Reach Rate: What Home Service Business Owners Need to Know
What Is Reach Rate?
Reach rate measures how many of your followers see your social media posts. You calculate reach rate by dividing your reach by your total followers, then multiplying by 100 to get a percentage.
The formula looks like this:
Reach Rate = (Reach ÷ Followers) × 100
For example, if your plumbing company has 1,000 followers and your post reaches 150 people, your reach rate is 15%.
Reach tells you how many unique accounts saw your content. Followers represent your total audience size. The rate shows you what percentage of your audience you’re connecting with.
Why Reach Rate Matters for Your Home Service Business
Most home service business owners assume all their followers see every post. This assumption is wrong. Social media platforms show your content to only a fraction of your audience.
Your reach rate reveals the truth about your social media performance. A healthy reach rate means your content gets distributed widely. A low reach rate means most of your followers never see what you post.
Understanding this metric helps you make better decisions about where to spend your time and money. If you’re paying to gain followers but only reaching 2% of them, you’re wasting resources.
For home service businesses like plumbing, HVAC, electrical, or landscaping companies, social media helps you stay top-of-mind with local customers. When someone’s water heater breaks at 10 PM, they call the company they remember. Low reach rates mean fewer people remember you exist.
What Counts as a Good Reach Rate?
Reach rates vary by platform and industry. Here are current benchmarks based on 2024-2025 data:
Facebook: 2% to 5% for organic posts
Instagram: 3% to 10% for business accounts
LinkedIn: 2% to 5% for business pages
TikTok: 10% to 20% for active accounts
These numbers drop consistently each year as platforms prioritize paid advertising. If your reach rate falls below these ranges, your content struggles to get seen.
Accounts with highly engaged audiences often see higher reach rates. Smaller accounts (under 5,000 followers) typically achieve better rates than larger accounts because their audiences engage more consistently.
Home service businesses often perform better than average because local content gets prioritized by algorithms. Posts about local projects, community involvement, or neighborhood service areas reach more people than generic content.
What Affects Your Reach Rate
Platform Algorithms
Social media algorithms decide who sees your posts. These algorithms prioritize content that generates engagement. Posts with more likes, comments, and shares get shown to more people.
Each platform uses different factors to determine distribution. Facebook favors content from friends and family over business pages. Instagram prioritizes recent posts and content from accounts users interact with frequently.
Posting Time
When you post affects who sees your content. Your followers scroll through their feeds at different times. Post when your audience is most active online to increase your reach rate.
For home service businesses, weekday evenings (6 PM to 8 PM) and weekend mornings (9 AM to 11 AM) typically perform best. These are times when homeowners relax and scroll through social media. Test different times to find when your specific audience engages most.
Content Type
Different content formats perform differently. Video content typically achieves higher reach rates than static images. Reels and short videos often reach more people than standard feed posts.
Before and after photos of your work perform well for home service businesses. Time-lapse videos of installations, quick maintenance tips, and behind-the-scenes content showing your team at work generate strong engagement.
Native content (uploaded directly to the platform) reaches more people than external links. Platforms want to keep users on their sites, so they limit the distribution of posts that send people elsewhere.
Engagement Speed
Posts that get quick engagement reach more people. When followers like, comment, or share your post within the first hour, algorithms interpret this as valuable content worth showing to others.
Slow engagement signals low-quality content. The algorithm then limits distribution to protect user experience.
Consistency
Regular posting trains the algorithm to distribute your content. Accounts that post consistently (at least 3 to 5 times per week) maintain better reach rates than accounts that post sporadically.
Long gaps between posts hurt your reach rate. Followers forget about your account, engagement drops, and algorithms deprioritize your content.
How to Improve Your Reach Rate
Focus on posts that provide value. Educational content, helpful tips, and entertaining posts get shared more often. Each share exposes your content to new audiences and signals quality to algorithms.
For home service businesses, share seasonal maintenance tips. Post about how to prevent frozen pipes in winter, when to service air conditioners before summer, or how to spot electrical hazards. Homeowners share this content with neighbors and friends.
Ask yourself before posting: Would I share this with a friend or neighbor? If the answer is no, rework your content.
Encourage Early Engagement
Get your most loyal followers to engage quickly after posting. Send a message to your team or close customers when you publish new content. Their immediate engagement triggers wider distribution.
Ask questions in your posts. Questions generate comments, which increase engagement signals and improve reach. Try questions like “What home maintenance task do you dread most?” or “Have you scheduled your annual HVAC tune-up yet?”
Use Platform Features
Social media platforms promote their newest features. When Instagram launches reels, posts using reels get extra reach. When Facebook adds new video formats, posts with those videos perform better.
Stay current with platform updates and test new features early. Early adopters often see temporary reach increases.
Respond to Comments
Reply to every comment on your posts within the first few hours. This interaction extends engagement time and signals active conversation to algorithms. More engagement leads to wider distribution.
Your responses also encourage more comments from other followers who see an active discussion happening.
Post Local Content
Social media algorithms favor local content for local businesses. Tag your location in every post. Mention specific neighborhoods, streets, or landmarks in your service area.
Post about local projects: “Just installed a new water heater on Maple Street” or “Servicing HVAC systems in the Riverside neighborhood this week.” This local focus increases reach among nearby homeowners who need your services.
Analyze Your Data
Check your reach rate weekly. Most platforms provide free analytics showing your reach and follower count. Track which posts achieve above-average reach rates.
Look for patterns. Do posts about certain services reach more people? Do posts at specific times perform better? Do videos outperform images? Use this data to inform your content strategy.
Common Reach Rate Mistakes
Buying followers destroys your reach rate. Fake accounts never engage with your content. This lack of engagement tells algorithms your content has low quality, reducing distribution to your real followers.
Posting too frequently overwhelms your audience. Followers who see too many posts from one account often unfollow or mute you. This reduces your reach rate over time. For home service businesses, 3 to 5 posts per week is sufficient.
Ignoring comments signals low engagement to algorithms. When followers take time to comment and you never respond, they stop engaging. This hurts your reach rate.
Using irrelevant hashtags wastes opportunities. Research hashtags before using them. Use local hashtags like #YourCityPlumber or #YourTownHVAC to reach nearby homeowners.
Posting only promotional content limits reach. Nobody wants to see constant sales pitches. Mix educational content, team spotlights, customer testimonials, and helpful tips with occasional promotional posts.
Tracking Your Progress
Set up a simple spreadsheet to monitor your reach rate monthly. Record your total followers and average reach for that month. Calculate your reach rate and compare it to previous months.
Track reach rate by content type. Create separate columns for videos, images, and text posts. This breakdown shows you which formats work best for your audience.
Compare your reach rate to your engagement rate (likes plus comments divided by reach). High reach with low engagement means people see your content but don’t find value. Low reach with high engagement means your core audience loves your content but algorithms limit distribution.
Content Ideas That Increase Reach for Home Service Businesses
Before and after photos of completed jobs generate strong engagement. Homeowners love seeing transformations.
Quick tip videos (30 to 60 seconds) showing simple maintenance tasks educate your audience and get shared frequently.
Team member spotlights humanize your business. Introduce your technicians, show them at work, and share their expertise.
Customer testimonial videos build trust and credibility. Real customers sharing real experiences resonate with potential clients.
Emergency response posts showing your team handling urgent calls demonstrate reliability and availability.
Seasonal reminders about maintenance needs (winterizing sprinklers, cleaning gutters, testing generators) provide timely value.
Behind-the-scenes content showing your process, tools, or training builds transparency and trust.
When to Invest in Paid Advertising
Organic reach rates continue declining across all platforms. If your reach rate drops below 2% despite following best practices, consider paid advertising to supplement organic efforts.
Paid posts guarantee your content reaches specific audiences. You control who sees your message based on location, demographics, interests, and behaviors.
For home service businesses, geographic targeting is critical. Focus your ad spend on homeowners within your service area. Target people who own homes (not renters) and fall within your ideal customer age range.
Start small with paid promotion. Boost your best-performing organic posts to reach more people similar to your current followers. Track the cost per result to determine if paid advertising makes financial sense for your business.
Many home service businesses see strong returns from small monthly ad budgets ($200 to $500) focused on local awareness and lead generation.
The Bottom Line
Reach rate shows you what percentage of your followers see your posts. This metric matters more than follower count because unseen content generates zero business value.
Monitor your reach rate monthly. Focus on creating valuable content that encourages quick engagement. Post consistently and use platform features to maximize organic distribution.
For home service businesses, social media keeps you visible in your local community. Higher reach rates mean more homeowners remember your company when they need plumbing, HVAC, electrical, or other home services.
Accept that organic reach continues declining. Build your strategy around this reality by combining organic content with selective paid promotion to reach your business goals.