Your company is one in a million, right?
On Facebook, it’s actually one in 50 million.
The good news is that – according to this article – those 50 million small business Facebook pages account for only half of U.S. small businesses. Therefore, by simply having a Facebook presence, your business is already ahead of the game.
But 50 million is still hefty competition! So how do you motivate people to engage with your Facebook page?
Here are three tips to increase Facebook engagement.
- Engage to receive engagement.
Facebook’s algorithm is set up so that the quicker a post is engaged with (reacted to, commented on, or shared) after it is published, the more likely it will be shown in the feeds of your followers. For example, if a post receives 35 comments within an hour of being published, this post will be elevated higher than a post that had been published for a week before receiving 35 comments. And when that post is shown in more news feeds, the post is likely to receive even more engagement.
So what’s the trick? Build a network of family, friends, and team members who you can email immediately after a post is published to ask if they will like, comment on, and/or share the post. If this is done consistently for the first couple months that your Facebook page is live, Facebook’s algorithms will “take note” of the fact that people find your page interesting, and will likely rank your posts higher than a page with less engagement.
- Include photos in your posts.
What do you find more interesting: a before-and-after photo of a completed landscaping project, or a link to a press release about the project? According to Hubspot, “Facebook posts with images see 2.3X more engagement than those without images.”
There is no trick here – simply include photos in your posts! Purchase a stock photo subscription such as iStock or Shutterstock, subscribe to Death to the Stock Photo’s newsletter that includes free stock photos, or search for free stock photos on a site like MorgueFile or Pixabay.
- Create calls to action for people to engage with your posts.
When was the last time you asked a question to your Facebook page followers? Or asked people to share a particular post? You might be amazed at how this simple “trick” motivates people to take action.
Another way to encourage Facebook engagement is to host a contest. For example, ask people to post a photo of their experience with your brand to your Facebook page and then have their friends like the photo (the photo with the most likes wins). Or, ask people to share a particular post of yours and then choose a random winner to receive a prize. Contests are typically most successful for B2C brands; however, with the right angle, they can be implemented well for just about any industry.
For more tips on increasing your Facebook engagement, visit our IMPACT Facebook page. And while you’re there, please share our latest Facebook post!
– Emily Crider, Social Media & Project Manager
