Remember the good old days when your Facebook audience actually saw the content you posted on your Facebook page? If you’re a social media person, you’ll know what a rush it was to see your content engaged with. As the likes, comments and shares piled up on a piece of content, a sense of satisfaction swept over you for a job well done. Then Facebook intervened and decided to decrease reach - albeit gradually - in favor of paid content because… well... money. But it isn’t only money that caused this decline in Facebook page content, if you listen to Facebook, that is.

In the good old days, Facebook’s algorithm, while still a little mysterious, was a little easier to understand and use to optimize your content’s reach. As time has passed, however, Facebook has increasingly accelerated the changes, determined to deliver the most relevant and interesting content to each individual user. This, of course, makes it much more difficult to create content that a general audience will enjoy, since each specific person has a wide range of interests. According to an article in Time magazine, Facebook actually employs a team of 20 engineers and data scientists. This team, combined with a panel of users named Facebook’s “Feed Quality Panel,” provide real-time commentary on content, allowing Facebook to tweak their algorithm continuously.

So now here we are… scratching our heads and complaining about how Facebook has become a de facto “pay to play” platform, as we whine about the fact that nobody sees our content. But wait just a minute… perhaps the reason for the decrease in reach isn’t as nefarious as we think it is. In general, the more targeted your content is to your audience, the better, right? If you could send a Honda Civic special targeted only to people in-market for Honda Civics RIGHT NOW, wouldn’t that be better than sending that message to all people in-market? Maybe, there is a simple reason for the decline in Facebook page reach…

Facebook is doing a better job delivering your content

to people who are actually interested in seeing it.

And, that’s what we want, right? The right people to see our content so that they’re interested in buying or servicing their cars with us?

There is one thing that hasn’t changed throughout the history of Facebook’s algorithm changes – no matter how many changes they make, Facebook will always deliver content that people are interested in seeing. If you ask Facebook users themselves, the content they are almost always most interested in seeing originates from, and is typically about, their family and friends. So, breathe a sigh of relief. Stop lamenting in the fact that your dealership won’t give you a budget for Facebook ads or promoted posts. Don’t get discouraged as your Facebook page reach decreases. Simply find ways to generate content that people want to share - and you’ll find that, when they do, your efforts will be more fruitful than any Facebook ad.