Where has organic social media marketing gone?
Have you noticed a downfall in organic reach within the last 5 years? No, you aren’t crazy. Social media is changing. Organic Reach continues to pivot downward since 2014.
Research has told us that the average organic reach is between 2 and 6 percent. This means, in a worst-case scenario at 2%, if you have 10 thousand followers on Facebook, you will only reach about 200 of those followers on any given social post. Yikes!
Even though that number seems low, there are tactics to get around it to reach more of your audience.
Here’s why organic social is still relevant, especially for small businesses.
1. Social gives you prime real estate to reach potential customers with your message.
2. It’s still the simplest and most effective way to promote yourself or your business online.
3. Pair free, consistent content with a paid strategy and you have a powerful marketing tool.
Let’s see these tactics in action.
Take Advantage of Social Media Real Estate
Our first stop is at the front door of Mr. Handyman’s Facebook profile. This home improvement business in New Jersey has been around for twenty years and utilizes their Facebook profile in a very efficient way.
1. The Cover Photo
Take advantage of the valuable real estate available in your Facebook cover photo. Mr. Handyman provides an image that reflects their workers and gives a little taste of a current deal.
2. Your CTA (Call to Action)
Button, button, who’s got the button? Facebook offers the ability to choose a CTA that best fits your business based on your objectives for the social platform. Mr. Handyman is utilizing “Book Now,” but you could also use CTA’s like:
- Learn More– Send visitors to your Home page or your About page.
- Contact Us– Send visitors to your contact page.
3. Optimize Your Menu
That column of words on the left side of your Facebook profile is your menu. It helps visitors navigate through your profile with ease. Many businesses leave this menu at its default, which isn’t a great thing to do. Mr. Handyman uses all parts of its menu from explaining services to even listing franchise opportunities.
This tactic is all about taking advantage of what is available outside of your website. Social Media Today says, “39% of Facebook users say that they follow Facebook Business Pages because they want to receive special offers.”
Fair warning. Social media is never an end-all strategy. An excellent social media strategy sends traffic back to your expertise, whether that means to a blog, your email list or your website.
Quickly Tell Your Fans Who You Are
For this one, we’ll take a look at Bonji Bowls Instagram profile. What we love about the @bonjibowls profile is the ability to intrigue and inform.
1. The Bio – Sentence 1
“Handcrafted and made to your liking! Mix & match with endless toppings. #bonjibowls.” Okay, you have my attention. I love endless toppings. And anything “handcrafted” is bound to be delicious. That’s one element.
2. The Bio – Sentence 2
“Summit, Gillette, Maplewood (entrance is on parking lot side)” – Now I know where the Bonji Bowl shops are located. Zero time wasted here, and that’s always a perk.
3. Engage with Fans
The number one thing Bonji Bowls does right is replying to comments! Comments and shares are the metrics that really matter. It shows genuine interaction and interest. #likesdontmatter
If people leave a comment on your post, you need to respond. After all, if someone went into your eatery, bought some of your food, and told you it was the best thing they ate all day – you wouldn’t ignore them and walk away. That customer would never come back!
Engagement is good, and it’s a two-way street, always. Reply to your fans even if it’s just to say thank you.
With that said, what if you aren’t getting the engagement you’re after? Check out Neil Patel’s article on 5 Reasons Why No Body is Engaging with Your Social Posts and his advice to start getting engagement.
Combine Free Content with Paid Advertising
One piece of advice that is essentially a failsafe for organic marketing is to produce valuable content consistently.
For example, let’s say you are a small furniture shop trying to get exposure on social media. You decide to produce a short, iPhone-made video once a week that shows your customers how to take care of their furniture. The best and simplest thing you can do is publish your video on the same day in the same hour every week.
Consistency is key because it sets a routine for your followers and gives them something to look forward to.
Now let’s pair that great content with advertising. You’re developing all of this video content on organic social media, why not utilize it via paid as well? Repurpose those videos to build a higher following on your social accounts.
If your videos are getting strong reactions from your current followership, then it can become the perfect tool to get you new ones.
Want to dive deeper into this tactic? Read our post on Paid and Organic Reach: A guide to social media engagement strategies.
Let’s do a quick recap
The most basic take away from this article is that social media is social, media. If you create a business profile, utilize every aspect of that platform to help your brand. Take the time to have a conversation with people on social. Lastly, social media is becoming a pay to play platform, so use free social content for as long as you can and repurpose it for paid advertising.
Need help managing your social media profile? One Part Social are experts in helping small businesses create genuine content that attracts top engagement. Check us out!
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