11 Tips To Increase Your Facebook Engagement
interspacemalaysia Affiliate Marketing in Malaysia, Digital Marketing October 2, 2020 7 Minutes
If you are an influencer pushing products or a content creator trying to get more traffic to your website or a digital marketer trying to understand the traffic, you would know that Facebook as a social media platform has huge power to make or break your online presence.
Small businesses, start-ups and even top brands rely heavily on Facebook to advertise their products, reach niche audiences, create branding among netizens and to stay relevant in the fast-changing business world.
However, it is not an easy task to stand out among hundreds of thousands of brands trying to make their way to their target audiences’ news feeds. Facebook algorithms play a huge part. So, you need to go out of your comfort zone and think creatively to make sure your Facebook Engagement is always top-notch!
What is Facebook algorithm?
In simple terms, Facebook algorithm refers to how your feed is. What appears on your feed and what you see first when you open the app. This is based on your activities on the app and the information you have provided. The tricky part is, the Facebook algorithm is constantly evolving.
Now, the audience has more control over what they want to see and can choose to hide things they are not very keen about.
In 2004, Facebook was created and five years later, the algorithm made its appearance. The sorting order for the newsfeed was invented in 2009. In 2015, you could choose which posts of pages you want to “See First” via the “See First” feature.
In 2016, Facebook started prioritising content based on how much time you spent on it. For instance, if you keep watching and liking make-up posts and videos, you will be seeing a lot of those without even searching for them.
In 2017, Facebook started giving more emphasis to reactions to posts compared to the number of likes. So, content creators had to improvise and greatly improve their content to be able to get a “laugh” or “thumbs up” from their audience.
Later in 2018, comments played a big role in Facebook algorithms. Posts with higher engagement which comprises comments, reactions, and comments were deemed more valuable and were prioritised.
Just last year, Facebook gave more power to the audience with the introduction of “Why am I seeing this post?” tool.
Ranking of posts in Facebook
According to Facebook, the ranking of the posts in the feed is usually done through:
- Who you interact with
- Type of media in the post
- The popularity of the post
Now, the audience can choose not to see a post and they will see less of such posts. The Facebook algorithm is constantly evolving and it is crucial to keep up to date with it so that as a brand, you can be close to your target audience.
Now that you know how Facebook algorithms work, it’s time to find out how you can create content that aligns well with Facebook algorithms and can give you a high Facebook engagement rate.
Here are 11 tips to increase your Facebook engagement rate
1. Build content that informs, inspires and entertains the audience
Social media has progressed from being a mere source of entertainment to a source of information and inspiration. People are now relying on Facebook for information as well as entertainment. Seize the opportunity by coming up with the latest, up-to-date, funny, value-adding and quality content for them.
When you put some thoughts and efforts to create content that will make their lives better or add value to their day-to-day lives, you will definitely be tagged as “See First” or they would be happy to like, comment and share your posts frequently.
2. Be fussy about the images you use
Image is the best way to capture the audience’s attention. Without image or without a quality image, you would fail to attract their attention. Too bad, they will just scroll past your content-heavy post.
Mobile phone cameras nowadays produce great photos and all you need to do is learn simple tricks to capture captivating photos for your posts. Using old photos repeatedly or blurry images will only result in disinterest among your followers.
Another easy way to score high quality and high-resolution images is by using copyright-free image sources that are free. Here are top 3 sources for free images that you can use!
3. Find the best time to post and schedule your post accordingly
The best time to post is when your audience is online. How can you find out when is the right time to post? The solution is right under your nose!
Use Facebook Insights to find out when most of your followers are online and schedule your post at that time. That way, your audience will see your posts as soon as you post and can like, share and comment on your post.
Otherwise, it might get buried under other posts and your followers may never get to see your post when they log in to Facebook a few hours after you posted your brilliant content.
Always remember that recent posts will rank better compared to older posts. You can experiment and try posting at different times when your audience are mostly online to see what works best.
Ultimately, people need to see your posts when they log in so that they can engage with your posts.
4. Make high quality and relatable videos
Videos are fast becoming favourites among the audience and if that’s the case, it’s time you come up with relevant, relatable and quality ideas to make videos. Some tips to make sure your videos hit the right spot and continue trending are:
- Videos that are longer than 3 minutes
- Interesting first minute because you want people to watch the video for longer than 1 minute
- Original and authentic videos are better than repurposed content because chances are high that your audience have come across the original ones
- Relatable and funny videos often bring out the laughter and make people click the share button
- Use the Facebook Creator Studio to upgrade your videos and reach more target audience. Find out all about Facebook Creator Studio here.
5. Go ‘Live’ for closer connection with your followers
Live videos are great to forge connections and form a strong bond with your followers. Naturally, Live videos rank higher than normal videos and other contents. Some ideas for Facebook live sessions are:
- Share behind the scenes of your workspace or the rehearsals of events
- Ask Me Anything sessions are great contents to explain about your brand value and principles to your followers. It is also a great opportunity to get personal with them.
- Conduct interview sessions with experts or other brands
- Organise contests and conduct them in a live session for a more exciting content
6. Mix up your content formats
If you keep producing content with long captions or you keep on posting videos after videos, the audience might get bored. Hence, it is always best to switch your contents on a daily basis. Vary the content between long captions, short captions, questions, infographics, motivational quotes, polls, and so on to keep your audience engaged.
You should also take a look at Facebook Insights to find out the type of content that performs well over time. If you see a specific trend that favours certain types of content, you can always prioritise that content format.
7. Respond to comments and messages
Yes, they might be a lot to handle but they are what matters most for your Facebook engagement! So, allocate some time to reply to the comments and messages your followers send.
Treating them as friends will only make them fond of your brand and they will become more attached to it. Interacting genuinely with your followers will enhance your brand presence and you will be able to connect more deeply with your followers. In the long run, you will be able to form a supporting community around your brand.
8. A good CTA goes a long way
Your posts will be directionless without a good call-to-action (CTA). Especially, if you are shouting out your products, a CTA will direct your followers to the right landing page. If you keep on posting content after content without a good CTA, you will be losing precious conversions and leads.
Be creative in incorporating the CTA as you don’t want to be seen as being desperate or too pushy. Think out of the box to get your followers click on your link, comment or share. Make sure they never scroll past your content just because they could not locate the CTA instantly!
9. Start conversations with your followers
Now, who doesn’t like a good conversation? Same goes to your followers. Initiate conversations with them through your posts. This way, you would appear more personal and they would also find the interaction appealing and warm compared to a stream of cold posts.
You can ask their opinions about any trending news, about your brand update, their comments about your recent launch, their opinion about anything and everything related to your brand and the world. To be honest, that is a lot of conversations right there!
10. Create Facebook centric posts for Facebook
It is easier and less work to create generic content for the day and post across all social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Unfortunately, this would not work for the engagements of the respective platforms.
Each of these platforms have their own metrics and algorithms. If you are creating generic content, you would be losing out precious opportunity to connect with audiences across these platforms. For instance, hashtags work wonders in Instagram but not so much in Facebook and Twitter. GIFs are great for Twitter but not the best for Instagram.
Hence, spend some time to create contents that go well with the tone and style of each social media platform.
11. Post consciously
Bombarding followers with a stream of mindless content will surely backfire. For instance, posting 20 posts a day may dilute the impact of your posts and your followers are bound to scroll past your posts without a second glance.
This will lead to poor engagement and consequently, affect your brand presence in the platform. An easy yet effective way is to limit the number of your posts. Instead, focus on producing high quality and thoughtful content. The key is quality, not quantity.
Implement these strategies for better Facebook engagement
Facebook engagement is crucial for brands, influencers, affiliate marketers and digital marketers. Your efforts would go to waste if you keep doing it wrong. Hence, implementing these strategies will set you in the right direction!
All the best!
