News

A lot has been said over the last few months about the DEATH of organic reach on Facebook. For DJs and producers relying on free marketing channels like social media this represents a big concern.

Most of what you are hearing is bullshit. Articles put together by people who are either misinformed or trying to benefit from the click bait (‘Top ten reasons why you are likely to become a transsexual and join the circus’ CLICK HERE to find out ) factor of headlines like ‘Facebook is Dead.’ Organic/unpaid reach is not dead. It has certainly come down over time and it is definitely tough to reach a lot of people with posts but it is not dead. Organic reach has been down for a very long time and most of us have already adjusted to it. Facebook has been bringing it down for a number of reasons. The most obvious one is that they want page users to pay-to-play and spend money on their advertising services. As a publicly traded company Facebook now has a responsibility to its shareholders to increase their $$$. Another reason is to improve the user experience.

When organic reach was at its peak we would see heaps of posts from pages that we probably didn’t care about. We may have liked them ages ago for one reason or another but had no interest in the stuff they post on a regular basis. Over time Facebook’s magic wand (a complex algorithm constantly monitoring how users interact with posts) has been stripping things back and pages are no longer getting access to every person that clicked ‘Like’ on their page with everything they post. Most Page owners now only reach a fraction of their page fans but the important thing to note is that it’s not zero.

Photo by Voena

Facebook organic reach is not dead

According to the Agora Pulse page barometer the average reach for overall pages is sitting at 16.5%

For pages between 1000 – 10000 it’s 13.8%

For pages with fewer than 1000 it’s 24.7%

Is it a small fraction of the people that have actually ‘liked’ your page? Yes. Is it likely these numbers could decrease further? Yes Is organic reach dead? No

Facebook has stated that on average there are 1500 potential posts that could appear on a person’s news feed each time they log on. For people with lots of friends and page likes as many as 15,000 potential posts could appear. Facebook news feed only displays approximately 300 of these potential stories. With so much competition and only a fraction of that able to be shown to people, a filter must be used. Facebook filters through the potential posts to provide the most relevant posts to each specific user based on the way we have interacted with Facebook content in the past.

Photo by Voena

What you can do about it

Post Quality Relevant Shit

Facebook attempts to filter posts in a way that helps people see more of the stuff they care about and less of the crap they don’t. Try to look at this as an opportunity. Your page reach is now quality over quantity. The people you reach are likely to be the people who gave a crap in the past (liked, commented, shared content etc). Turn your posts into quality over quantity. Less viral cat videos and more content that represents who you are as a brand. Make sure everything you post has relevance to your page. You shouldn’t be constantly spamming promotional content either. Think about who your audience is (ie underground techno fans) and post content with relevance that gives value to them (ie share underground music with them that you have discovered). The more value you give with your posts that is relevant to your target audience, the more they will be the ones interacting with your posts. This means that they are the ones more likely to be that small percentage of people Facebook lets you reach next time you post… In other words, a small loyal tribe of people who actually give a shit about what you’re selling (and didn’t just come there for the viral cat video you posted). That doesn’t sound too bad does it?

Build a ‘Street Team’

Build a community of people you can rely on to support your material whenever you post something. This street team is usually made up of friends and family. They give your posts early engagement and the ripple effect of them liking/commenting/sharing your post increases the organic reach of your posts.

Post at Prime Time

Use the ‘Insights’ tab on your page to tell you exactly when the right time is to post. Picking the best times to post gives you a fighting chance that more people will see and engage with your post.

Test and Measure

Pay attention to your previous posts and the results you get. Repeat the stuff that works well. Don’t completely write off the stuff that doesn’t. If you do a text status update and it doesn’t get much action don’t jump to the conclusion that text posts won’t work for you. Try everything a few times from different angles (time, post type, topic etc) before writing them off.

Advertise

Yes we said it, advertise. It’s not exactly a scam. Facebook advertising is very cheap compared to most other advertising platforms. If you can spare a few dollars every week to spend on building your brand you should do it. Facebook advertising can be extremely effective if you take a little time to learn about it and invest a little money in the right areas.

Explore other Platforms

Facebook isn’t the end of the line for free marketing. There are heaps of platforms that many people have been too scared, lazy or uninterested to try. The rest of them are already on there and one step ahead of you! Twitter is a great channel for artists allowing you to build a global community of followers and also easily interact with other artists like yourself. Instagram, Google+, Youtube the list goes on. For dj/producers there are even more niche platforms popping up every day… Resources like 8tracks that help get your music discovered worldwide with a little bit of effort. Always remember to do a little homework and come up with a strategy that is right for the platform.

Go Offline

Yes we live in the digital age but that doesn’t mean you can’t get results doing things the old fashioned way. Go offline and think of unique ways to stand out and get attention in the real world. With everyone else putting all their eggs in the online basket you might just stand out simply because you are the only one that dared to unplug.

If you are a DJ/producer or anyone else trying to grow your brand and you don’t have piles of cash on hand, don’t despair. There are plenty of resources available if you are willing to put some work into it.

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Written by Emanuel Freer from Mpire Creative

Email: [email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/mpirecreativ

Mpire Creative (The business and marketing arm of Mpire Entertainment) is an industry marketing agency working with artists, venues and event organisers. They have handled marketing and social media for some of the major venues and events in Sydney