Social media is all about being seen and connecting with other people. It's a great catalyst for getting your brand out there, building a community of fans, and promoting your products.

But all your social media marketing efforts are for nothing if your social media posts aren't being seen. It's like screaming into a void. Fortunately, there are some best practices that can help you boost your organic posts to reach a wider audience.

Organic reach is important for building real connections with your audience, and sometimes to reach those people in greater numbers you’ll need to put some money behind your organic posts.

In this guide, we'll provide valuable tips on how to increase the organic reach of your social posts and how a new feature in Brandwatch can make the process of boosting organic posts much easier.

First, let's take a look at what organic social reach is and why it's important for brands.

What is organic social media reach, and why is it important?

Organic social media reach refers to the visibility your organic posts receive. As the name suggests, the reach you get from organic content happens organically and, compared to paid advertising, you don't have to spend money on organic posts to get this kind of reach.

Organic reach is the primary driver for social media activity. It's essential for building brand awareness and visibility. Posts that get engagement are more likely to be seen by your target audience and can help you build meaningful relationships.

Organic posts can be a really cost-effective way to promote your products and services. They can also be a great way to test what kind of content is working. For wider reach, you can boost your best-performing posts and turn them into promoted posts. This will take some budget, but there's no reason why your best content shouldn't also work as an ad.

As social media becomes an increasingly important way for consumers to search for information and new products, it's critical for brands to optimize their social media presence, and organic reach is more important than ever. Nearly one in four US consumers use social media as their first online search option, and that number rises to 46% among Gen Z consumers.

With that in mind, let's take a look at some of the top tips that can help you boost your organic posts and get more engagements.

How to boost organic social media posts and get more engagements

1. Choose the right social media platform

The first thing you need to do is decide on which social media platform you want to be active. There are several social networks to choose from, and they all have unique features.

The most important factor to consider is where your target audience is most active. There's no point in setting up an account on a social platform that your customers don't use.

Once you have decided which social media platform you want to promote your brand on, familiarize yourself with the platform's unique features. Some are more visual than others, and you need to incorporate this type of information into your content strategy.

Use social media analytics tools like Brandwatch to learn more about your audience, such as their demographics and behaviors. Track what types of content resonate best with them. All of these insights will help you adjust your content strategy for better results.

2. Optimize your social media presence

It is important to keep your social media profiles up to date so that users can immediately see that your social media channel is credible and professional.

Fill out all of your profile information, link to your website, and use high-quality profile and cover images that reflect your brand.

Include a clear, engaging bio that tells visitors what your brand is all about. Make sure your branding is consistent across all your social media platforms to build recognition and trust.

One way to increase the credibility of your social media accounts is to get verified. Verified accounts signal that the accounts are trustworthy and not fake.

3. Create engaging content

Content is key to getting engagement and visibility. There are different types of content you can post on your social media account. You can promote your products and services, post a funny video, or answer a frequently asked question.

The sweet spot is finding a balance between promoting your products and services and providing your audience with content that is entertaining or educational. Ideally, your posts will evoke emotions and people will share them, increasing your organic reach.

Also, keep in mind how the algorithm of the social platform you are on works. Experiment with different content formats like videos, images, and infographics to mix things up and see what your audience likes best.

Visuals are key

Use eye-catching visuals that match your branding. While polished images can work well on Instagram, users on TikTok prefer a more authentic experience that feels raw and relatable. It's important to understand the unique expectations of each platform's audience and adapt accordingly.

If you use more than one social platform, be sure to optimize your visuals for each. For example, vertical images work better on TikTok and Instagram, while Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) may require horizontal or square formats for better engagement.

Leverage hashtags

Add captions and descriptions to your images and videos to provide context and encourage engagement. Use hashtags to expand your organic reach and increase the chances that people interested in the topic will find your content.

Do some research to find relevant hashtags or what types of hashtags are trending, but remember to only use hashtags that fit your content. Otherwise, it will look spammy. A mix of niche and general hashtags is ideal. You can create your own brand or campaign hashtags to encourage your audience to use them in their own content.

Use the tagging feature

Tagging can be a great way to highlight other accounts that you work with or have shared their content with. When sharing content from users who mention your brand, tag their accounts to add credibility and show appreciation. This small gesture can build goodwill and encourage further engagement.

Also, encourage users to tag your brand in their content. Not only will this make it easier for you to see these types of posts, but it will also increase your visibility and reach new audiences through their networks.

In addition to increasing your organic reach, tagging other accounts can be a great starting point for building relationships and collaborating on future projects.

4. Time and schedule your content

To increase the chances that your posts will be seen and engaged with, it's not enough to create great content. You also need to choose the right time to post, or your content risks disappearing into the void of users' feeds.

Find the best time to postThere are several steps you can take to find your ideal posting times. If you're new to social posting, you need to determine which days and times work best for your brand for each social media platform. Experiment with different times to see what works best for your audience.

To get a better understanding of your audience's habits, use analytics tools like Brandwatch to see when they are most active. These are your sweet spots for posting your content and maximizing engagement.

Also, if you have a global audience, keep in mind the different time zones and locations.

Create a content calendar and post consistentlyAn important action to take to keep engagement high is to post frequently and consistently. Each social media platform is different in terms of ideal frequency, from posting three times a week to once a day.

Beyond the general advice per platform, experiment with your frequency and measure the results. If you post too often, you'll overwhelm your audience, but if you don't post often enough, they'll forget about you.

To maintain frequency and post regularly, create a content calendar to map out your strategy. Scheduling tools like Brandwatch make it easy to plan your posts ahead of time. This is especially useful if you want to post outside work hours.

5. Engage with your audience

Social media isn't a one-way street, and one of the great benefits of these platforms is the ability to engage with your audience. Engaging with your followers can help you build relationships and foster loyal fans.

Build authentic relationships with your followers

When people engage with you, you should also engage with them. Even a “like” can go a long way because it signals to the author that you read the comment.

Be sure to respond to comments and messages quickly and in a personal way. Especially if the commenter is sharing feedback or has a problem, it's important that they are heard. Customer loyalty is hard to win, and poor social customer service can, in the worst case, cause you to lose customers.

Start conversations by posting questions or asking for feedback. Followers want to play an active role with the accounts they follow, so give them the opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions.

For content ideas, use social listening tools like Brandwatch to analyze online conversations and identify trends and common customer pain points. This will help you create content that your followers are truly interested in, and they will be more likely to engage with and share your posts.

Encourage user-generated content

User-generated content (UGC) is a great way to expose your brand to a wider audience and foster relationships with your customers. It leverages your customers' networks, as their posts reach friends and followers who may not be familiar with your brand.

Create content that inspires customers to share their own experiences with your brand. Branded hashtags that users can add to their posts are convenient and make UGC easier to find.

You can encourage engagement by offering incentives, free stuff, or running contests, but be sure to read the platform's guidelines to follow the rules. Reshare UGC on your own account to highlight your customers, build trust, and showcase authentic testimonials.

This not only increases your visibility, but also builds loyalty, as people are more likely to trust recommendations from real users than traditional advertising.

Drive engagement with live-streaming

Another way to increase engagement and create a sense of community is through live-streaming. Viewers can engage with you in real time through interactive features such as polls, reactions, and comments. This level of interaction makes your audience feel connected and more invested in your brand.

Live videos can help consumers feel heard and valued. Encourage your viewers to be active and provide feedback right from the start of your live videos by asking open-ended questions or responding to their comments during the stream.

Live videos are also a great opportunity to host a Q&A session, share behind-the-scenes content, or introduce new products and services. By creating authentic and spontaneous moments, live-streaming builds trust and keeps your audience coming back for more.

6. Repurpose evergreen content to reach your target audience

Over time, you'll see what types of content are performing well. Here's an opportunity to reshare that type of content to drive engagement and boost organic reach. Evergreen content is content that has a longer shelf life than content that jumps on short-lived trends, making it an invaluable asset to your content strategy.

Repurpose your top content into different formats, such as videos, infographics, or images. Remember, this is your highest-performing content, so make the most of it by sharing it on multiple platforms and updating it regularly.

7. Measure organic social media reach

You have your social media accounts in tip-top shape, you have your content strategy in place, and you have experimented with different content formats. Now it's time to measure your efforts, find out what works best, and see if your strategy is delivering the results you hoped for.

There are several metrics you can track to measure organic reach on social media, including likes, comments, shares, reach, and impressions. They give you an understanding of the visibility of your content. These metrics allow you to evaluate the effectiveness of your posts and identify which types of content resonate most with your audience.

You can track these types of metrics with social media analytics tools like Brandwatch. Run reports regularly and use the insights to tweak your content strategy for better results. Pay attention to patterns over time—what works today may need adjusting tomorrow. Consistently analyzing your performance helps you stay agile, adapting to changes in audience preferences and trends.

Additionally, monitoring competitor performance can offer valuable insights into strategies that are working for others in your industry. Comparing your metrics to competitors' can highlight areas of improvement and inform future decisions to help you stay ahead in the competitive social media landscape. Again, Brandwatch can help you here.

8. Automatically boost organic posts with Brandwatch

Now that you know what your top-performing posts are, why not give them a bigger boost? If you know they work organically, they should also work well as ads.

With Brandwatch, you can automatically turn your top Facebook posts into ads and expose them to a wider target audience. This way, you can maximize the visibility and impact of your posts and optimize your advertising strategy. 

Instead of manually going through the posts on your Facebook page and setting them up as ads, the Auto-Boost Rules feature does it for you automatically.

You can set up rules based on performance metrics such as likes and impressions. Once a Facebook post hits your target, it’ll automatically be boosted as an ad. For example, if you're a beverage company, you might create a rule that says, 'Any post labeled "cider" to get over 1,000 likes should be boosted automatically.' It also works the other way around—you could set a rule like, 'Any post labeled "meme" should never be boosted.' This gives you full control while also automating a routine task—and let’s be real, every social media manager could use that, right?

In that way, Auto-Boost Rules not only saves you time, but you can increase the reach of your posts with just a few clicks. This helps you to make the most of your best-performing content.

Learn more about this feature and how it can help your social media management efforts here.

Conclusion

There you have it. Eight steps you can take to increase your organic reach on social. Don't be afraid to experiment and try new things.

Be consistent with your posting schedule and track your performance so you can quickly adjust your social media marketing strategy.

Engage with your audience. This can go a long way in terms of organic reach and visibility. Encourage them to share their own content about your brand, and make an effort to respond to their comments.

Social platforms are constantly pushing out updates. Keep an eye on what's new by following their official communication channels and familiarize yourself with new features and how you can use them to increase your visibility.