Facebook is always changing up their algorithms and adding new features. Here are some of the changes you’ll see on Facebook in early 2020.
February 11
As of February 11, 2020, when special category businesses place an ad or boost a post, they must identify their business type. So far, the only business types required to identify themselves are housing, credit or employment opportunities businesses.
If your business falls into one of these categories, keep this in mind when boosting your posts or placing an ad.
Organic Targeting
A new Facebook feature is Organic Targeting. This feature, which rolled out last fall, allows you to improve your ability to increase your organic reach. Organic posts are the posts you put on Facebook for free.
Your organic reach will depend on the relevance, or quality score, of the post. The more engagement your post receives, the more Reach Facebook will allow.
If your business targets more than one audience segment, used the Organic Targeting feature. Here in the Public drop down, you can choose “News Feed Targeting” to select your targeted audience.
Rankings
How does Facebook determine which posts should have more organic reach? Well, Facebook has a ranking system. First, they look at how long the business page has been active on Facebook. Next, they look at the percentage of followers engaging with the posts and Page in general.
Then they look at the consistency of your posts. Pages that post at least once a day and at the same time each day, rank well.
Lastly, they look at how actively the Page engages with their followers. Facebook wants you to respond to post comments and messages, usually within 24 hours.
How to Increase Your Organic Reach
There are several things you can do to increase your organic reach on Facebook.
Create posts that are interesting, funny, or inspirational. These are the type of posts that users will share. Don’t post links that take people out of Facebook. Facebook wants people to stay in its app.
Quality content will keep followers coming back for more and engaging with your posts. Video is still king on Facebook and videos that are at least 3-minutes long seem to do very well. If you’re not sharing a video, at least use images with your posts. Images help attract attention and can draw a user into your post to learn more.
Know when the best time to post is. Check your analytics to see when your audience is online and post to their schedules. Hootsuite says the best times to post for B2B businesses are between 9am and 2pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The best times for B2C businesses is Noon on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Avoid posts that are just for pushing people to buy something. Having a call-to-action that is salesy will lower your post’s organic reach.
Since 60% of consumers visit your Facebook page before they visit your website or store, having an active and interesting Facebook Business Page is essential to growing your business.