5 WAYS TO ENGAGE YOUR FACEBOOK FANS

Scenario: You know you are posting valuable information on your Facebook business page, but somehow, you can't seem to get as much views, likes and comments. You begin to question your own visibility on the newsfeed, the quality of your posts, or if you are irking some fans with your shoutouts. Why the cold shoulder?

Fret not. You may just need some tips which will boost your engagement. It's not your quality at question, but maybe your techniques - or the lack of some essential ones.

Below is a list of 5 ways to elicit a more favourable response from you FB posts.

Ask a Question

A question is like a mini call-to-action. The important thing to remember when you ask a question is that you need to make it short, relevant and easy to answer with only a few words. In fact, if you can make it answerable in one word, all the better. When you compose a question, consider how you might respond if you saw a similar question pop up in your news feed asked by another brand. Is it something you would answer? Would you answer in your head without bothering to put it into the comment box?

Asking your fans to "Share their favorite childhood memory" is more worthy of a blog post than a comment. Make your question answerable with a simple "yes" or "no" or even a click of the Like button (akin to a "yes"). A question that's easy to answer and appeals to someone personally and emotionally is far more likely to get a response than one that's vague, requires an explanation or is overused or dull.

Keep Your Updates Short

Research repeatedly shows that the longer a post is, the less engagement it will receive. Blame it on Twitter, but people don't have the time or patience to read anything over 140 characters anymore. Results vary, but research shows that 100 characters or fewer seems to be the sweet spot. This will also allow for easy cross-posting on Twitter.

But of course, this is not true for all posts. Don't make a post so unnecessarily short that you fail to make a point. Don't leave the readers hanging or wanting more clarification - without being given one in a follow-up post.

Click the Like Button

A super easy way to get your fans to respond is simply to ask them to click the Like button. Make an if-then statement and ask your fans to click. "Click Like if you want a chocolate chip cookie." No thought required. You're practically eliciting a Pavlovian response. The important thing is that you're getting a response. It may not seem like much at first, but you're building a relationship and ultimately a habit. People will start to expect interesting and interactive content from you and clicking "like" will become part of their routine.

Post at Times Ideal for Your Fans

Getting your post at the top of fans' newsfeeds is paramount for engagement. So how do you do this? For one, make sure you post at the right times.

Recent data from bit.ly shows that the optimal time to post on Facebook is between 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm, when Facebook traffic peaks. Links posted between 1 and 4 pm get the highest click-through rates, with Wednesday at 3:00 pm being the best time to post all week. Links posted before 8:00 am and after 8:00 pm are less likely to get shared. Another thing to consider is the TGIF (Thank God It's Friday) factor. As office burnout peaks toward the end of the week, more people will be escaping to Facebook. Engagement rates are 18% higher on Thursday and Friday than other days of the week, according to Buddy Media. Engagement rates fall 3.5% below average for posts Monday through Wednesday, when people are more focused at work.

If your goal is likes, not comments, Dan Zarrella of HubSpot found that Saturday and Sunday posts get the most likes.

Facebook Contest

Contests are another great way to increase Facebook engagement because not only does this reward loyal fans, but also it creates excitement and will get users to visit your Facebook page frequently to check if they have won.

There are many types of contests that you can organize. Social media promotions platform, Binkd, for example, not only allows you to create a straight-forward sweepstakes contest but also more challenging contests that create engagement. Different contests can be structured to target the engagement that you would like from your audience. A 'vote to win' contest would get you likes, but not as many comments as the more challenging contests that would require you to write a tagline in the comment box.

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