How much of an impact does this really have on the reach of brand Page's organic content? It can be quite significant. In December 2013, Facebook announced that there are an average of 1,500 stories the company can show in a user's news feed. Because of increased competition and an emphasis on more "quality content", many Facebook Pages will see a decline in organic reach. Facebook is not providing an exact reach percentage, but reports vary with organic reach being limited to 6% or less, in some cases as low as 1%.
According to ReadWriteWeb, a Facebook spokesperson said that the best way to ensure a broad reach on the social network is to buy advertisements. Pages can buy ads by reach, and advertisers can target specific demographics to view posts. This shift is especially frustrating to brands who rely on Facebook's organic marketing. While the network will gain increased ad revenues from some clients, others may move away from Facebook altogether.
To help improve the advertising offerings for those who choose to pay for ads on the network, Facebook announced an expansion to the capabilities of their ad targeting tool Lookalike Audiences. The tool allows advertisers to create and target lookalike profiles based on people who visit their websites, use their mobile apps, or are connected to their Facebook Pages.
Before this update, lookalike profiles could only be created based on established Facebook data such as email addresses and Facebook user IDs. The Next Web reviewed the three new targeting opportunities enabled with this update:
1) Find more people who “look like” their website visitors by using data from their Facebook pixels to reach people who are similar to those who previously made purchases on their website
2) Find more people who “look like” their mobile app users by creating lookalike audiences based on people that have used their mobile app, such as people who’ve downloaded songs from their music app or have made purchases via their shopping app
3) Find more people who “look like” their Facebook fans by creating lookalike audiences based on their current fans
The updated targeting to Lookalike Audience is now available within Facebook's Power Editor. The social network hopes these and more upcoming advertising improvements will make up for the restricted reach of organic brand content on the platform.