Have you recently been wondering why your Facebook engagement has been on a downward spiral?
Good observation! Facebook has recently changed its algorithm, such that it forces marketers to think about why anyone would ever like, comment, or share their post. It pushes them to step into the shoes of the users and ponder deeply over each and every post they make.
Like any new change, this too will seem incredibly daunting, however, don’t you worry. We will take you to step by step to explain how you can get your engagement back up.
For example, Facebook is actively fighting against the users who use the technique of spamming in order to get their likes, comments, and shares up.
They believe it is not an appropriate way of bringing an engagement up to a post, and that each post should hold some value so that its reach increases organically.
This means, what previously worked for brands, may not fly today. And that is exactly why this article is essential. Brands of today require a very robust engagement strategy, in order to organically gain reach.
But don’t worry, this does not mean you need to begin all over again. All you need to do is consider new ways to set up the post, creating greater engagement.
We have outlined a few strategies for you below.
Teach, Inform, Entertain, and Inspire – TIEI
Your target audience of Facebook is not looking for a sales pitch, and they will certainly not engage with one. People of today struggle to find happiness, the sad fact of the world we live in today.
So use that! Create content that will make them smile, think, reflect, or improve their way of living in some way or another.
Know your audience
This is crucial to increase Facebook engagement. What you and your friends find entertaining or inspiring is not necessarily entertaining to your audience. Know the needs and wants of your Facebook business page users. And it may be tricky to know the wants and needs of your audience unless you really know who your target audience is.
Look into Facebook Page Insights. It provides a great deal of helpful information regarding your audience. Study this information in great detail, look for any unexpected, intricate details that could help you construct a deeper, more meaningful bond with fans.
For example, if you have a flower shop. Read the room (Facebook business page users) and determine what kind of content they prefer.
You will figure out the preference by observing what your fans respond to the most. For example, they might not enjoy posts regarding environmental issues but enjoy romantic posts.
Make use of that information and post more photographs of people expressing love via flowers they got from your shop.
Post less On Facebook
It may be hard to believe that posting less grows reach and engagement by three times.
The reason for that isn’t because people were posting less, but because posting less allows you to focus on quality instead of quantity. It means a lot more thought goes into each post, making the content more pleasing to the user’s eyes.
Plus, posting less will also take some strain off of your shoulders as we are human beings who often run out of creative ideas. This way, you will have ample time to think about one creative vision and develop it into something beautiful.
Finding good content takes time. Thus, to maintain the client’s quality, refrain from posting 10 times in one day. Instead, make 3, excellent, effective posts.
Post videos directly to Facebook
To get more engagement on Facebook, try posting your content on Facebook, rather than YouTube or some other social media. If you do so, your video will automatically start playing as your users scroll through the feed. This way, it will catch their eye, and before they even realize it, they will be watching.
However, it is crucial here to keep the video brief. It is best to keep the videos within the time frame of 30 seconds to two minutes. The ideal length usually falls at 60 to 90 seconds. With that in mind, try to keep your videos’ length two minutes, if not shorter.
Engage more when your fans are online
Every brand has its own ideal time to post. This is because the best time to post depends on a multitude of factors. What industry do you belong to? The location of your target audience. When do your users come active on Facebook?
Assess your data.
Open your Facebook Page Insights, under which you will come across a Post tab, where you will get the data for when your Facebook page fans were online each day of the week.
Create Facebook-friendly data
Different posts work on various social media sites. What works on Twitter or Instagram might not work for Facebook. For example, hashtags and gifs are both great for Twitter and Instagram, but not so much on Facebook.
Thus, it is best to curate your posts in a way that they fit into the Facebook setting.
Post Exclusive Content
More than curating posts that go well in a Facebook setting, try to offer your followers a feed that is exclusive to Facebook.
For example, you can post special offers and discounts on Facebook or release specific data for an upcoming study or a pilot research project before it’s even published on your website. This will create curiosity amongst the users, pushing them to engage with your content more to stay up to date.
Try to make your Facebook posts count by sharing this data only on Facebook and not anywhere else. Then, publicize sales, special discounts, contests and more, on other mediums, directing them towards Facebook.
Facebook Top Fan Badge
Last but not least, turn on your top fan badge. It will give your followers an incentive to follow and engage with your posts. Having this badge increases the users’ contribution progressively. Users who are generally more active on the business’ page receive this badge.
All in all, engage with the community in a more meaningful way. Just spamming is not going to get you as much reach anymore.