What is Facebook Reach?
Organic reach on Facebook is dropping. The average organic reach for a Facebook post is 5.5% of a Page’s Followers. But why is reach, and in turn engagement dropping on Facebook? The answer is because individuals are not engaging as much largely due to lack of trust and are only engaging with family members and friends. As a painter and decorator trying to utilise online marketing to increase leads and revenue this can be worrying.
Facebook engagement is when a user takes an action on any of your posts.
The 3 most common types of engagement are:
- Shares: Is when someone clicks on your post and shares it to their feed without having to copy and paste. You can also do the same by sharing your post into Facebook Groups.
- Likes: Users can press the like button to show a reaction via an emoji – Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad and Angry. The like button can be found on updates, comments, photos, videos, links and ads.
- Comments: Users can respond to a post, picture, video, etc using the speech bubble tool or writing in the box labelled “Write a Comment” below a post. Comments are one of the best forms of engagement because they indicate that your follower has taken the time to reply.
Ways to increase Facebook Business Page
- Posting less
Research by Buffer showed that posting less often grew their reach and engagement by over 3 times. Posting less frequently they had more time to focus on quality over quantity. Considering what their followers would like and what would help their followers. Once you have the reach, you can then scale up the amount of times you post.
- Stick to posting when your followers are online
There used to be a universal belief that you could post anytime and your followers would see it. That myth has been shattered. Use your Facebook Insights Page to find out when your followers log on to Facebook via their phone or PC. It might be that you’re targeting homeowners in the age category 45-55 who are mostly at work during the day. Or perhaps, you’re targeting stay-at-home parents who use Facebook to stay connected to other parents during the daytime. Look at your Insights to find out when your followers are mostly online for your posts to appear in their feed.
- Try posting videos of your work
In terms of engagement and reach, Buffer’s research found that videos do better than regular posts, The engagement rate for Facebook Videos compared to YouTube links (taking the user off Facebook) is 110% higher and the share rate is 478% higher.
- Go live
Facebook News reported that people are comment 10x more often on a Facebook Live video versus a regular video. Facebook adjusted their algorithm to make live videos rank higher compared to regular videos. For ideas for a live video, share a behind the scenes of you getting ready to set up for a working day or do a demonstration on how to spray paint kitchen cabinets on-site or share a top tip weekly that homeowners and property developers can do in their own property. You’re not taking business away from yourself, you’re adding value and increasing your authority in your industry in your local area.
- Share curated content
By sharing another business’s top performing content you will be able to reach a much larger audience. It works because you’re connecting with influencers and leaders in your industry and opening conversation with your followers, as long as the shared content is high quality and adds value.
- Ask for opinions
A lot of the time when we post content on our social media channels we don’t give an outlet for our followers to leave a comment. A quick and easy way to do this is to ask a question. For example, you could share updates on what projects you’ve got to do for the day and ask questions about how they would use a certain painting and decorating
- Use (great) images
Posts that have pictures see higher-than-average engagement rates. You can use your mobile phone and a tripod to take pictures. If you don’t have a tripod don’t worry. Close-ups do and customer images are good. Being in the painting and decorating industry you have so many things to photograph and share on your Facebook Business Page. Just completed painting some architraves, skirting, windows and doors? Take photos. Just got your airless sprayer ready to fill it? Take some photos.
- Use Facebook Stories
These appear at the very top of a news feed just like Instagram ones. They last for 24 hours and they disappear from Facebook Feeds. It’s the first thing a follower will see when they open up Facebook and with stories you can be more personal as they’re more in-the-moment type of posts. So, you could announce a new employee to your painting and decorating business, you could share your newest product arrivals (it’s good to share your passion for the products you use, tag the business) or you could share a wrap-up to a decorating project
- Add a call-to-action buttonon your Facebook Business Page
These give your followers engagement options that go further than liking, commenting and sharing.
Your call-to-action button can get them to book a quote, send you a message and even see any offers that you have.
- Reply to comments
If one of your followers comments on one of your posts you’ve achieved the magical. To ignore that comment would be a clear sign to your followers that you’re not active online and you don’t care whether they reply or not. When you comment on a brand’s post do you expect a reply?
Show that you understand communication is two-way by replying to comments, even if the comment is really simple such as I’ll give you a call. Reply to this with a follow-up comment such as Great, I’m around all day or Great, I’m free in the afternoon. It might seem a waste of time but Facebook algorithm will reward you for replying.
If you’d like to know more on how you can enhance your marketing skill and grow your visibility, join us in the Decorators Growth Club – Free Support, our free marketing support Facebook Group just for decorators. If you’re ready to take a bigger leap and get the answers for the questions you didn’t know to ask, then join us in The Decorators Growth Club – Pro Members. For just £25 per month, you’ll have access to all the videos, pro members facebook group, podcasts and monthly masterminds.
Find out more on our website.
