Facebook reach for Like pages is dismal. Organic reach has steadily declined for years and is now virtually non-existent. Fortunately, this creative hack can change all that for your business.
The Decline of Organic Facebook Reach
Long gone are the days when you could post something to your Like page and everyone who liked your page saw it in their newsfeed. Those days are long gone. Over the years, Facebook has increasingly filtered their newsfeed more and more, giving preference to posts by family and friends and requiring businesses to pay Facebook more and more for the same amount of reach through advertising.
These days, organic Facebook reach is practically a thing of the past – only about 1% of the people who like your page can see its posts now. This means if you have 1,000 likes on your page, only about 10 people will see each post. What’s worse, the fewer interactions you get on each post, the less likely it is your future posts will be seen. And with such ridiculously low reach, the odds of your posts being engaged with are slimmer than their odds of even being seen.
Should You Switch to a Group Instead?
In an attempt to sidestep this Facebook reach problem, some businesses have decided to drop their Like pages altogether and set up shop as a Facebook group, instead. See, groups are meant to be intimate discussion forums around hobbies, interests, and causes, so they get GREAT reach. But there are a few problems with using a group instead of a page for your business:
- For one thing, it’s against the rules. Facebook may yank your group if they find out you are violating their terms of service.
- Secondly, you don’t get as many customization and branding options.
- You can’t interact with your fans and other pages as your Like page – only individuals may post and comment in groups, so you can’t represent your brand.
- Last but not least, you don’t have the marketing tools available to run strategic ads for pennies on the dollar.
Fortunately, there is a hack.
Rather than choose between a Like page and a group, why not hack the system and use both? This creative little hack has been tried and tested, and it’s amazing! If you go about it the right way, you can cultivate a great tribe of loyal followers and boost Facebook reach for your Like page without violating the terms of service. Here’s how to go about it.
Build a group around a cause or discussion topic, NOT your brand. Use keywords in the Facebook group name. For example, if your business is a construction company, set up a DIY group called “DIY Help for Homeowners” where members can share tips and tricks and ask questions about their projects. Don’t overly promote your business within the group. You’re not building your brand here – that’s for the Like page – you’re building a community here.
Facebook Reach Magic
Now here is the magic. When you have an important post or announcement to make to your Like page, don’t post it in the group. First, post it to the Like page, and immediately SHARE that post to the group! Now, what may have only been seen by 10 people will be seen by 100 or even 1,000! Thanks to the improved reach each Facebook group enjoys, the posts from your Like page echoed in your group enjoy the same reach as any post in that group.
There are tons of added benefits to doing it this way. For example, you can try testing some things to your group first to see how well they engage your audience. Then delete it, post it to the Like page, and share it back to the group. This ensures you don’t post duds to your Like page thus damaging your Facebook reach further.
Experiment and see how it works for your brand! If you find any other benefits or tricks to go along with this Facebook reach hack, share them in the comments below!
