Is your company effectively engaging your community on Facebook?
Are you getting the interaction levels that you want?
If not, you are not alone. Many small business owners struggle with creating content that fosters interaction and creates people-to-people contact on their social media pages. If you are looking for specific actions you can take to increase Facebook fan page engagement, here are 11 helpful tips many small business owners find effective. Try them out and see how your Facebook engagement improves! (this one goes to eleven)
- Use Photos: In the realm of social media, a picture really is worth a thousand words. Statistics show that including photos on your Facebook Fan Page will most definitely help overall engagement as it more likely that people will interact with a photo than a text post. “Caption this” posts showing images can be fun too. People love to share and like photos.
- Ask Questions: Questions are a surefire way to increase engagement since they openly ask for a response. Ask simple, short, lighthearted, easy to answer questions. Also try fill in the blank posts.
- “You” is Key: Try to use the word “you” in posts to make them more personal to the reader. The page is for your community so make sure you are not talking about “we” too much.
- Keep Posts Short & Sweet: Although you have 420 characters when typing a post, Upside recommends using fewer than 240 characters or 2-3 sentences max. Long posts may dissuade a fan from reading your post, so remember: it’s quality not quantity.
- Don’t Disrupt. Don’t Over Post: Communicating consistently is great; over communicating with too many posts per day/week can actually turn your audience off. It’s up to you to determine the appropriate quantity and frequency of posts. Avoid drop offs and “unlikes” by putting yourself in your audience’s shoes and ask yourself how often you would like to hear from them.
- Post During High Traffic Timeframes: When planning out posts, try to take into account what time you think your target audience is checking Facebook. Make sure you put thought into what time your fans are on Facebook so your posts don’t get lost in a sea of status updates and pictures
- Respond Quickly: Be attentive. A Facebook Page that isn’t kept up-to-date may have fans thinking that the service you offer is as poor as your response time. Remember to respond quickly to show you care about your fans’ thoughts, even if you disagree at times.
- Address Comments Personally: Having a personal touch is one way you can make your company stand out against your competitors. Be friendly, be personable and be authentic.Use the Reply feature in comments to respond directly a member of your page. Sign your name at the end with a “-(name)“ or “~(name)” if you would like.
- Comment Yourself, After Others Have Commented: Throw in your own ideas and opinions to see what others think in respond to your comments. Join the conversation you begin when others are interacting.
- A Simple “Thanks” Goes A Long Way: Celebrate your fans and show them you care. Remember, your page is a page for them, your community. If a fan says something nice about your company or a post, be sure to respond with a simple “thanks” to show your appreciation; or make a gesture that makes sense for your brand.
- Surprise Fans: Sometimes it’s okay to stray a bit off topic and post something like an inspirational quote or photo to really boost engagement. Always stay ‘on brand.’ For example, a wedding caterers showing a dog in a funny outfit posing as ring bearer is lighthearted, funny and at the same time on brand. If you are not sure about a post, don’t post it!
Following these 11 Facebook page engagement tips will help you develop better relationships online. Remember to tailor these tips to your business and to your audience. Always ask yourself, “will this post be meaningful to my audience? Will it foster a positive interaction?” Always start your Facebook campaign with a Facebook content marketing plan that describes your content strategy and calendar for making posts. Have structure and stay creative!
What advice do you have for others on how to improve Facebook engagement? Share some of your success stories with us. Thanks!