With more than 1.04 billion daily users and 40% of small businesses in the U.S., Facebook is an essential piece of most companies’ social media marketing puzzle. For a long time, brands have been very successful on Facebook and have quickly reached their target audience. Above all, they managed to do it organically (without using paid ads). But everything changed between 2014 and 2015 when the posts on the companies’ pages started to have a much less organic reach.
After the move, entrepreneurs and traders were confused, frustrated, and lost. What used to be a huge traffic generator and branding tool now looked like a pay-to-play platform.
How the drop in organic reach affected Facebook engagement
One factor that determines what appears in a Facebook user’s news feed is the posts of Facebook engagement. When a post has lots of comments, shares, and likes, it indicates to Facebook that users who liked this page would probably be interested in that content. Thus, the greater the chances of this post appearing on a fan’s news feed.
It is more difficult to earn these likes, comments, and shares when a large part is not seeing your audience’s posts. It is like a vicious circle. You need Facebook engagement to appear in your fans’ news feed, but you need to appear in the news feed to be engaged.
Fortunately, there are, nonetheless, approaches to attaining your target market and boosting your engagement on Facebook, regardless of modifications to the information feed. Try using the ten tactics presented here to start getting more likes, comments, clicks, and shares on your Facebook posts.
1. Post at the right time (hint: not when you think you should)
The organic reach may have been reduced, but it is not over. One of the reasons Facebook has changed the way content is displayed in the news feed is its growing amount of content. As more brands and people joined Facebook, the number of posts also went up. And that generates a lot of competition.
The secret is to post when engagement is at the highest level, not necessarily when most users are connected. Although most people see Facebook during the day, the most significant Facebook engagement happens at night. Buzzsumo pointed out that posts published between 10 pm and midnight (local time) receive more Facebook engagement.
As we can see, the peak post time is around 11 am. However, this is also when Facebook engagement is lowest, probably because news feeds are filled with new posts that simply pass through. But at night, the number of seats is less, so users have more time to interact with each post.
To increase efficiency, it is a good idea to schedule your Facebook posts in advance. Test different times between the times of most Facebook engagement and find out what works best for your company.
2. Share the content that your fans want to see, not what you want them to see
If you want people to interact with your Facebook posts, you need to share the content they want to see. Often, companies think that just because they are in a particular industry, all content should be directly related to that field. For example, a cafeteria may be limited to posting content about snacks, offers, and company news. The problem is that most people don’t want to read about snacks every day, so they are less likely to interact with their Facebook posts.
To balance it, expand the type of content you share. A cafeteria could post recipes, nutrition tips, and other content not necessarily related to sandwiches, but nothing out of the area. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense for a diner to post about online marketing.
3. Analyze your posts that have lost engagement in the past
Why reinvent the wheel? Sometimes the best way to get more Facebook engagement is to post more of the same type of content you’ve been successful with. It is possible to find posts with more engagement using the Facebook Reports offered by Sprout. Once you’ve identified the most potent performing content, you just need to start producing others similar to it.
4. Use real-life photos
Even though we are tired of seeing people posting pictures every time they go to Starbucks, the truth is that we keep looking at those pictures. On Facebook, photos are the most engaging type of content you can share. According to the Social Media Examiner, the images appear in 75% of Facebook posts and account for 87% of the platform’s content.
When looking at most business pages, we see many generic images instead of original images. Instead of relying on generic photos, use your phone or a camera to take real pictures. Posts containing authentic photos give a more personal and organic image.
Another great tip for adding more photos is to upload your Instagram photos to Facebook. Access your settings on Instagram and connect your Facebook account. When taking a picture, just tap the Facebook icon to share your images automatically.
5. Respond to people
You work hard for people to interact with your posts. But when a person takes the time to leave a comment, do you ignore them? It is not enough to make a post and move on to the next. You need to check comments throughout the day to respond as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the much less likely the communication is to continue.
Indeed, you will receive occasional trolls from people who just post a comment to gain attention. But most people who leave comments on their posts do so because what you posted has reverberated. Make them feel heard and appreciated, and they will be more willing to engage in your next posts.
6. Create blog posts specifically for Facebook (content that is worth sharing)
While photos take full advantage of engagement on Facebook & generate revenue, links have more reach. To benefit – and to bring more traffic to your site through Facebook – start creating content on your company’s blog targeted explicitly at Facebook.
If you already have a very active Facebook page and have a good engagement, you can use the second tip technique. Just review the most exciting links you’ve shared, and create similar content.
However, if you’re starting from scratch or don’t have enough data from your own Facebook page to see what your audience likes most, we have another option:
Search BuzzSumo for keywords you would like to write about and analyze content on the topic that has been widely shared on Facebook. You can even explore the URL of one of your competitors and see which pages on their website have the most shares on Facebook.
In general, posts and list articles that arouse curiosity perform well on Facebook. In the example above, the post with the most shares is a list post. What’s below this arouses curiosity because you want to know how someone could purchase the week for just $ 50 at the Whole Foods supermarket.
A good tip is to think of a topic or title that would catch your reader’s attention if it were on a magazine cover while he waited in line at the supermarket. If you pass this test, you are on the right track.
Lastly, include a flashy photo with your size for Facebook. With Sprout Social’s newest tool, Landscape is easy to crop, resize, and scale all your Facebook photos to fit perfectly on the page.
7. Invite people to interact
If you are looking for greater Facebook engagement, make it clear within your content that you want users to like and share your post. Try to get in the habit of ending each post with some kind of call to action. This won’t make everyone click to share on Facebook, but it’s a good reminder.
Think about it: people are bombarded daily by content on social networks, blogs, television, podcasts, and any other platform imaginable. We are in a state of content overload.
Most people don’t have the time or desire to finish reading an article with all of this content. On average, a person will read 20% to 28% of the words in your post.
It can be assumed that those few and loyal readers who have spent time reading your entire post are engaged and interested in the content. This is the best time to ask for action on their part.
Related post: How to Generate Revenue from Facebook
8. Use videos on Facebook
May YouTube is sorry, but even though it is the second-largest social network, the channel does not serve much for marketing on Facebook. After the undeniable acceptance of video content, Facebook dedicated a large amount of time and resources to its native video platform. For this reason, Facebook tends to favour video uploads made directly on their platform rather than embedded videos from YouTube and other video sites.
In a study on the engagement of native Facebook videos compared to YouTube videos posted on Facebook, the winner was obvious. Native Facebook videos received:
- Twice as many comments
- Three times more shares
- Seven times more comments
- Reach twice as long
If you’re not using Facebook videos yet or don’t see much progress, read this article.
9. Shorten posts
Do not make the Facebook page a company blog. People don’t go to Facebook to read long texts. Your posts should be short and friendly.
Facebook posts with 0 to 50 characters receive more engagement. The more characters besides, the lower the expected Facebook engagement.
To reduce the size of your Facebook posts, eliminate unnecessary details or information. Treat your posts like headlines. Use them to win people over and entice them to click on your website to read the full story.
10. Create an engagement strategy on Facebook
Last but not least: if you want to start getting more attention, you need to have an engagement strategy for Facebook. Posting in an uncontrolled way, crossing your fingers, and hoping that someone leaves a comment or shares your post is not an effective or efficient action.
Describe what you want to publish when you publish it and the steps to be followed to get more engagement.