Have you noticed a drop in fan engagement on your fanpage? Are you wondering how to encourage them to interact more? It's not that difficult at all. Still, it's worth using proven methods.
#1 Give fans a choice
A great way to engage fans is to publish a post in which the moderator gives fans a choice. It's worth showing them two photos, two products, or two pages. This kind of action will boost reach and spark dialogue in the comments. The scale of that reach can actually be controlled, for example by asking a controversial question. Still, it's better to avoid topics related to politics.
#2 Ask a question
One of the simplest and most effective ways to start a dialogue with your customers is to ask them a question. If fans can relate to a specific issue, and the question concerns stories connected to their lives and interests, they are eager to respond. This is how the agency Abanana, which manages Góralki on Facebook, does it:
#3 Add a post when fans are online
Time and content
People use Facebook at different times of the day. Some are present on the platform in the afternoon, while others prefer the evening hours. If posts are published several times a day at random times, there is a risk that some people simply won't see them. It's worth checking the insights available on the account so you can publish posts at the right time.
The dashboard shows when fans are online. To check when they are most active, you can set a date range to compare time blocks. Publishing posts late at night is not necessarily bad. At that time, there is low activity from administrators of other accounts on Facebook, so there is a greater chance that someone will see the post at night or in the morning. However, the best approach is to publish posts at different times to see what works best.
#4 Share valuable images
An image can say far more than text. An image that evokes emotion will encourage a fan to explore the rest of the content available on the fanpage. Graphics improve engagement, especially when they tell a specific story or connect with fans on a personal and emotional level.
According to BuzzSumo, posts with photos generate twice as much interest as basic text posts. Tools such as Canva or Adobe Spark make it possible to prepare good-quality images.
#5 Invite others to collaborate
There is no rule saying that activity on Facebook should be limited only to your own page. It's worth interacting with other brands and adding pages. When a synergy effect appears, a post can reach an additional number of fans.
#6 Ask for feedback
People love giving feedback. If the request for feedback is expressed in the right way, fans will certainly respond quickly. An additional benefit is that you can learn about your weak points and improve how you operate.
This kind of action can be a potential trigger for customer loyalty and encourage their future engagement. A more personal approach will be better than research and can motivate people to take a specific stance.
#7 Include a CTA
Activities on the fanpage
A constant rule present in every type of marketing is that you have to tell your audience what to do if you care about that action. Calls to action are worth using in every post to encourage leaving a comment, taking part in a contest, and so on.
#8 Promote your best posts
If you run a blog or a website where you publish content, also post it on Facebook and promote the post. You don't need to invest large amounts of money right away to achieve satisfactory results. Sometimes just a dozen or so zlotys is enough to gain new likes.
To discover which content was the most popular, you can use Google Analytics. It's worth reviewing the data for each post to decide which content is worth promoting.
#9 Share hot topics
Even the most loyal fans are interested in more than just news about the company. Sharing industry news will show fans that the moderator is not focused solely on promoting their own business.
#10 Set the frequency of posting
The inability to draw conclusions about engagement on Facebook may be related to posting frequency. Posting information on the fanpage too rarely, for example a few times a week, will not help you connect with the Facebook algorithm. On the other hand, adding posts too often, for example several times a day, may cause Facebook users to miss many interesting pieces of content.
#11 Make people laugh
We all love to laugh. We also look for humorous content on Facebook. It's worth brightening fans' days by showing them your personality. In some situations, however, you should make sure whether humor is really what the audience needs at that moment.
#12 Reply to everyone
Build a community
When you receive comments from your fans, it is recommended to acknowledge them and respond. Monitoring social activity takes only a few minutes a day, which allows you to write witty replies to fans' comments.
#13 Seek content from fans
Encourage fans to share photos on a given topic or photos of your products. This is a great way to start a dialogue with fans and gain engagement. Going one step further, you can launch a contest or offer giveaways.
#14 Share content from other channels
When publishing content on various social channels, also share it with other users. It's not worth putting it away in a drawer and waiting for dust to gather on it. You can look at the content, videos, and images published on other platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc., and pass the best of them on to your fans.
#15 Go behind the scenes with Live Video
There is a high probability that visual content will be shared on Facebook. The platform allows live video streaming to audiences, and it's up to the moderator whether to use this option. It works well when we want to show the inside of the company and its employees. It is also a great way to take fans on a company trip or another important event. To start a live broadcast, open Facebook on a mobile device. Once the live broadcast is over, it is saved in the fanpage content, so viewers can return to it at any time.
#16 Create an emotional bond
If you want to get many responses from your fans, publish a post that speaks to them on an emotional level. It's worth telling a story that triggers feelings such as love, fear, or even hatred. Brand loyalty does not come from the product, but from the customer's individual emotions.
#17 Provide value
Always, before sharing or adding content to your Facebook page, you should ask yourself what value it will provide to your fans. The best way to attract their attention is to make sure fans will find something for themselves in it. If it doesn't offer valuable content, at least let it make them laugh. Best of all, it will provide knowledge or inspire action.
#18 Align with popular topics
It's worth following popular events and observing trends that may attract the audience's attention. Sometimes simply adding a hashtag to a post is enough to increase its visibility.
Both Facebook and Twitter allow you to track trends based on positions and discussions. Google Trends provides the same insight into popular topics based on search volume and published topics.
#19 Return to older posts
Adding new content to Facebook every time tempts every marketer. From time to time, however, it's worth diving into the archive. You can look at posts from the previous year and identify those that generated significant engagement. Recycling posts gives you a chance to repeat the success of a post connected with high engagement. Besides, maybe some fans didn't get to see that post?
#20 Celebrate holidays
Due to the large number of traditional holidays and also those not entirely serious ones, there should never be a shortage of post ideas. If an unusual holiday appears in the calendar, such as Cat Day or Skirt Day, it's worth experimenting with adding humorous content.
Fans will surely appreciate receiving fresh information when they are introduced to a great offer, such as a Hot Dog for 1 zloty on the occasion of World Dog Day. It's worth finding this kind of added value for every post in order to spark interest.
Summary
Building engagement on Facebook requires a thoughtful strategy that combines a variety of tactics. The key is publishing content when fans are most active, responding to comments, and using visual formats. Experimenting with questions, contests, and live broadcasts allows you to discover what resonates best with your audience.
An interesting fact is that, according to BuzzSumo, posts with photos generate twice as much interest as text posts. It's worth remembering that effective communication is not only about sales, but above all about building relationships and providing value, which in the long run translates into loyalty.
