Facebook is still the most prominent social network worldwide. As of the second quarter of 2021, there were roughly 2.89 billion monthly active users on Facebook.
Facebook offers massive potential for brands trying to reach specific audiences, especially those between the ages of 25-34. Facebook has also seen a growing number of seniors but is losing the younger crowd to networks like TikTok and Snapchat.
Even more challenging is the drop in engagement because of “information overload” and changing Facebook algorithms. More and more content is pushed in users’ faces each day, and it gets difficult to process it all, let alone comment, share and like. Facebook has also tweaked its algorithm and is restricting the organic reach of brands. Instead, they prioritize content from family and friends.
Does this mean the end of Facebook as a platform to build professional relationships with your customers and prospects?
Of course not!
In this post, I’ll show you 5 quick ways to boost engagement on Facebook, starting with when to post.
1. Post When Your Audience Is Most Active
Engagement from your followers on Facebook is essential since it can lead to repeat users and more website traffic. And the more attention a post receives, the more Facebook’s algorithm will reward it with reach, so the timing of your posts is crucial.
Posting when your audience is most active instantly increases the likelihood of getting likes, comments, and shares. Activity will be different depending on your brand and what industry you are in, the location of your audience, and so forth.
If your followers belong to a different time zone, you can use Facebook’s scheduling option to post at times when they tend to be online.
And you can find your best time to post by looking at your own Facebook data. In the “Posts” tab, you simply scroll down to the “When Your Fans Are Online” section, and you’ll see a graph showing the days and times your fans are active on Facebook.
2. Post Video Content and Broadcast Live
Videos perform the best on Facebook in terms of reach and engagement, and especially live broadcasts. That’s because real-time videos can communicate a story better than anything else. People can connect with you as you are “live” and get involved in the discussion.
If you don’t want to broadcast live, you can still benefit from posting videos. For example, inspirational videos get more shares and engagement than regular sales messages. Users like to share and comment on content that touches them in some way.
It’s also a good idea to post educational videos that inform users about your brand and why they should invest in your products or services. If they provide helpful information and tips, your followers may share them to help their network.
Remember that people go to Facebook to entertain themselves, so posting humoristic videos can also help you increase engagement. Even informational content can be entertaining as soon as you make it lite and add a little bit of humor here and there.
But don’t just share YouTube links. Overall, videos uploaded to Facebook have a significantly higher engagement rate and share rate than YouTube links.
3. Create Facebook Groups
Creating a Facebook group is an excellent way to get fans and followers involved and engaged. More than 1.8 billion people use Facebook groups, and the valuable interactions from these groups can lead to increased engagement on your page, as well as create brand loyalty.
For example, WPBeginner has a successful Facebook group with over 78K members. They offer help and guidance to beginners and people with no technical experience and help them solve WordPress-related issues, and this has helped them boost engagement significantly.
Besides, they consistently grow their member count by embedding their Facebook group on their website using the best social media feed plugin for WordPress, Smash Balloon. That way, their website visitors get a sneak peek of the awesome content shared in the group, which will encourage them to join.
4. Post Consistently
Facebook affects more than 50% of people’s buying decisions, and 76% of US citizens have purchased a product they’ve seen in a brand’s social media postings. That means that you can leverage social proof to grow your revenue only from a consistent posting schedule as a brand.
If you post consistently, Facebook’s algorithm will reward you with more and more reach. On the other hand, it’ll downgrade your page if you post randomly.
Another benefit of posting content consistently is that your followers expect to see content from you regularly and watch out for it. As a rule of thumb, social media experts recommend posting at least 2-3 times per week.
But testing will help you see how often you should post to get the best response from your audience.
5. Ask for Your Followers’ Opinions
As social media is gaining popularity, your relationship with your audience will be far more critical than your number of followers. Facebook looks at your engagement rate as an indicator of how valuable your content is to users.
Asking questions will boost engagement by giving your followers a chance to share their thoughts. So, ask for their opinions on the content you share.
For example, you can curate other brands’ content to share relevant news topics and ask your followers’ opinions. You can ask if they agree on the issue, why they like certain things, and how they perform specific actions.
Lastly, ask them what kind of content they want to see from you. Targeted content will inspire even more engagement.
Final Thoughts
Using these 5 actionable tips will help you boost your engagement on Facebook in no time. Remember to always respond to comments to keep the conversation going. Responding quickly and providing helpful answers can get more people to buy from your brand. Posting on social media will also increase your referral traffic to your website and boost SEO.
