Your brand’s social media following is one of the most important types of social proof online. Having a lot of followers is a significant part of it, but it’s not the only part. You want an engaged following, meaning the people you connect with like, click on, comment on, and share the content you post.
This holds true on all the big social media sites, including Facebook. We’ve covered some ways to get more likes for your Facebook business page, so now it’s time to talk about increasing engagement.
If people don’t click on your posts, they aren’t accomplishing anything for you. If people don’t share your posts, they aren’t expanding your reach, growing your following, and connecting you to potential new leads and sales. And if people don’t like and comment on your posts, their reach stays limited and your page doesn’t offer strong social proof; but more concerning, it indicates that you’re not gaining followers in your target market, you’re not sharing things your target market finds valuable, or both.
Once you have the right audience—people interested in your brand, products or services, or industry—if you’re sharing valuable content, engagement should occur naturally. But it doesn’t always happen, especially when your Facebook efforts are new and while your number of followers is on the low end. And there’s always room for more engagement.
How to Boost Engagement on Facebook
- Share valuable content. Nothing matters more. Whether you post an article, video, audio file, top 10 list, podcast, or some other medium, it should be of high quality and of genuine interest to your target audience.
- Include high-quality images with your posts. They grab attention far more effectively than text-only posts and encourage click-throughs and other interaction.
- Make a thoughtful comment introducing your post. People are more likely to engage with it and express their own thoughts if you’ve offered a few words of your own.
- Even better, ask your audience a question in your posts. Inquire about their opinion on the topic, how they handle a certain type of situation, or something else to directly elicit responses.
- Keep your posts short and simple. Along with being attracted to visuals, people are also most drawn to posts under 100 characters long.
- Hold contests (with or without prizes). One type that works well on Facebook is posting a picture (relevant to your brand and audience) and asking for caption suggestions. Or, you could ask your followers to name a new product you’re introducing. Be creative and have fun!
- Post inspirational or funny quotations. Facebook users like and share these at a much higher rate than many other types of text-based posts. Find quotes that are relevant to your industry, a pain point of your target market, or something else that makes sense for your brand.
- Ask people to fill in the blank. For example, if you own an Italian restaurant, post something like “My favorite unusual pizza topping is ____” or “My favorite pasta shape is ____.”
- Crowdsource ideas. People love to show off their knowledge, experience, and insights. Ask your followers for their advice about a general problem or how they do something that’s relevant to your audience.
- Show that there are people behind your brand. Facebook is a place for being social, even for business purposes. Talk like a person, and people are more likely to talk back. Just keep it consistent with your brand voice and brand personality.
- Pay attention to when your audience is using Facebook. Having a business page gives you access to lots of helpful tools, including the ability to see when the most people in your following are on the site each day. Post at peak times.
- Ask people to like, comment on, or share your posts. That’s right: The simple act of asking people to engage with your posts in specific ways often significantly increases the number of people who do so. Just don’t do it too often; reserve this for important posts.
- Share content from other business pages and people. When you click the “Share” button on someone else’s post, they’ll know you shared it and usually like your version. Sometimes they’ll click over to your page too and reciprocate by engaging with something of yours.
- Have fun. People love to laugh and be entertained. Fun and funny posts regularly garner the most engagement, and it’s certainly not off limits just because you’re running a professional page. Be careful that you know the taste and limits of your buyer persona, though.
- Pay to boost important and popular posts. Facebook lets you affordably target people with great specificity. Promoted posts are a cost-effective way to get your posts in front of more people—and the right people.
