When it comes to interacting with your audience, you must be on top of your social media engagement game. When your followers enjoy what they see, they share it, and when their questions are answered, they applaud you.
So how do you make sure you never drop the ball? For Facebook engagement in particular, there are several ways. We’ve listed five to keep in mind below.
1. Avoid Engagement Bait
Engagement bait is more obvious in some places than it is in others. You’ve probably seen a company promote a new item or offer, with “tag your bestie below” or something of the like somewhere in the copy. This is much different from a company posting a teaser photo or video with a caption that reads, “we will release new content when this post hits 10,000 likes.”
These are different approaches, but it’s important to note that they are both considered engagement bait. Engagement bait does not perform well among consumers who see through it, and it also doesn’t perform well among algorithms. Algorithms specifically down rank your posts if they detect this.
2. Ask Questions
Unlike engagement bait, asking genuine, informative questions is different than directly asking for likes and shares. Start a conversation with your followers around the latest industry news, a new product launch or what they like most about your brand. For a cupcake bakery, asking a question like, “what’s your favorite way to top your cupcake? Let us know in the comments!” is great, because it invites customers to give feedback on current product sales, and opens the door to them to suggest new toppings – all without engagement bait.
3. Focus on Quality
Having an editorial calendar is important, but filling it with content several times every day of the week could do more harm than good. Followers, in general, prefer quality over quantity when it comes to what they see in their feed, and they see right through filler content.
If you must meet a quota for posts, make sure they all have substance. While we’re on the subject of content quotas – we recommend posting once or twice daily, depending on the brand.
Be sure your graphics and other elements are well thought out as well. If a stock image is the only thing available to accompany a post, make sure it fits within your brand’s guidelines. We recommend keeping a folder of all previously used graphics, for recycled use in the future as well.
4. Be Responsive
While there may be a suggested limit on the amount of original posts on your Facebook page, there is definitely not a limit on how many comment responses you should aim for. We know to avoid acknowledging certain language – but it is important to maintain a reputation of being responsive and engaging on the platform when the messaging is appropriate.
Whether it is a question, comment or concern, always make sure to interact with consumers with a like or written response. Have you ever walked into a grocery store, asked an associate for help finding a specific ingredient for a dish you are making, only to be ignored – or answered only after pestering them? It’s very unhelpful – and no one likes to be ignored when they need help.
This is not different on social media. Be attentive, knowledgeable and kind. Most of the time, you’ll know whether or not you are satisfying your customers.
5. Boost Posts
Facebook makes it easy to boost posts while you are in the process of making them. You can select how many people you’d like to target, the demographic of who you’d like to target, and select how many days you’d like for the post to remain boosted. The statistics are shown to you before you pay to boost, so you know what to expect. Plus, when the boost time ends, the platform will notify you with a report of how it performed.
Reaching large amounts of people this way will inevitably help you up your Facebook engagement.
How are you staying on top of your Facebook engagement game?