Maximise Organic Social Media Reach to Slash Your Paid Ad Spend
Social media has transformed into a formidable force that empowers businesses to connect with their target audiences and showcase their offerings. However, the escalating costs of paid advertising on social media platforms can hinder businesses from achieving their goals within budget constraints.
An effective solution to combat rising paid ad expenses is to amplify your organic social media reach. After all, organic social media reach is free, and it can help you build a strong presence in the digital space. It also allows you to build relationships with your customers and meaningfully interact with them – all without having to incur expenses for their attention.
This article delves into how businesses can bolster their organic social media reach and significantly reduce paid ad spending.
Understanding Organic Reach
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok employ intricate algorithms to decide which posts to surface in people’s newsfeeds. This means that you can never be sure which posts will appear on any given user’s timeline and how many people will see it.
All these platforms have their own criteria for deciding the reach of a post. For instance, each time a user refreshes their newsfeed on Facebook, a selection of the latest posts, stories and reels will aggregate in accordance with his or her individual interests and the likelihood that this person will engage with the content at hand.
This ranking is then presented to the viewer according to estimated interest levels – not necessarily chronologically. Additionally, some posts may contain content that does not align with the platform’s community guidelines, leading to further suppression of reach. For that reason, it is essential to gain an in-depth comprehension of each platform’s algorithms and nuances before you invest your time creating new content.
Crafting Compelling Video Content
A vital aspect of amplifying organic social media reach is the creation of compelling content that captivates the target audience, encouraging them to interact with your business’s social media page.
The type of content you opt to create should depend on the platform you are using and who your target audience is. For example, TikTok and YouTube are made for videos, while Twitter and Pinterest are great for images.
With that said, video content has witnessed a surge in popularity on social media platforms in recent times, and for good reason. Snackable, vertical post formats like Reels, Stories and Shorts have taken over all the platforms in an attempt to keep up with TikTok. So for most businesses, videos should be a go-to when it comes to content creation that maximises reach.
If you feel like you don’t have the editing or storytelling skills to create compelling videos from scratch, you can use Videoleap to create amazing content without any prior technical knowledge. This mobile app, offered by Lightricks, includes huge libraries of community-shared templates, which you can use as-is by plugging in your own footage, or you can customise them as you like in the full editor, adjusting titles, stickers, transitions, soundtracks and even AI filters.
Harnessing the Power of Hashtags
While it’s true that the platform algorithms are in a constant state of flux, hashtags can still help you reach a wider audience when used correctly.
At the very least, they help categorise content and facilitate users’ search for content related to specific topics. Thus, using relevant and popular hashtags on your posts can help you get noticed by the right people and make your content more discoverable.
Once again, the number and type of hashtags that you should use largely depends on the platform you’re using. While Instagram allows you to include 30 hashtags for each post, one study found that the optimal number of hashtags for boosting engagement is between two and four.
Use tools such as Sprout Social to research the best hashtags for your industry. Also, you can (and should) create your own hashtags, and then use social listening tools to track any mentions.
Engaging With Your Audience
Engaging with followers and potential customers is an essential component of successful social media marketing. Make it a point to respond to comments and messages, showing your audience that you value their opinions and are eager to foster relationships.
This, in turn, will help you establish a strong connection with your followers, driving them to take action and convert.
Furthermore, businesses should try to create conversations around their posts; ask questions or reply with witty comments that invite engagement from their followers and encourage them to share their experiences.
Encouraging user-generated content (UGC) can also significantly increase engagement, boost credibility, and expand your reach. This type of content not only showcases your products or services in action but also provides social proof and authentic endorsements from real customers. In fact, many find UGC to be more trustworthy than content posted by brands, so it’s definitely worth the effort.
Utilising the Right Keywords
Keywords, another vital tool for social media strategies, are phrases relevant to your business or the content you’re sharing.
Most marketers think of keywords as being important for content discoverability on Google search, but they’re important for social media as well. By embedding relevant keywords in social media posts, businesses improve the chances of their content appearing in social search results and consequently, boosting organic reach.
What’s more, if you use keywords that speak to your audience’s interests, then when your content does appear in their newsfeeds, they’ll be more likely to engage, which then sends signals to the algorithm that your content is worthy of surfacing for more audience members.
To effectively use keywords to your advantage, businesses should conduct research to pinpoint the most relevant and impactful keywords and hashtags for their industry. With the help of tools such as SEMrush, businesses can research and track keywords relevant to their industry’s social media content.
Analysing and Fine-tuning Performance
Finally, analysing and optimising performance is an integral part of refining your social media strategy. By adopting a data-driven approach, you can ensure that your efforts yield the best possible results. Start by identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with your business objectives. These may include metrics like engagement, reach, conversions, or follower growth.
Utilise social media analytics tools to monitor your performance and identify areas for improvement. These tools can provide valuable insights into your audience’s preferences, the effectiveness of your content, and the overall success of your campaigns.
Assessing and adjusting your content and engagement strategies based on this data is crucial for maximising organic reach. Some strategies you may employ include A/B testing different types of content or calls-to-action, adapting to audience preferences and trends, and making iterative improvements to your campaigns.
The Takeaway
Amplifying organic social media reach is an effective strategy for businesses to reduce their paid advertising expenses and enhance their ROI. By understanding the functioning of algorithms across different social media platforms and implementing efficient organic social media strategies, businesses can engage their target audience and boost interaction without incurring hefty advertising costs.
Just keep in mind that it takes time to get your organic social media strategy right, so be patient and diligent in your efforts.
