10 STEPS TO INCREASE FACEBOOK ENGAGEMENT
FrankJKenny.com
Your Facebook page is a major asset that needs to be maximized for engagement. These tips will help you get the engagement you are looking for.
1. Ask Questions
Social media is supposed to be social. That means having back and forth discussions. It means asking questions. Looking for things in common. Building relationships. Ask your audience about who they are and things they care about. When they answer, respond with a comment, GIF, emoji, or reaction. Not only does the Facebook algorithm reward this kind of activity, relationships do too.
2. Break the Ice
It’s critical that you—or someone on your team—comments on your posts first. This “breaks the ice” so others feel comfortable commenting. By breaking the ice, others will feel safe to engage. Facebook looks for posts that are getting engagement. They will put those posts in news feeds. But if a post is just sitting there with little to no engagement, the post quickly dies.
3. Stick to one Subject
People get easily confused. A confused mind doesn’t make decisions. It hesitates. It waits. Then it scrolls on by. If you post an image that says one thing, but you write something different in the text area, people will get confused. Should they respond to what the image says or the text area? They don’t know and they don’t want to look foolish, so they scroll by.
4. Keep your posts alive
Facebook will put your posts into news feeds for days and days if your posts continue to get engagement. Make sure this happens by not engaging, answering, or commenting on the post all at once. Space out your engagement by a few hours or even a day. This keeps the post “alive,” and Facebook will keep giving it more and more reach. That reach can get you more engagement. It’s a virtuous cycle.
5. Tell them Why
Studies show that when a person is given a reason someone wants something, they are much more likely to comply. For instance, if you tell someone you are in a big hurry, they will probably let you use the printer first. On the other hand, if you just butted your way in, they would have a problem with that. It’s the same with your social media posts. Start out with the reason you are posting. Say something like, “I am just curious...” or “I would love to know...” People will be much more likely to comply because you are giving a reason for the post.
6. Engage Back
If you want more engagement from your posts, make sure you go beyond just liking a comment and engage back with anyone commenting. Ask a question. Share your thoughts. Comment with a Bitmoji. Facebook’s algorithm looks for posts with back-and-forth engagement. When it finds a post generating conversations, especially conversations between humans, it is much more likely to put that post into more news feeds.
7. Thumb Stopping Image
Humans are visual creatures. It takes a lot of effort for the brain to decipher text but almost no effort to appreciate a beautiful or interesting photo or image. If you want people to engage with your chamber’s posts, you must stop their scroll. You do this by capturing their attention through an image. A great one will do this better than text ever could.
8. Keep your logo small
Go ahead and put your chamber’s logos on your social media post images but keep them subtle. People won’t be inclined to engage with or share a social media post that screams marketing and advertising. They certainly won’t share a post like that.
9. Call to Action
It’s part of the human condition to do what we are told to do. Wait in this line. Take two pills. Stick out your tongue. From childhood we are taught to do what people tell us to do. When you post on Facebook, always include a call to action (CTA). Things like “comment below” or “Share your thoughts” will make a lot of people who would have scrolled by, take action.
10. Share, Share, Share
After you post to your page as your page, click the little down arrow to engage with your personal profile. Then hit the share button. You will see all sorts of ways you can personally help your post get more reach and therefore more engagement. Share it as a story, share it via messenger, share it on your personal profile. All these things will help you get your post out there further and get more engagement. Just the act of doing these things will help the algorithm know the post is getting engagement.
When to post
Some people check Facebook when they get up. Some do it just before falling asleep. But most of your audience probably checks Facebook during the day. Check your Facebook insights to see when your audience is on. Strike while the iron is hot; post when your audience is on/active.
“Sharing an idea you care about is a generous way to change your world for the better.”
SETH GODIN
Questions?
Contact us at 719-589-3681 or email AlamosaCountyChamber@gmail.com.
