Stop Shouting into the Void: How to Boost Facebook Interaction
We’ve all been there, right? Thinking we’ve crafted a great Facebook post only to see it linger, no comments, no reactions, no click-throughs. It’s not the best feeling, that’s for sure. And if you’re not getting results, it’s not very efficient—in terms of time or dollars.
So, what can we do to boost engagement on Facebook? Believe it or not, there are plenty of simple steps we can take to make sure our message is breaking through.
Brevity is Best
Just because Facebook will let you post 60,000 characters doesn’t mean you should. Know your audience and their attention span and try to stick to the post length that works for your brand. How do you know what that sweet spot is? Do some experimenting. Start here – at least one study found that posts of 40 characters or less get 86% more engagement than their longer counterparts.
Timing is Everything
Know who your audience is and exploit that to find the best times to post. If you’re target market is gamers, an 8am post is likely to get lost. But 8pm might be perfect. If you’re looking for engagement from professionals, early-to-middle afternoon is a proven winner. Take a look at your Facebook Page Insights to find your best times, and then experiment to figure out what really works best.
Content is King
If your content isn’t engaging, you’re not going to elicit the reactions you’re looking for. In fact, it’s likely your post will disappear into the background of what has become a crowded, fast-moving Facebook timeline. There are lots of content marketing guides out there, but at-a-glance, as yourself these questions:
Are you proud to share this?
Is it helpful to your audience?
Does it ask a question to encourage interaction?
Does it address specific issues of your target audience?
Unless you’re answering yes to at least a couple of these questions, rethink your post.
A Picture is Worth 1000 Words
Ask yourself this: What catches the eye on social media? The answer is often visuals. Did you know that simply adding an image to a post can double engagement? Whether you’ve got a cute gif or a gorgeous product image, find something to make your post visual and it’s going to get a lot more notice.
Get Yourself Engaged
No, you shouldn’t be promoting your page all over everyone else’s, but thoughtful, considered interactions and engagements with relevant pages or brands is an easy way to drive organic traffic to your own page. They call it social media for reason—get out there and be social.
Play with Video
One of the best ways to drive engagement, shares in particular, is with video. Play around with different types of video—from inspirational clips to live broadcasts—to figure out what best resonates with your target audience.
Promo Your Facebook Elsewhere
It seems simple, and it is, but promoting your Facebook page to audiences that already engage with your brand makes a difference. Use your rabid Instagram or Twitter following to drive traffic to Facebook with cross-posting and sneak peeks of content that’s exclusively on your Facebook page. Drive traffic from where you’ve already got it to where you want it.
Invoke a Call to Action
This is another simple thing that’s sometimes easier said that done. Be direct—ask your audience to like, share, and comment. Chances are, they’ll do it. Some keywords to consider in your posts: share, like, please, and now. Try it. We bet you’ll find that it works more often than it fails.
There you have it— 8 things you can do right now to increase engagement on Facebook. One last tidbit to keep in mind, most of these strategies aren’t specific to one platform. Reassess all your social media platforms and you’ll likely find way to incorporate these tips to increase interactions elsewhere in the social media sphere.