Facebook posting strategy helps increase reach and interaction 3 times
Quick note: This post was written in May 2017 and updated in March 2018. The posting tips and strategies listed below continue to work despite recent changes to Facebook's algorithm.
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In October 2016, we changed our Facebook posting strategy significantly.
Gradual but noticeable changes in Facebook and Instagram's algorithms, along with brand marketing trends on Facebook, meant we had to start new experiments or continue to watch. decline in reach and engagement when not running ads.
Displaying content on Facebook is not a simple task.
- 1 million shared links
- 4.86 million photos uploaded
- 763,888 status updates sent
Clearly, change is needed.
We reduced our posting frequency by over 50% on Facebook and started to really focus on quality instead of quantity. social media management Even the most optimistic are unexpected:
Our Facebook reach and engagement started to increase even though we were posting less!
- Reach has tripled from 44,000 to 150,000+ per week on Facebook
- Average daily engagement increased from ~500 to over 1,000 thanks to Facebook content.
- There are more and more articles reaching 5,000-20,000 people (before this number only reached less than 2,000 people).
I'm excited to share with you the data behind this growth and what's behind my latest Facebook posting strategy.
Let's dig deeper!
Data: How posting less increases reach, engagement, and impact
Number of posts/day
From January to October 2016 we posted a lot on social media, especially Facebook.
Below is a chart of average Facebook Posts/day from January 2016 to April 2017:
Reach
We used to think that posting more would help us adapt to the ever-changing algorithms on social media. The more posts you post on Facebook, the less reach/post you receive. Here is an illustrative chart (~4 times per day around July/August 2016):
However, pay attention to what started happening around October 2016. Our Facebook reach started increasing at about the same time that we started experimenting with a new Facebook posting strategy.
Today, we reach more than 150,000 people every week on Facebook, up from just 44,000 people in 2016.
And the fun doesn't stop there!
Engagement
Interact on our Facebook also begins to increase at the same rate.
- I don't have to post as much on Facebook (see more about our new Facebook posting strategy below)
- It provides the opportunity to focus on other creative projects like creating videos, working on more Podcasts, and growing our Instagram account.
Another surprise happened (as shown in the chart above). is the number of posts that reached more than 60,000 people and received more than 2,500 unique interactions. That's a big change from 2016 with just 60,000 people with a one-time post.
Overall impact
It's great to have individual data points as a reference, but I wanted to take a big look at what was going on after changing my Facebook posting strategy.
What was most surprising was the number of posts that reached 2,000 people on a regular posting basis before October.
Let's see what happens to post types as time passes.
Over the next few sections, I want to share why this is an important change to our Facebook posting strategy as well as exactly what we're doing today to ensure these results continue.
Why we stopped posting things on Facebook
Not every post is suitable for Facebook
Like many houses Fanpage management know, it's a constant challenge to post lots of good quality content to Facebook every week.
However, our intuition is that the more posts we post, the more reach and engagement we will have.
However, what we discovered was the exact opposite.
For us, posting less was not necessarily a viable option at the time.
Until I discovered the difference in Facebook posting strategy: While our content may be quality (and great), not every post is suitable for Facebook.
That led to a change in posting strategy…
Our current Facebook posting strategy
The big change to our posting strategy started with the counter-intuitive implementation that:
“While our content may be quality (and great), not every post is suitable for Facebook.”
This is quite difficult because I want to share all the great things we write about on our blog, but it clearly has a negative impact.
Entertainment + Education = Entertainment combined with education (Edu-tainment)
In general, the most popular posts on Facebook can be classified as Edu-tainment.
Maximum one or two posts per day
This serves two purposes:
- It forces us to share only the best content
- It allows the Facebook algorithm to focus on delivering one piece of content (versus many) to an audience
I encourage you to experiment with posting only once or twice a day on Facebook, you'll be surprised at how quickly your content filters through.
Collected content
Another great posting strategy is to post a large number of collected articles to your Facebook page.
Sorting Facebook posts based on “Most Reach” over the past few months shows its impact on our Page and growth:
Posts marked with a blue rectangle are all part of collection content.
Collected content may not “directly” impact our bottom line, but it plays an important role in reach, engagement (likes, shares, comments) and Page growth.
Focus on brand awareness and engagement
Focusing on brand awareness and engagement versus site traffic has become a key element of our strategy.
We have seen a shift in many social media networks over the past year.
Posting content that drives engagement only helps build an activated Facebook audience.
- Reach: 211.631
- Likes: 8.362
- Comments: 281
- Shares: 872
This post also brought over 1,000 new likes to our page – many of whom continue to Like and engage with our Page today.
Boosted post (advertisement)
Last, but not least, I want to mention how significantly Facebook boosted posts boost visibility and engagement on Pages.
Currently, we spend approx 40 dollars every day to promote our best content on Facebook.
The only difference between last year and this year is that the quality of content is already there to increase.
The important thing is to focus on promoting great content, not necessarily focusing on quantity and “forcing” them to be advertised.
If you want to learn more about the new Facebook algorithm, check out our latest podcast episode covering everything marketers need to know:
To readers:
Thanks for reading!
Please continue the discussion with me in the comments section below!
Which posting strategy do you find most effective?
