21 Tips to Optimize Your Social Media Reach Organically

December 21, 2022

The number of inorganic—or paid—promotions marketers implement today is staggering. It's hard to find quality content not being pushed inorganically.

They designed social media networks such as Facebook and Instagram with the sole intention of providing the best possible means for brands to market their products inorganically.

This doesn't mean organic traffic can't grow, but it’s more complicated than before. Here’s how to go about it…
 

How does social media organic reach work, and why is it declining?

Organic reach is the number of users who came across branded content with no paid sponsorship, mostly on their feed.

The average content's reach without marketing is much lower than that of sponsored posts, so the algorithms of these social platforms favor the latter.
 

How to improve your organic reach on any social media platform

1. Learn the best approach for each social media platform

Each platform has its own unique set of rules—find expert tips and the best advice on navigating each one. Here’s a great piece on the types of social platforms.

Platforms like Instagram might be big on crisp photos while others might not. Discover what flies on each social network.

To get the most visibility, brands need to create content optimized for specific audiences.
 

2. Know the individual algorithms

Every social media platform has different algorithms that govern what you see. Most of these programs feed people with posts they’re highly likely to engage with.

Videos are one content type where it is easier to encourage engagement on almost all platforms (compared to text-only posts).
 

3. Pay most attention to the platform most suitable for your brand

There will always be a platform where you get the most out of your brand. Focus more on this channel by investing more time and resources while still paying attention to other media.

For instance, Instagram would probably be the best spot for a fashion brand.
 

4. Develop a steadfast content strategy

A reliable social media strategy demands creativity and time, so brands need to study their audience (as well as their needs and interests) to achieve this.

With analytic tools like Insights, you can easily discern what your followers want to see and fuse it into your content.
 

5. Link your contents and profiles creatively

Brands need to maintain a steady, singular presence across all channels. You should style the content to suit each platform, but they should have a common selling point or brand message.
 

6. Focus on value

Value never goes out of style, which is why engaging content needs to fulfill the needs of your followers.

Those needs could be information, motivation, humor, or anything else.

Use the values they prefer to get more of their attention! That’s how you deliver engaging content.
 

7. Be consistently awesome

Being outstanding can come back to bite you if it’s not consistent. Some brands record a high surge in followers and then drop drastically because of inconsistency.

Keep an eye on your most successful and engaging content, and replicate that level of greatness always.
 

8. Connect with people

Consumers want to see faces on their TV screens, phones, and laptops. We all want to connect with brands that have faces to them.

We want content that reflects our reality, and faces are the best way to do this.

Also, avoid being too abstract and keep things grounded.
 

9. Collaborate and tag

How can you engage with your consumers? One way is by involving followers, brands, or influencers who are interested in what you do.

Brands can take advantage of their social media presence by reposting and tagging customer content while collaborating with other brands for mutual network growth.

Having familiar faces in your content will make viewers more likely to engage with it.
 

10. Engage your employees

The best place to find the most motivated brand advocates is within your business.

Ensure your staff interacts with your brand on social media, leading to your following viral organic content.

Plus, consumers tend to trust non-executive employees of a brand.
 

11. Interact and engage your followers

Monitor your followers - especially those who share a lot of engaging content. Follow back and engage with those who matter most to you.

You can also force motivated interactions and engagements. Think about running contests to get people excited.
 

12. Call for engagement

Social media is a great way to engage with your followers and target audience.

Research has shown that questions are one of the best ways to do this, so think of a question related to your brand and use it to provoke opinions.
 

13. Respond as fast and often as possible

It's crucial to have a presence on social media, so you'll have to be tuned in as much as possible.

The pace of social media might force people to visit your competition because you're not responding fast enough.
 

14. Stage virtual events

Instagram Live, Twitter Space, and other virtual events can effectively promote your brand to a large audience.

Streaming an event will often make followers anticipate the content of the event.

Makeup brands can do a live stream with a makeup artist, demonstrating how to use the products and showing other aspects of the makeup industry that might not be available otherwise!
 

15.  Find the perfect blend between promotional & useful content

You don’t want to force your products down the throat of social media users.

Balance your posts with elements your customers can relate to—like humor, information, or style.
 

16. Quality over quantity

The key to good marketing is providing your audience with content that they actually want to read.

Don't force your product on them, but promote it respectfully.

Make sure that whenever you post, it gets the projected reach. More so, spend time creating and organizing your content to come out above standard.

The more you focus on creating high-quality content, the more successful you will be at marketing—and the less likely people are to run away from your page.
 

17. Ensure that your posts come at the right time

Free photos of ClocksSince your reach doesn't come from paid promotion, you might need to get a better sense of timing.

Consider when your audience is most likely to be engaged and post content at the right time.

For example, on major holidays, make sure you include timely content.
 

18. Post evergreen content

Try to create content that is timeless and won't become irrelevant anytime soon.

Content your readers will still enjoy weeks/months/years later because that will make them come back for more.

On another note, there’s never a good time to caption-date your content, so avoid it as much as possible.
 

19. Take a look at your competitors

Your competitors play a significant role in how well you’re performing in your industry. If you don’t check, you won’t know if you’re lagging.

If their marketing techniques are generating more sales and engagement, then you should learn from them as soon and as much as possible.

You can likewise use social listening to find and steal their dissatisfied customers.
 

20. Use targeting to maximize organic potential

Free photos of DartsTo maximize organic reach, brands have to focus on targeting users likely to engage with their content.

Of course, this is not always accurate. But when marketing a new product, try researching the type of people most likely to be interested in your message.
 

21. Put a limit to automation

There's a lot of automation in the social media space right now, and it can be tempting to add it to your strategy, but you'll need to be cognizant of when the time is right.

For instance, some brands blindly link their profiles such that they duplicate content across platforms. This goes back to our first few points.
 

Key takeaways

Organic social media marketing still has a place, but you need to be highly creative and offer better quality.

Brands need to find out what their customers are looking for on each social media platform and strategically share it with them.

It’s great to know you don't have to pay to go viral.

Cheers and good luck!

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