Yes, animal shelters and rescue groups can fight back against Facebook’s latest squeeze on how many of your followers can see your posts — and it won’t cost a penny.

“Most of the advice I see on this tells you to ‘post great content,’ which is good generic advice but not enough to combat the tightening grip of the Facebook algorithm,” says social media consultant Christie Keith.

Her advice? “The next time you put up a post on Facebok, set aside 15 minutes or half an hour to comment on the post yourself, either as the page or using your personal profile,” she suggests. “Keep refreshing during that time, and respond to every single comment anyone posts.”

No activity to respond to? “Get your volunteers and staff members on board to create some activity on your posts in that crucial half-hour,” she says.

This tactic can signal to the Facebook algorithm that the post is interesting to your followers, which means it will show it to more people. If the post goes 15 minutes or more without any activity, Facebook will dramatically slow down its reach, and it can be hard or impossible to speed it up again, no matter what you do. For that reason, you may want to post only when you or your volunteers are able to be online and active on Facebook.

This tip applies even to posts you’re paying to promote. “While it will boost your post’s reach, rarely will you see engagement go up on a promoted post that’s already dead in the water,” Keith says. “With busy posts, you can leverage your early engagement to get more return on your investment than if you’re trying to jump-start a conversation that never happened in the first place.”

Also of interest:

Social Media: 6 New Things Animal Organizations Need to Know