Organic reach on a Facebook page refers to how many people you can reach for free by posting to your Page. But as many people who manage a Facebook page may have noticed, the organic reach of posts has declined significantly over the last few months.

Here’s What Facebook is Saying

Brian Boland of the Ads Product Marketing team at Facebook published an article recently in response to the influx of questions from users regarding their concerns about the decline in organic reach for their Facebook pages.

He said: “My colleagues and I at Facebook understand that this has been a pain point for many businesses, and we’re committed to helping you understand what’s driving this change so your business can succeed on Facebook.”

So, Why is Organic Facebook Reach Declining?

Boland explained that the organic reach is declining due to the increased competition for spots in the News Feed. The more content that is being created and shared every day, the harder it is for businesses to gain exposure in the News Feed.

Facebook’s News Feed is designed in such a way that it shows the content that it deems as most relevant to each individual, rather than all the possible content that they could be shown. Therefore, although the average number of stories that could appear in a person’s News Feed each time they log in is 1,500, the News Feed displays only about 300.

Facebook’s News Feed Algorithm

But if you’re anything like me, this might annoy you somewhat! I want to be shown all my news, in chronological order, from all of my friends, and from all of the pages I like. Is that too much to ask? According to Boland, it is, and he states that this ‘real time’ approach has limits. He explained: “People only have so much time to consume stories, and people often miss content that isn’t toward the top when they log on. This means they often do not see the content that’s most valuable to them.”

In response to those who would prefer to see everything, every piece of content from every friend and page, Bolan stated the following: “In our tests, we’ve always found that the News Feed ranking system offers people a better, more engaging experience on Facebook. Additionally, given the amount of content in the average News Feed, using a real-time system for content would actually cause Pages’ organic reach to decrease further.”

Is Organic Reach Dropping Because Facebook is Trying to Make More Money?

Isn’t this the question on everyone’s lips?! Bolan’s response to this is as follows: “No. Our goal is always to provide the best experience for the people that use Facebook. We believe that delivering the best experiences for people also benefits the businesses that use Facebook. If people are more active and engaged with stories that appear in News Feed, they are also more likely to be active and engaged with content from businesses.”

Using Facebook Effectively for Your Business

After this flat ‘no’ from Bolan, which understandably many are sceptical about, how can you move forward to use Facebook effectively for your business? Despite the clear indication that the more you pay, the more your fans see, Bolan insists that organic content still has value on Facebook. Bolan said: “Pages that publish great content — content that teaches people something, entertains them, makes them think, or in some other way adds value to their lives — can still reach people in News Feed.”

Social Media Management Sheffield

As experts in social media management Sheffield, Seven Creative would love to hear your thoughts on this. Do you want to see a complete, unfiltered, real-time Facebook News Feed, or are you happy with the way that the Facebook algorithm arranges your content? Have you seen a decrease in the organic reach of your Facebook page recently?