January 21, 2013

5 Quick Tips for Boosting Facebook Engagement

The one thing every social marketer wants to do is increase Facebook engagement.  With limited resources and time, getting great engagement on your business’ Facebook page can seem like a daunting task. Should you post sales messages? Should you be serious to gain respect? Or is playful better? The good news is you don’t have to spend tons of time to be effective—there are some easy things you can do to boost engagement on your Facebook page.

1.    Get to know how EdgeRank works

Every social media manager must understand what EdgeRank is and how it affects the visibility of your posts. In the simplest of terms, EdgeRank is the formula that determines whether your posts shows up in your fans’ newsfeeds. It is based on three things: recency, affinity, and weight. This infographic does a great job of clearly communicating how EdgeRank works.

Source: Copypress – Click to view full infographic

2.    Mix it up

It is imperative to keep sales messages to a minimum. While your ultimate goal of increasing engagement should be to drive business growth, you should be cautious not to fatigue your fans with too many sales pushes that are likely to be ignored or marked as spam. This can cause negative EdgeRank, which will lead to even less exposure to your fan base—which will, in turn, result in lower engagement. Instead, keep your fans engaged and loyal by focusing on a messaging mix that you know your customers will find interesting.  For example, your mix might include funny images, famous quotes, industry articles, polls, candid photos of your team, or any other creative type of content you can think of.

3.    Stay active

Once you start posting, keep posting.  Don’t let your channel go dark.  That sends a message to your customers that your business doesn’t have follow-through.  Rather than let an unused, dead Facebook page sit out for the world to see (and judge!), make at least 2-3 updates each week.  Also, be sure you respond to questions, complaints, and issues publicly.  Never delete customer complaints.  Instead, turn it into an opportunity by showing that you care by addressing their concerns quickly and professionally.  This will encourage other people to reach out via Facebook, knowing you’ll be responsive.  An active presence on Facebook is the only way you can work toward achieving great engagement!

4.  Have fun

Keep it fun for readers and for yourself. The whole reason people use Facebook is ultimately to pass the time and to have fun. Engaging with your businesses doesn’t have to be a drag! The best performing Facebook pages have one thing in common: multimedia content. According to Word of Mouth Marketing Association, pictures and videos can help boost your interaction by 120% over plain text or link updates. Visuals also take up more space on Facebook page, making them more visible and impactful.

5.  Tell people what to do

Another way to easily boost engagement is to add a call to action to your post. People like direction, so tell them what you want them to do:

  • “Like this…”
  • “Share this…”
  • “Leave your comment…”

According to research by Momentus Media, asking the user to like a status will boost engagement rates by a huge 216%!

When it comes down to it, have fun and your fans will too! If you’re bored, it shows. Take your time, plan your content, and enjoy the experience. Before you know it, your page will be receiving the engagement you’re looking for!

Now it’s your turn.  What are your tips for boosting engagement?  Tell us what has worked for you.

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About the Author
Kim Cooper

Kim Cooper is Sr. Marketing Manager at Rignite. She helps businesses get better results from their social media activity. She blogs about tips, best practices, and social media success stories.