There is an ongoing debate over the significance of Facebook organic reach versus advertising. In case you aren’t familiar with the difference, here’s a quick primer. Facebook organic reach is the total number of unique people who saw your post through unpaid dissemination. Paid reach is the total number of unique people who saw your post as a result of ads.

With Facebook changing its News Feed algorithm to decrease dissemination of highly promotional content, and wind that users will notice these changes beginning in January 2015, marketers are reluctant to think of Facebook organic reach as a viable element of their content marketing strategy.

Content has become easier and more common to share in large volumes, making the clutter of fellow competitors increasingly tricky to maneuver. Facebook has always been on the path to better user experiences, so inevitably changes were going to be made to only feature the highest quality content.

The big question is, how do they decide what is high quality? To answer that quickly, the more people who engage with your content, the “higher” quality it is. If you ask me, it’s hard to determine because if reach is declining and less people engage with the content, Facebook looks at it as low quality resulting in a smaller reach for future posts. Sounds like a downward spiral.

Despite the negativity brands are still able to garner a generous monthly reach over their audience, and should understand that organic reach is far more important than its distribution conveys. Plus there are ways to get around declining reach. I’ve noticed is when you schedule your posts, they get less action. When you post live you’ll get more views.

Besides this tactical trick, by providing and posting great content and engaging with your audience while empowering them to share on their personal networks, organic reach will increase. You just may not be able to measure it all.

Here are 3 reasons that Facebook organic reach is still the most important:

1. Authentic reach to a listening audience

Organic reach only spreads if the content is worth spreading. With that said when you are authentic and real in your marketing communications, people respond to it better and it has a better chance to being seen. We are so inundated with ads that we often times just pass them over. It’s fake and we know it.

2. Longer lasting results

Just like when you diet, if you want the best results you have to actually stick with it. You can stop eating so much for a few days and loose some weight, but the minute you go back to your regular habits the weight comes right back on. The same is true for marketing. You can advertise, but the minute you stop the results are lost. With organic conversations it takes longer but once you build your audience they will be there.

3. More conversational

The more conversational your content is, the further it spreads. The nature of social media propels this because with more people commenting and engaging, more of their personal networks have the opportunity to see the content. It’s the ripple effect.

Conclusion

Advertising is a great way to boost and amplify specific events and or campaigns. But you are going to get the best results if you can communicate with your audience and have them help you amplify your reach through ambassadorship and sharing to their own networks. That’s how you achieve organic greatness.

About the author

Stephanie Frasco is currently the VP of Social Media for ConvertWithContent, 
a content marketing company that specializes in blogging, social media, and search to help small businesses engage online, retain customers, and continue growing.

She is also the author of the popular Socially Stephanie column on SocialMediaToday. Stephanie graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with a B.S. in Journalism.

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