In this episode of Web Profits TV, Alex talks about the rapid decline of Facebook Organic Reach, why he thinks that’s a good thing, and what you should focus on instead.
Transcript
Hey, this is Alex Cleanthous, Chief Innovation Officer at Web Profits, and today I’ll be talking about the rapid decline of Facebook Organic Reach… and why I believe that’s a good thing.
Now for those of you who don’t know me, I have a stutter and it comes out when I get excited, and this stuff is exciting… so let’s get into it.
I know that Facebook’s move to kill organic reach has angered a lot of business owners. But I’m not here to argue whether what Facebook has done is ethical or not… because I don’t really care.
Things change all the time, and nothing changes faster than social media and online marketing.
What I think is far more important is how we adapt to change. And whether what Facebook has done is ethical or not, it’s happened, and we now need to adapt.
Personally I’m happy that Facebook has killed organic reach because it’s forcing businesses to be a lot more sophisticated in how they market on Facebook… and that’s created a lot of opportunity.
Personally, I’m more excited about Facebook and its ad platform that I’ve ever been, even when organic reach was high.
Now, based on my last few episodes of Web Profits TV, pushing Facebook Ads so hard, you might think that Facebook is sponsoring us or something 
Well they’re not.
I just know how powerful Facebook Ads can be for any business, if you have the right approach.
But let’s step back a second to Facebook Organic Reach.
If you’re a business that markets on Facebook, you need to let go of organic reach. If you can get it great, but it shouldn’t be your focus – if history is anything to go by, we can assume that Facebook will continually drive organic reach down to zero and make it a pay-to-play game for businesses.
And if you’re a business that wants to maintain a steady growth trajectory, you need to be able to spend money on advertising and make a profit… you can’t just rely on ‘free’ traffic.
In my opinion, I think what Facebook is doing is a good thing. Not only for users, but also for businesses – because if a business is forced to pay to get a post in front of their audience, then they’re really going to make sure it’s damn good, and that’s good for everyone.
It also means that the businesses that produce the best content, and know how to best leverage it using Facebook Ads, will win. And right now, there aren’t too many businesses that know how to do this effectively… although I’m certain that will change.
We still have clients who ask us how to maximise organic reach, and it’s a good question. But a better question is to ask ‘how much is it actually worth, in advertising dollar equivalent, to reach the same amount of people as you would organically?’ It’s really not that much.
But the difference you’ll see in advertising a post using Facebook Ads is significant. I’m talking 10x to 100x organic reach, often for less than a couple of hundred dollars.
Now when I say something like that, the first thing I often hear is ‘that sounds expensive for promoting content’ – and it is… unless you have a strategy that is designed to convert people who read that content into email subscribers, leads and sales – but I’ll cover that in another episode.
Facebook Organic Reach is nearly dead. My advice is not to focus on it at all, and instead start using Facebook Ads to promote your very best content.
Facebook Ads are here to stay, and Facebook Organic Reach is dying. If you’re serious about leveraging the biggest social network in the world (and you should be) then you need to get comfortable using Facebook Ads. And remember, they’re awesome.
At Web Profits we’re on a mission to change the way business is done online. To find out more about some of our latest initiatives get in touch at webprofits.com.au
I’d love to hear what you think, so if you have any thoughts at all, please post them in the comment section below this video. And if you like what you heard, do us a favour and share this video. We love word-of-mouth.
Talk soon.
