The Challenges of Getting Your Posts To Show Up In Facebook’s News Feeds

Even with all the controversy that Facebook has been experiencing lately, nobody can deny that it is still one of the top players in the social media arena. With over 1 billion daily users Facebook is a primary resource in the social media marketing game for most companies when it comes to branding and advertising.

My first experience using Facebook for marketing was back in 2008 when I launched an eCommerce business. Each day I would post a featured item and by the end of the day that item would be sold out of stock.

At the time, I was constantly testing and studying digital marketing methods and became so obsessed that, to make things more interesting, I took on a handful of clients. Back then it was somewhat easy to find success reaching our target audience on Facebook. The best part about it was, it was all done organically (without using paid ads).

These days, as the Facebook platform gets over-saturated with marketers and advertisers trying to promote their products and services, you are lucky if you can get your paid post to shows up in a news feed, let alone your organic posts. Not to mention that organic reach has decreased down to about 2%. Add to the equation the task of staying on top of the constant changes to the algorithms, policies and targeting tool updates, it has become almost impossible.

One of the factors that determines which posts show up in a user’s Facebook News Feed is the amount of engagement a post receives. When a post gets a lot of shares, likes, and comments, it signals Facebook that users who have liked that page, would probably be interested in that content posted by the page. Making it more likely that it will show up in a fan’s News Feed.

Sounds perfect, right? Exactly how you’d expect that system to work, except the problem is it’s harder to get those likes, comments and shares when your posts aren’t being seen by a large portion of your audience. It’s kind of a catch-22. You need engagement to show up in your fans’ News Feed, but you need to show up in their News Feed to get the engagement.

Although it seems almost impossible to get your organic post in your followers and other News Feeds, there are a few hacks that you can do to improve results when trying to reach your audience and boost your Facebook engagement. Here are a few examples:

1. Share a variety of post types

If you want people to engage with your Facebook posts, you need to share content that will interest them. Businesses often assume just because they’re in a certain industry, all the content that they post should be directly related to that field.

Balance things out by posting content that is related to your industry, but also helpful or educational to your viewers, something that ads value so they’re more likely to engage with your Facebook posts.

2. Review your past posts that have gotten satisfactory engagement

Why try to completely reinvent the wheel? Sometimes the best way to get additional Facebook engagement is to publish more of the same type of content that you’ve had success with in the past. Identify your strongest performing content and create more like it.

3. Use attractive and eye catching photos

Although people often complain about others posting pictures on Facebook every time they accomplish a new task in their day, the fact is we’re still looking. Photographs are the most engaging type of content shared on Facebook, making up 75% of all posts, with video running close behind.

Many businesses fall short by posting stock images rather than original pictures. Instead of relying on generic photos, use your phone or camera to take some real pictures. Posts containing original photos feel more personal and organic.

4. Respond to posts and comments on your page

Engaging and responding to comments posted on your page should be on the top of your list. You should check your comments throughout the day so that you can reply as quickly as possible. The longer you wait, the less likely the conversation is to continue.

Make users feel heard and appreciated, and they’ll be more willing to engage with your future posts as well.

5. Pay attention to post timing

One of the reasons Facebook News Feeds have changed the way content is displayed is due to the growing amount of content being published. As more brands and people started joining Facebook, the number of posts went up as well. Generating a lot of competition.

The trick is to post when engagement is the highest, not necessarily when the most users are logged in. Although most people tend to check their Facebook during the day time, the most engagement happens at night. Statistics show that posts published between 10 p.m. and midnight (local time) receive the most engagement.

It’s a good idea to test different times between the most engaging hours to find out what works best for your company.

6. Ask friends and other people to engage

Ask friends and followers to engage with your posts to create activity. Get in the habit of ending every blog post you publish with some sort of call to action. It’s not going to make everyone hit the Facebook share button, but it’s a good reminder.

7. Use Facebook Video

Over the past few years Facebook has decided to dedicate a lot of time and resources into its own native video platform. Because of this, Facebook favors direct video uploads over videos embedded from YouTube and other third party video sites.

Studies show that engagement with Facebook native video vs. YouTube videos published on Facebook receive:

• Two times more comments
• Three times more shares

• Seven times more comments
• Two times more reach

8. Shorten Your Posts

Studies show that Facebook posts between 0-50 characters long receive the most engagement. People don’t go on Facebook to read long form content.

Treat your posts like headlines. Use them to pull people in and entice them to click through to your website to read the full story.

These are just a few tips to help improve your post reach and engagement on Facebook. Stick to it and after a few months you’re sure to notice results.