Many industry analysts agree that organic reach for company Facebook Pages is now as low as 2%, and some speculate it’s even lower (without sponsoring those posts). You must pay to play.
If you aren’t boosting your company’s social media posts, you’re just talking to yourself. You’re barely reaching your target audience and your social media engagement is low. It’s challenging to increase social reach and engagement, and ever-changing algorithms make it more so.
A 2017 study shows that Facebook Page engagements have dropped by 20 percent. In January 2018, 55 percent of marketers saw a significant decrease in their pages’ organic reach. Also in January, Facebook announced it would begin to alter its News Feed to focus more on connecting people, making posts from businesses and media less prominent. These algorithm changes require us to be more selective about what we publish for our clients and when we publish. We recommend our clients spend money to “boost” their posts.
"Many industry analysts agree that organic reach for company Facebook Pages is now as low as 2%, and some speculate it’s even lower (without sponsoring those posts)."
Social media channels like Facebook hold company page content back from news feeds because they want companies to spend more money to reach their audiences – and they want audiences to spend less time viewing content that isn’t relative to them. It’s great for the consumer and social media’s revenue, and a big challenge for companies and social media managers.
We’ll explain what boosting is, how companies benefit from it, and how much a company should invest in their boosting budget.
What’s a boosted Facebook post?
Boosting a post on your company’s Facebook Page means reaching more people – for a fee. The more money you put behind a boosted post, the more people see your post in their news feeds. When boosting, you’ll target a specific audience by age, gender, location, demographics, interests, and behaviors, as well as set a timeline and a budget.
LinkedIn calls this sponsoring and Twitter calls it promoting – similar concepts, all boiling down to paying to play.
How can companies benefit from boosting?
Boosting is extremely beneficial, as you can pinpoint exactly who you want to see your content. Make sure you understand your company’s target audience and what that audience’s interests are. If you aren’t sure who your target audience is, implementing a Facebook pixel is a great place to start.
How much should you invest?
At Axia Public Relations, we recommend all our clients – and anyone managing social media for a company – have a dedicated budget for boosting posts. This budget can come from at least 10 percent of your current digital advertising budget and/or you can invest 10 percent of your social media budget to start – and as you see great results, invest more into it!
Growing your social media following is challenging, especially when social media channels continue to make updates and implement new tools. As industry experts, Axia can manage your social media profiles and efficiently engage and reach your target audiences, creating opportunities for conversations to happen between you and your customers. Download Axia’s complimentary “Essential Social Media Management Guide” today to find more tips to help you succeed on social media.
Becca McClure is a passionate public relations professional who works on various client social media accounts and public relations campaigns. Clients love her infectious positive attitude and her strong work ethic. Becca joined the Axia Public Relations team in February 2016. Learn more about Becca McClure. Connect with Axia on Twitter @axiapr or tell us what you think in the comments below.
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Topics: investment, shared media
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