Can You Beat the Social Media Algorithm with Funeral Home Marketing?

Average organic reach on Facebook is hovering somewhere below 5% at the moment. Learn what that means, what the reach on other platforms might be, and how you can increase your funeral home social media marketing reach.

What Is Organic Reach?
Organic reach on social media refers to how many people see the content you post for free. These are the status updates on your profiles, and they’re contrasted with sponsored posts and ads.

For example, organic reach on Facebook averages less than 5%. That means if you have 1,000 followers, 50 or fewer are likely to see something you post.

Why? Because social media platforms are businesses and ad revenue is one of their income lines. It’s not in their best interest to ensure you have tons of free organic reach.

What Is a Social Media Algorithm?
Social media algorithms are the programs that decide which posts are displayed to each user. Social platforms are constantly tweaking these algorithms. They say the point is to provide users with the most relevant, valuable content available.

To that end, algorithms are usually programmed to show users more content from people and brands they’ve consistently engaged with in the past.

How to Increase Your Reach and Beat the Algorithm
The truth is you can’t totally beat the algorithms with free content. If you really want more reach and engagement on Facebook or other social sites, you will need to pay for it in the form of sponsored posts and advertising.

But you can hedge your bets by creating content people want to see and engage with. The more people share, save, like, and comment, the higher your content gets prioritized in the social media algorithms.

You’ll have to do the research to find out what resonates best with your target audience, but here are a few best practice tips to try:

• Include pictures and videos. Image content gets far more engagement on social media than text alone.
• Post questions, polls, and calls to action (CTAs). Tell people how or what to comment, and they’re more likely to engage.
• Ask for shares. Let people know the best way to support your social page is to share your content. You might be surprised how many people do.