The end of the year is near, folks! In terms of business and marketing, this is the time to take a look at the year in review – what worked and what didn’t work and what changes need to be made in the coming year? Today we are going to focus on something that has become particularly challenging in the social media marketing world – organic reach. With algorithms changing with the wind, it has become increasingly difficult for businesses to organically reach their audience on social media platforms. Paying for ‘likes’ or ‘followers’ is becoming more common, but we are still clinging to the value of reaching our audience organically, even if it means that we have to work that much harder for it. So, here are some tips for all of the other ‘organic reach’ lovers of the marketing world!
Regardless of Algorithms, Quality Content is Always Key
There is no algorithm that discounts the value of quality content! If you want to reach your audience, you have to give them what they want – interesting, readable content that serves a purpose (even if that purpose is simply to make them laugh). Challenge yourself in 2016 to create the latest and greatest of content – chances are you will gain more followers, which automatically increases your reach potential.
Be Original
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Originality is irreplaceable to your marketing strategy and can easily be the key to keeping your business ahead of the competition. Gather up your marketing team and take some time to brainstorm new ideas for your 2016 social media strategy. Blending in certainly won’t help to improve any aspect of your business – stand out among the crowd, make it impossible for others not to notice your business, and improve your reach in 2016!
Experiment, Experiment, Experiment
It is nearly impossible to crack the algorithm code without some experimentation. In order to improve your reach, you must experiment with different tactics to do so. Which tactics, you might ask?
Different Types of Posts
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Which posts get the most interaction from your audience? If you haven’t been already, you need to be posting a variety of different content across social channels – photos, video, blog content, etc. This is how you find out which types of content that your audience craves, and that my friends, is the secret to improving your reach. We can go ahead and let you in on something that isn’t much of a secret – video content is killing it these days, so you may want to make some room for video marketing in 2016.
What time should I post?
Everyone likes to talk about “peak posting times” and things of that nature, but we have learned that there is no universal ‘peak’ time for posting. It pays off to experiment with posting at different times of the day and night, in order to discover what your own personal ‘peak posting times’ may be. Also, don’t hesitate to try posting at times that may seem to be ‘non-peak’ times – those times may prove to be successful at improving your reach.
Post Targeting
Facebook allows you to narrow your target audience for each individual search, and while that may seem like it would decrease your potential reach, that may not be the case. Narrowing your target audience can help to ensure that a particular post reaches all the right people, increasing audience interaction and in turn, improving your overall reach.
Measure and Track Your Reach
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Speaking of experimentation, if you aren’t measuring and/or tracking your reach with analytics then all of that experimentation is pointless. Most social media platforms have their own built in analytics that will provide you with the information that you need to track the reach of each individual post. Use these tools to your advantage, study the analytics of your reach in previous months and start experimenting and building your strategy for 2016.
Join us in reaching for the stars (and a larger audience) in the coming year – let’s crack the algorithm code and stay true to our organic reach values. Bring on 2016!
Do you want to improve your social media reach in 2016? Reach out to us at The Storyteller Agency. Call us at 850.267.0931 or send us an email to info@storytelleragency.com. We can provide you with creative content, video production and the marketing knowledge necessary to make 2016 your most successful year yet.