How do I get more people to see my Facebook posts and ads?

It’s the question of the hour.  I bet you are starting to buy into the idea (pun intended) that you have to purchase an ad or boost a post for your Facebook followers to see it.  You are only part right.

Simply buying an ad won’t assure the best results.  Have you ever gone to buy a Facebook ad and the gauge off to the right says that anywhere from 1,000-4,500 people will see your ad in a day, with a disclaimer that this is only an estimate based on other ads in your category?  That’s a pretty wide range, right?  You’ll only get more frustrated when you run the ad and only 800 people see it!   What gives?

What gives is that Facebook is trying to balance allowing their subscribers to dictate content while pleasing advertisers (and therefore, Facebook’s stockholders.)  They are straddling the fence of how to make as much money as possible without upsetting the culture they’ve created.

As frustrating as this is for any organization that is paying money for exposure, we can respect that Facebook executives do have the best interest of their subscribers in mind.  They are looking to deliver the best custom content to over a billion people.  The only way to do that is to watch how people are interacting, then deliver more of what people are responding to.

WHAT DICTATES WHAT SHOWS UP IN A USER’S FEED?

Facebook shows posts in your feed from Friends and Pages that you engage with.  Ever wonder, “Hey, what happened to Joe?  Did he leave Facebook?”  Then you go to his page to find that he posts every day.  Why aren’t you seeing his posts?  It’s because you don’t like, share or comment on his posts so Facebook assumes you have no interest in his content.

Only so many posts can show up in your feed in a day.  On top of that, you can only read so many posts in a day.  Facebook uses its algorithms to serve you the posts it thinks you will be most interested in based on the information you put in your profile and the pages and people you have liked and interacted with.  The same applies to ads.  You will see ads whether you like it or not, but Facebook works hard to only serve you ads that you will find interesting.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOUR BUSINESS OR NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION…

1. Content rules.  You can’t just post whatever you want.  You have to study the demographic of your following and create content that calls them to action.  You have to get people to engage (like, comment, share) to improve your page “ranking”.  The better your ranking, the more people will organically see your posts, without having to buy Boosts and Ads.

2. Reel in the right people. It also means that you have to attract the right audience as you grow your “Likes”.  You need to attract people that will interact with your content or having those wrong people just decreases your page ranking.

3. Know when to buy ads and how to create them.  You have been given the ability to target your specific audience out of over a billion people with a click of a button AND you can set your own budget!   This really is a best case scenario for any organization, but you have to play by Facebook’s rules to get more views on your ads.

HOW DO YOU MAXIMIZE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT SEE YOUR ADS?

Facebook knows that if they flood subscriber’s feeds with ads that they won’t find interesting, those subscribers will stop using Facebook as much.  Everyone loses.  Facebook.  Advertisers.  People who come to Facebook for an authentic social experience.  Everyone.

Creating an ad that is appealing and targets the correct audience is going to get you more views.  You have to take the time to create a compelling visual, write copy that will call people to action, and enter in the proper audience parameters when creating an ad.  You have to create an ad that Facebook feels is valuable to its users.  If you do this right, more people will see your ad.

Look I get it.  This is all a lot of information with a lot of intangibles.  You may be thinking, I just need this Facebook thing to work for me!  I have people to reach and a message from God to spread.  Is Facebook really that complicated?  Simply put, Yes.  Yes it is.  That’s why we are here to help.

Ask us about or Social Marketing Management solutions for your Business or Non-Profit.  Contact a FrontGate Engagement Specialist at 949-429-1000 or via our web site.