5 Tips For Energizing Your Facebook Engagement

March 30, 2015In Framework6 Minutes

Many of us are very familiar with social media, using it on a day-to-day basis. Whether it’s posting updates about family or events, posting pictures from our vacations, or tweeting meaningful or funny quotes, social media has touched our lives in some way. To truly connect with our customers and website users, each brand must become fully fluent in the platform that best suits it.

Facebook is a complicated world – what articles or posts get the most interaction, how can we increase engagement with our followers, and create the most meaningful experience? How can we glean the most benefit from one of the world’s most popular social media networks?

There are a few ways to help you make your Facebook posts make a more meaningful impression. Of course, a brand must engage in extensive research to see its users’ needs and goals and which social media platform would impact its audience most. Keeping that in mind, if your company has decided that creating a business Facebook account is the optimal route for customer engagement, consider the following steps.

Facebook mobile interface design shown on a mobile phone.
Facebook mobile interface design is shown on a mobile phone.

Have a Plan

Before you create a post, please step back and ask yourself what you want this post to accomplish. Building engagement, driving site traffic, encouraging shares, starting a conversation – clarify the intention from the get-go, and your Facebook post will be much more effective. Your goal should be obvious to your readers if you don’t mind.

Include a call-to-action, or an enticing headline that includes a special deal or time-sensitive offer that would encourage interaction. Create a human, personable feel and use language that is casual and clear.

Engagement

Moving along with the clear call-to-action mentality, keep in mind that your users appreciate directness. Clear verbiage that indicates without ambiguity what your intended goal has been found to generate the best results. For example, using strong words like “Share now,” “Subscribe today,” and “Let us know what you think” has resulted in greater follow-through rates.

By connecting with them on a personal level, you begin to create an environment of trust and community. Ask your users to share stories of their experiences with solving problems or how their interaction with your product or service benefited them in some way. Utilize common engagement practices such as asking your readers to fill in the blank to a proposed question or having them provide a creative caption for a photo.

Tip: Try not to ask your Facebook followers to post something to their own friends’ pages, as Facebook considers this a form of spamming and may close down your page. Using “share” words is acceptable, but do not require them to post on their friends’ walls/timelines in order to participate in a contest or deal.

Photos

Since we are largely visual learners (retaining memories and associations through the visual center of the brain), posts that are accompanied by a photo have a significantly larger engagement record than those without. If your post includes a photo with the link you post, make sure it transfers through to Facebook. If that isn’t an option, don’t worry – create a simple, clear photo with a link. Before posting, test the link to ensure it works properly (so that you don’t miss a letter in the URL or link to the wrong page).

Keep It Simple

Content is important, but the fewer characters, the better for Facebook posts. Your content should be engaging, but don’t promise something you cannot deliver. Stay true to your brand voice, and keep it simple. Since having a Facebook account is to generate a sense of community, remaining ethical and honest will ensure a loyal audience. If they feel as though they are being manipulated, you can turn them off from your brand and lose them as followers.

Master the Ratio

Finally, nothing turns users off more than constantly being bombarded with promotional material. Companies are increasing their advertising spurts, and your audience is bumped from all sides by promotions, offers, and “50% off sale: today only”! Of course, some promotion is expected from your company, but if your users receive useful information and interaction from your social media, they will build trust and increase brand credibility.

The ratio changes often but seems to stay with a 30-70 or 20-80 ratio of promotional material and valuable (non-promotional) content.

Keeping the above tips in mind will help your brand provide a better user engagement experience for your social media audience. Stay true to your brand voice, using content that allows for lively conversation accompanied by clear photos, and watch your Facebook engagement flourish.

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