audiences to your own page. Curiosity is a powerful tool!

Fan pages are another useful tool for getting in touch with new users and getting them excited about your products.

Additionally, you can tag other influential pages in your posts. If they like your content, they might share your posts on their page. This can expose you to a whole new audience.

9. Host giveaways

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Giveaways can be very popular with customers (who doesn’t love a freebie?). You can host giveaways by establishing partnerships with a complementary company that shares your brand goals. A great example is the Instagram collaboration between Traeger Grills and outdoor consumer goods company Yeti. Participants were invited to post photographs of their BBQ setup and include a few mentions in their posts. That’s it! Prizes included products from both companies, including high-end grills and accessories.

Similarly, you could also rope an influencer in and offer giveaways to their audience. Influencers often command large social media audiences; a small giveaway can go a long way in attracting a few hundred followers.

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