The social media supergiant Facebook always seems to have an upgrade for its users, and in this case it doesn’t come cheap. The latest in Facebook news is an algorithm that decreases a brand’s “reach,” which ultimately means fewer people are seeing posts from a brands page. This means that in order to reach more fans, a brand must increase its “Facebook” budget. Two years ago, reach was at 16 percent, today it can be as low as 2 percent depending on the brand—so what does this mean for brand pages and their content and how do we remedy this without paying an arm and a leg? One word: Engagement.

Now is the perfect time to focus on engagement. Since not many ‘new’ fans will be seeing your page, why not get the existing ones to join in on the conversation! We have listed a few ways to counter the new algorithm and maintain a brands page below.

• Content: Do your fans like Notes, Videos, Photos, Status updates or Links? Take a look under the “Posts” tab in Facebook insights to find out and adjust your content according to which type of posts gets the most interaction.
• Timing: When are your fans online? Again, take a look at your Facebook Insights under “Posts” to see what time of day your fans are on Facebook and schedule your posts to match that, otherwise you are shooting in the dark in hopes that your post shows up on fans timelines.
• Sharing: Your fans will always be your best promoters, and it’s time to rally the troops. Encourage fans to share your content- this will not only help increase organic reach but you get the chance to gain new fans!   
• Incentivize: Fans typically will not engage with a brand unless something is in it for them. Contests, Giveaways and Coupons are a great way to get fans involved and give them something in return. (Tip: Have the contestants share their picture for a better chance to win!)  
• Cross Promotion: All brands are facing the same challenge in reaching a broad audience-why not help each-other out? Find a complementary brand (preferably with a high number of page likes) and cross-promote. This benefits both brands as they will get access to a whole different pool of potential fans!  You can also cross-promote internally across all of your social media platforms to increase brand awareness.
• Streamline: Make sure your messaging is the same across all social media platforms. This includes Twitter, Instagram, Vine, etc. You don’t want fans getting confused about your brand due to separate messaging.

We hope these tips help you and your brand overcome the Facebook Reach obstacle. If you have any extra tips or tricks please comment below-we would love to hear your thoughts!

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