Want to get more Facebook engagement?
It’s essential to your Fan Page visibility.
Most pages struggle to engage Facebook Fans. Do you, too?
The recent changes to the Facebook news feed algorithm have made it tougher than ever to engage fans.
So what can you do to get more Facebook engagement on your Page?
The answer is to apply a bit of strategy in your content creation. Learn how here!
What is Facebook Engagement?
You might be wondering what counts as Facebook engagement.
It’s important to know, since that initial engagement is what gets Facebook to put your post in more news feeds.
So what counts as engagement?
Likes, shares, and comments all count as engagement to Facebook – as do clicks on links, videos, and photos.
20 Ways to Get More Facebook Engagement
Find the right posting schedule (less can be more)
At one time, the strategy was simple. Post loads of content, and hopefully some of those posts would get reactions.
But those times are thankfully behind us, and one of the positives of the current algorithm is that less is more. You don’t need to be posting five times a day.
Facebook Pages are definitely quality over quantity, as proven by studies by Buffer among others. Their page showed a massive increase in growth – when they dropped to posting just once or twice a day.
So if posting loads isn’t working for you, then this approach could be a better strategy.
Post at times when your Page is busy
It is easy to overlook but if you post when your fans are most likely to be online, you’ll get better results.
But how do you find this out?
The main way is from your Facebook Insights, the analytics section built into every page. This provides a simple chart to see what days and times of the day that the Page is busiest.
Some scheduling tools also have built-in features that let you use your past posts to see when the best time is. So you can see how to schedule Facebook posts at optimum times.
Then all you need to do is use this information when scheduling your new content. This works if you are using the Facebook scheduler or a third-party tool just as well.
Try posting at off-peak times
I know, I just said to post when your Fans are online. Problem is, the news feed is jammed with their posts then.
Posting at off-peak times is worth a shot – the newsfeed is packed from 6am to 3pm, so try the wee hours! When there’s little else being shared, your content should have a better chance of standing out.
Jon Loomer tested this, comparing peak-hour posts of 6am to 3pm to those posted between 10pm and 3am. You can check out the results on this chart!
More important are your results, so be sure to keep an eye on your Insights.
Use on-page analytics to better understand your audience
Those Facebook Insights can also give you more ideas and information about your audience. The better you know them, the better you can create content they love and engage with.
For example, by studying the Posts section of Insights, you can see which posts got the most reach and engagement.
- What type of post was it?
- What did it have?
- What didn’t it have?
You can also use the general demographic information in there to make audience personas. How complex you go is up to you, but you can get good general information from the People tab.
Use your Page to watch other Pages for inspiration
Spying on the competition is an old tactic – and one that works! But the difference is with Facebook, you can easily do this through your Page.
The Pages to Watch feature lets you select several other Facebook Pages and instantly compare some key metrics to see what is working for them.
In Insights, go to the Overview tab and here you can select the Pages you want to watch. Then you’ll be able to see their overall stats but also their top posts by clicking the name of the Page.
Make content that’s about your fans, not you
We’ve all done it: posted content that is just about your niche, your business and things that relate directly to it.
And that works some of the time.
But you need to remember that the Page is about your fans and followers, not you. You need to create Facebook content that fans love to share.
That means you need to take a fan-centric approach to the content you create. But how do you do this?
Here are a few questions to ask yourself to help create more varied content:
- Can you offer a view on real-world events in a tasteful way?
- Could you offer fun facts or statistics that relate to your fans?
- Can you make them laugh?
Don’t forget to use emojis
Emojis feature in most of our normal Facebook content but they’re great for Page content too.
Facebook emoticons allow quick, non-verbal communication that would be hard to explain in text alone. Consider the difference between three possible Facebook messages:
- We had 200 customers today in our new store 😀
- We had 200 customers today in our new store 😛
- We had 200 customers today in our new store 🙁
Do you interpret these posts differently due to the added visual element of the emoticon? Ask yourself if you would react the same way if the post was simply:
- We had 200 customers today in our new store.
The emoticons, even though they’re very simple visuals, engage you emotionally and encourage you to care about the news item.
So use them! 😉
One example is Costa Coffee – almost every one of their posts have an emoji somewhere, even if it is just the classic coffee cup.
There’s something friendly about using emojis and this applies to business posts just the same as personal ones.
You can even check out which emojis are most popular and make sure you use them correctly.
Think about your blog posts from a Facebook viewpoint
It is easy to see the process as create blog post > share on social media. But what about sometimes using it the other way around?
Share on social media > see a strong reaction > use as inspiration for a blog post!
This isn’t going to work for everyone, but there are definitely ways to do it.
From shocking or surprising statistics that get loads of comments, to how-to guides to answer common questions, there are lots of ways to use the feedback from your Page to create blog posts.
Always include a call-to-action to tell people what’s next
A call to action or CTA is something we hear about a lot on sales pages. You should also include them on your Facebook posts – but with care.
Facebook has moved away from the old “tag your friends” and similar CTAs, as well as what it terms as ‘engagement bait’ such as ‘share to enter’ competitions. However, you can still use CTAs – just be a little more varied with them.
A really simple way to do this is to ask a question – this is a call to action that prompts people to respond.
An example here makes the whole post the question and gets people to react – with over 2.5K comments and 550 shares this shows it can work!
Team your Page posts with email marketing
Try this: In your next email, ask your subscribers for input on an issue you know they’re interested in. Then ask them to comment on a Facebook Page post where you’ve posed the same question!
Be sure to send them the link in the email, with a clear call-to-action to click and leave their opinion.
Promising to read all comments and respond to them will help ensure a good turnout.
Another great idea is to promote your Facebook contests and offers to your email list. Surely they’ll be glad to know about your special deals!
Again, give a link with a clear call-to-action to visit the post and Like your page.
Schedule time to make sure you reply to comments
Facebook posts aim to get engagement, and a valuable one is a comment. But no comment should remain unanswered.
So as the Page owner, it is important to leave time to answer these comments. In fact, it is one of the most important parts of having a Page. People now expect some kind of reply, with surveys showing they expect it within four hours!
This might not always be possible with time zones. But it is important to have a short period each day to make sure you answer comments. If any pop up in your notifications while you are working, jump in and answer quickly.
Always use great images and take your own photos where possible
Facebook posts that contain images always see a higher than average engagement rate. So having great photos is a key part of a successful Facebook Page.
There are lots of options.
Great quality stock images can be one way to do it. There are lots of free photo sites to tap.
But perhaps the best is to take a few photos of your own. You don’t need to be a professional photographer but with the phone on most smartphones being as good as it is, taking photos is much easier.
Mix up posts and use some short ones
Everyone wants to give value in their posts and engage their audience. But this doesn’t always mean long posts.
In fact, short, bite-sized posts can be really popular.
A quick question, a quote or statistic, or even a snappy statement with a photo can generate good engagement.
Even those “complete the sentence” or “fill in the blank” posts can be thrown in to see what your audience reacts to.
Use popular posts as inspiration for more
Facebook will boost reach on posts with high interaction. If you create one of these, be sure to make notes about what worked.
Posts that Facebook users show an interest in, get shown to more users! So get creative and adapt that popular post style to create more of the same.
Maybe it’s a particular type of post, like photos, videos, questions, or links. Maybe certain topics always get a response, regardless of the format you present it in. Take note!
Reuse popular post types, and revisit engaging topics.
Perhaps your outlook on the subject has changed, technology has advanced, or new stats have been released. Or you could bring in an opposing viewpoint, and ask what your Fans think. Can you find an article, infographic, or video your fans might enjoy?
By regularly checking those top posts in Insights, you can what’s working and use that as inspiration for more posts. Especially if it was something that you tried that was a little different – repeat to see if you get the same result.
Also, look at the general post types to see what works best.
- Do your audience favor posts with images?
- Do links do well?
- Are people responding to your polls?
This doesn’t mean you should always and only post the type that works best, but you’ll certainly consider favoring that kind!
Recycle evergreen top posts periodically
While you’re looking at those top posts, don’t forget to think about recycling them. Some content is one and done, but lots of other content can be used again periodically – sometimes having a better impact the second or third time around.
You can also mix up the content on a second posting. Maybe change the caption, swap an image for a video, or even add a couple of pictures rather than just one. This saves time on creating entirely new content.
Plus, we all know that not all of your followers see all of your posts. By reposting important stuff, you have a better chance of reaching more people.
Curate content to give your audience more variety
It may seem a bit strange to share your competition’s content, but curating interesting and quality posts from other people is a proven strategy to boost Facebook engagement.
Studies show that by posting quality content from other sources that’s relevant to your Fan base, you can reach a much larger audience. Plus, it breaks up the constant need to create every piece of content yourself.
Use video content uploaded straight to your Page
Facebook has made it pretty clear that they love video – but not all video is equal. There are some tips if you want to make your Facebook video viral.
For instance, adding a link to a YouTube video is okay. But you will get better results from the algorithm by posting the same video natively to Facebook.
This is regardless of whether it is a quick video graphic or a longer explainer video.
Try mixing in some Live content
Alongside video content, the other thing Facebook loves is people going Live on the platform. Even the videos from these Live broadcasts will rank higher than other types of video.
This means that not only will the Live content do well, but it has a knock-on effect that sees other content perform better as well.
Plus, Facebook is more likely to show this content to non-followers and increase the Page’s followers.
A few ideas for Live content include:
- Behind the scenes in your office, at an event or of something in progress.
- A Q&A session or ‘ask me anything’ type session.
- Interview an industry expert.
- Talk about a breaking news topic.
- Share a tip each week.
Need more? Try these Facebook Live tips.
Consider boosting top posts
Not everyone wants to spend money on Facebook ads, but it can help to increase engagement by boosting a post periodically.
Experts show that a $40 daily budget can increase the reach of a post by four times. Even a small budget for a boosted post can get it in front of more eyes.
Paying to boost posts that are boring is a waste of money. The best bet is to choose something that is already doing well and test that.
Write engaging posts [infographic]
At the very end of this article, you’ll find a popular infographic from We Are Social Media.
Some tips may be familiar, but others, like posting full URLs, seem to be little known – or rarely followed, anyway.
Who wouldn’t want 3 times the visits to their links? I find long URLs very effective.
Other tips pertinent to the text part of your post:
- Be natural.
- Be relevant.
- Be succinct.
- Be emotional.
- Ask easy questions.
- Beware asking for likes, comments, and shares repeatedly.
- Be yourself.
Pin the infographic, and write more engaging Facebook posts!
What not to do on Facebook
There are lots of things to avoid on your Page, depending on what your business is about – you will know what these are. But the main category of posts to avoid are those known as engagement bait.
Engagement bait
The idea of engagement bait was something that surfaced a few years ago. Facebook started to take a dim view of these types of post and its organic reach tanked.
A few examples include:
- Vote baiting.
- React baiting.
- Share baiting.
- Tag baiting.
- Comment baiting.
Now that’s not to say you can’t ever use this kind of post, but do it intelligently.
Rather than prompting people to vote with a reaction, instead, get them to use an emoji for a comment.
Don’t ask them to share to get a chance of winning something, but simply ask in the post that they share it with interested friends.
Get the best Facebook engagement
The key to getting the best Facebook engagement is to study what works and use it to create more content.
It’s important to know what your audience wants, and when they’re online, so you can share relevant content that they’ll be around to see.
By using Insights to learn about what resonated with your audience, you can make more of the same and increase your organic reach with each well-planned post.
Know anyone who’d love to know how to get more Facebook engagement? Please share!
If you have other strategies for Facebook engagement, let us know in the comments.
The post How to Get More Facebook Engagement: 20 Easy Tips appeared first on Louise Myers Visual Social Media.
