Facebook limits the reach of posts for a variety of reasons. The main goal is to show users the content that is most relevant to them and avoid overloading their News Feeds. Limiting reach encourages businesses and creators to produce high-quality content that resonates with their target audience. Understanding how reach works can help pages make informed decisions about their posting strategy.
How does Facebook determine post reach?
When you post something on Facebook, it doesn’t automatically go to all of your followers. Instead, Facebook’s algorithm decides who will see it. The number of people who actually see your post is the “reach.”
There are a few key factors that influence reach:
- Page affinity – How closely connected your followers feel to your page based on their past interactions.
- Competition – The number of other posts and ads competing for attention at the same time.
- Post quality – Factors like relevance, timeliness, engagement rates, etc.
- Paid promotion – Reach increases when you use ads to boost posts.
Pages with a more engaged audience tend to see better organic reach. But even then, Facebook will limit reach once a post starts gaining a lot of traction.
Why does Facebook limit reach?
Facebook wants the News Feed experience to be relevant, timely and enjoyable. Limiting reach on posts helps them achieve that in a few key ways:
Encouraging meaningful interactions
If posts from pages and advertisers dominated the News Feed, it would be overwhelming. Limiting reach encourages businesses to foster meaningful interactions with fans rather than spam lots of promotional posts hoping something sticks.
Preventing over-saturation
Seeing the same post over and over would create a poor user experience. Limiting reach prevents over-saturation and gives more diverse content a chance to be seen.
Promoting new content
New and timely posts are prioritized in the News Feed. Limiting reach on older posts helps spotlight fresh content.
Incentivizing ads
Facebook is a business, after all. By limiting organic reach, they encourage brands to put money behind posts they want more people to see. Paid reach is not limited in the same way.
How does limiting post reach impact my Facebook marketing?
Understanding that your post’s reach will be limited right off the bat is important for setting expectations. You shouldn’t rely on any one post reaching all of your audience. Here are some best practices to work within the system:
- Engage your audience – Loyal, engaged followers will see more of your posts.
- Post consistently – Don’t go quiet for long periods between posts.
- Pay for promotion – Use Facebook and Instagram ads to amplify reach.
- Analyze performance – Track reach data to identify what works.
- Optimize for engagement – Prioritize quality over quantity of posts.
Use an evergreen posting strategy
Evergreen content is relevant year-round. Mixing in evergreen posts with time-sensitive content can help extend their reach over time. For example, a post about your company’s founding story could be relevant any time of year.
Fine-tune with Facebook analytics
Use Facebook Insights and Creator Studio to analyze your page’s posting habits. Look at when your followers are most active, your highest reaching post types, and when competition is lowest.
Maximize impact with Facebook ads
Ads let you control how long a post is promoted and exactly who sees it. Use them strategically to:
- Boost your best organic posts
- Promote events, sales or new products
- Reach people similar to your followers
- Retarget people who’ve interacted with your page
- Test different messages and images
Setting a daily or monthly ads budget helps expand your reach in a controlled way.
How low does Facebook limit post reach?
It’s difficult to pin down exactly how much Facebook limits reach since their algorithms constantly change. One study in 2021 showed the average reach for a brand’s post was just 5.2% of their followers. Reach can vary widely though based on the factors mentioned earlier.
Some posts see their reach throttled when they start taking off. For example, you may see reach plateau at 10-20% even if the post is generating a lot of engagement. Again, this prevents over-saturation.
One thing is certain – you should never expect your posts to reach all of your followers unless you pay to boost them with ads.
Monitor your own reach data
Check your Facebook Insights to see what kind of organic reach your page typically gets. How does it compare with your number of followers? What reach % do your top performing posts get?
Compare reach between post types – is it higher on videos? Photos? Links?
Look for trends and patterns you can optimize around. Just don’t expect your Insights data to match others exactly. Reach varies so much page-to-page.
Tips for increasing post reach on Facebook
While you’ll never reach every follower with a given post, there are tactics that can help maximize the number of people you do reach. Here are some ideas to try:
Engage meaningfully with your audience
Reply to comments, ask questions in your posts, and join in relevant Facebook Groups where your audience is already active. This helps people feel connected to your brand.
Analyze best posting times
Check Insights to see when your followers are most active on Facebook then schedule posts to coincide with those peak hours.
Post more video
Video posts historically have had better organic reach than plain text or image posts. Shorter videos (under 2 minutes) tend to perform best.
Go Live
Facebook Live videos appear higher in News Feeds while broadcasting. Schedule live Q&As or behind-the-scenes looks to engage followers.
Use visual content
Posts with photos or graphics tend to have higher reach compared to text-only posts. Create share-worthy visuals.
Curate and share useful links
Other people’s content can help diversify your posting. Share articles and videos your audience would enjoy.
Collaborate with others
Coordinate Live events or co-create content with influencers in your industry to tap into new audiences.
Run contests and giveaways
Ask people to tag friends, share your post, or take other actions to enter a giveaway. This can help fuel further reach.
Use hashtags strategically
Include 1-2 relevant hashtags in posts to put them in front of more people interested in those topics.
Advertise strategically
Promote hot posts, events, offers, and more with Facebook’s extensive ad targeting options. Retarget past customers to stay top of mind.
Should I rely on organic Facebook reach?
It’s unwise to rely solely on organic reach to accomplish your Facebook marketing goals. Here are some scenarios where you definitely want to incorporate advertising or other paid promotion:
- Launching a new product or service
- Driving conversions for an e-commerce store
- Promoting limited-time sales or special offers
- Boosting signups for webinars or events
- Increasing overall brand awareness
Think of organic reach as your baseline visibility on Facebook. Ads give you the power to:
- Reach more of your existing audience
- Get your content in front of new audiences
- Control exactly who sees your posts
- Set a daily/monthly budget for paid reach
- Extend reach on your best performing content
The key is finding the right ad-to-organic balance based on your goals, audience, and content mix.
Conclusion
Facebook limiting organic post reach is simply a reality of their platform. Rather than fight it, savvy marketers optimize for it.
Focus on quality over quantity of posts. Engage your audience consistently. Analyze performance data religiously. And use ads to supplement reach on your most important content.
With the right mix of organic and paid reach, you can ensure your content gets in front of the people who matter most. Limitations force you to be more thoughtful about what you share – which ultimately benefits your followers.