Engagement is one of the most important metrics for Facebook marketers. It refers to any action your Facebook followers (or non-followers) perform on your posted content.
The actions tracked here include people clicking on your links, sharing your content with their networks, or reacting to your posts.
The main reason why a high engagement rate is so vital for Facebook marketers is that it allows you to reach more people with your content without having to spend a penny on paid ads.
Put differently, a high engagement helps to increase your organic reach, which is crucial for helping you achieve your marketing goals like increasing leads, conversions, sales, driving traffic to your website, etc.
As more individuals and businesses continue to use Facebook to market their products/services, boosting engagement has become harder.
Posting great content on your page is no longer enough to get people to engage with it. Because of this, you need to be willing to do more to keep this important social media metric high.
Here are some great tips you can implement today to increase your Facebook engagement rate:
1. Create and Post Share-Worthy Content Consistently
Share-worthy content is content that compels people to share it with their network. Such content:
- Grabs the attention of the target audience
- Provides them with immense value
- It is relevant to their needs and interests
- Connects with them at a much deeper level
You can create and share numerous types of content with your Facebook audience to keep them engaged.
These include entertaining videos, fresh product updates, educational content, breaking news, and industry information.
Whatever you choose to share is totally up to you. Make sure the content adds value to people’s lives before posting it out there.
Another equally important thing is consistency. You need to create and share your content consistently if you want to build a large and loyal following for your business on Facebook.
2. Post Content When Your Target Audience is Online
You can also increase your Facebook engagement by posting when most of your audience is available online.
If you ask different people for advice on the best posting time on Facebook, some will tell you to do it during business hours since people log into their social media accounts, even at work.
Others will advise you to do it outside business hours, like during weekends, lunch hours, late nights, or early mornings.
However, these generalized answers only apply to some audiences and businesses. The right posting time for your business should depend entirely on your target audience.
For example, if your target audience is college students, you should try posting when they’re not busy with schoolwork, like late at night or midday.
This tactic can increase your chances of getting more of your audience when they’re online and increase your engagement rates.
But if you’re not sure when your target audience is available online, try posting at different times of the day. Make sure you’re tracking your engagement rate as you do so to help you figure out which times work best with your audience.
3. Post Less Often
Posting content more frequently may seem like a great idea to increase your Facebook engagement. However, bombarding your target audience with too much information can have the opposite effect.
That’s because human beings use mental energy to process the information they come across.
When they consume too much information in a single day, it leaves them feeling too exhausted mentally to engage with your posts in a meaningful way.
It’s, therefore, better to post valuable and interesting content a couple of times a week instead of sharing numerous posts in a day that no one wants to read.
4. Use Facebook Live to Connect with Your Audience in Real-Time
Many people worldwide find video content more visually appealing, memorable and entertaining than text-based content. That’s why they continue to watch and share videos daily.
As a marketer, you should take advantage of people’s love for videos to grow your Facebook engagement. One way to do so is by using Facebook Live to connect and interact with your fans and customers in real time.
Here are three benefits that a live video provides over a recorded video:
Builds Stronger and Better Relationships
Using Facebook Live lets your audience see and communicate with you in real-time. This helps to prove to them that your brand is authentic and increases their trust in your business. Through Facebook Live, you also get to know your customers and fans personally and build stronger and better relationships with them.
You Get Immediate Feedback
Another benefit of using live video is that it enables you to get real-time feedback. For example, if you’re speaking too fast in your video, someone in your audience will tell you immediately so you can slow down a little bit to enable them to understand your message.
Increases Your Audience Reach
Live video also attracts a larger audience compared to uploaded video. So, using Facebook Live can help you to increase your content reach and brand awareness. Using it consistently is the secret to driving better engagement with Facebook Live.
Aim to have at least one or two live sessions with your audience weekly to build a loyal following for your business. It’s also a good idea to spend time researching the topic you plan to discuss. This enables you to deliver quality content that adds real value to people’s lives.
5. Show Fans Your Brand Personality
Another thing that directly impacts Facebook engagement is your brand personality. When you sound too professional and serious all the time, your audience might interpret it as being too dull and boring.
This can force them to either unfollow your page or stop further engagement with your content. To prevent this, try to give your brand a personality that your audience can relate to and a voice they’d love to hear.
Let that personality and voice show in every post your share to keep them interested in your brand in the long term.
6. Leverage the Power of User-Generated Content
User-generated or fan-created content also can drive more engagement from your target audience. This is because people find such content more authentic, credible, and interesting than brand-generated content.
Therefore, if you’ve never posted content created by your fans on your Facebook page, you’re missing out on a lot. Start doing so in the future to get more people to like, comment, and share your posts.
7. Ask the Right Questions
Lastly, there’s no better way to start a conversation with your Facebook audience than by asking them questions. Questions attract people’s attention and compel them to reply via the comment section.
Asking the right questions and at the right time can generate more Facebook comments and boost your engagement to a large extent.
Examples of the types of questions you can ask your fans include:
- Brand-related questions
- Questions based on the links you share with them
- Questions based on the images you share with them
- Closed-ended questions (i.e., those that require a yes or no reply)
- Open-ended questions (i.e., those that require a well-thought-out and detailed answer)
Final Thoughts on Increasing Your Facebook Engagement
Maintaining a high engagement rate on Facebook is possible if you know the right strategies to use and are willing to invest your time and effort in implementing them. There are several practical tips in this article that you can implement today to increase your engagement rate. Try them out to see what works for you.