Over the past six months a number of studies have come out detailing the spectacular falling of organic posts on Facebook, as the social network pushes brands to pay for exposure.

One damning report from Ogilvy estimated just six per cent of organic posts now reach followers. Now Facebook is setting the record straight.

Straight talking? 

For the first time Facebook has directly responded to these reports in a blog post that seek to address marketers' concerns.

In the post Brian Boland, head of Ads Product Marketing team at Facebook, acknowledges reduced organic reach but counters the result is a more engaging News Feed.

A couple of reasons

Boland attributes the decline of organic posts to two reasons. The first is an increase in content on Facebook.

He explains that some users, if their News Feed was left unchecked, could potentially be exposed to over 15,000 posts daily. Also more users are liking Facebook Pages than ever before.

The second reason is a change to the algorithm Facebook uses to filter these posts into relevant content. Boland wrote that over the past year Facebook has made efforts at showing higher-quality content and reducing spam. 

Money matter

However Boland flatly denied that organic posts are declining because Facebook is trying to make money from Promoted Posts.

He also wrote that many other marketing platforms, such as search engines, are experiencing a similar reduction in organic content. 

Freebie facts

Boland ended by explaining that brands could still successfully leverage organic posts, but should have specific goals in mind rather than expecting “viral content”.

“Anticipating organic reach can be unpredictable, and having a piece of content “go viral” rarely corresponds to a business’s core goals.

Your business will see much greater value if you use Facebook to achieve specific business objectives, like driving in-store sales or boosting app downloads,” Boland wrote.

He cited increased targeting and video content as viable organic options, while stating that brands could more tips from Facebook's Success Stories.

To find out more visit facebook.com.

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