Is it a reach problem or an engagement problem?
Open the insights for a post and compare views or accounts reached with reactions. If few people saw it, you have a distribution problem. If plenty saw it and nobody reacted, you have a content problem. The fixes differ, so it pays to know which one you are chasing before you rewrite your whole plan.
Also check how much of your reach came from people who do not follow you. A post seen mostly by existing followers is travelling in a small circle. A post that reaches strangers in your area has done something right, and it is worth copying the subject, the format and the first line.
How feeds decide what to show
Facebook and Instagram do not publish their formulas, and they change them often. What they have said, again and again, is broad: show people what they are most likely to enjoy, comment on or send to someone. A post is usually tried on a small group first, and if that group reacts, it is shown to more people.
On a business page, only a slice of your followers will see a given post, and that share has shrunk over the years. It is not a penalty aimed at you. It is how pages work now, and it is why paid boosts exist. Treat every organic post as a pitch to a small audience, and make it earn the next showing.
Timing matters less than relevance, but test it
Posting when your audience is online helps a post collect early reactions, yet a well-timed generic post still loses to a badly timed useful one. Instagram’s insights show when your followers are most active. For Facebook, look at which of your last twenty posts did best and note the day and hour.
Valley schedules are unusual. Farms, trades, clinics and shops start early, so rotate through a handful of slots over a month and keep the one that wins for your page. Do not rebuild your day around the clock. Relevance does most of the work, and timing only nudges the result.
- Before work, in the early morning
- Mid-morning, once the day is under way
- Lunch break
- After dinner
- Sunday evening, when people plan the week
What to post when reach is the problem
Choose posts that give the feed a reason to show them to people near you. A job finished on a named street, a short clip of someone doing the work, a carousel that explains one step, or a plain answer to a question customers ask all give viewers something to watch, save or forward.
Cut back on sale graphics and on posts that exist only to send people to your website. Platforms generally want to keep people in the app, so a post made entirely of a link often travels less far. Put the useful part inside the post and keep the link for the comments, the bio or a story.
- A short clip of a job in progress, filmed upright on a phone
- A photo carousel that explains one step or one mistake to avoid
- A local question answered in plain language
- A team member introduced by name, with what they do
- A before and after from a street or neighbourhood you serve
When organic reach is not enough
If a post is genuinely useful and still stuck, a small boost aimed at a tight radius around Abbotsford, Chilliwack or Mission can get it seen. Boost posts that already earned reactions, aim at a goal such as messages or bookings, and set a modest budget you can review after two weeks.
Paid reach cannot rescue content nobody wants, and it should not replace the work above. Used well, it shows the right people what you already do well. Our Meta Ads team runs this kind of campaign for local businesses, and the free marketing audit will tell you whether paid or organic is the better first move for your page.
Where feeds are heading
Feeds now mix posts from accounts people follow with recommendations from accounts they do not, and more people search inside the apps for a nearby business. That rewards clear subject matter and plain location words over clever tricks. Decide what you want to be known for in your corner of the valley, and let every post point back to it.
- 01Recommended posts from accounts people do not yet follow
- 02Search inside Facebook and Instagram to find nearby businesses
- 03Fewer clicks out and more reasons to stay in the app
Questions & answers
There is rarely a targeted penalty. Business page posts reach a limited slice of followers by design, and reach falls further when posts feel promotional or get ignored. Check that your page has no policy notices, then look at what you post and how people react before assuming you have been singled out.
It depends on your audience, so test rather than copy a chart. Use your insights to see when followers are active, try a few slots over a month and compare reach and replies. For valley businesses with early starts, mornings and evenings are worth a try, but your own results decide.
Boost selectively. Pick posts that already drew comments or saves, target the towns you actually serve and aim at a goal such as messages or bookings. Boosting a weak post only pays to show it to more people who will scroll past.
There is no honest universal figure. Compare each post with your own last twenty, and watch whether the share of strangers who see your posts rises over time. If your strongest posts reach far more people than your average ones, copy what they have in common.