If you’ve been struggling to grow your organic reach on Facebook, then you are in good company. With all of the recent changes to brand page format and the newsfeed algorithm, many marketers are facing the same challenges in generating exposure for their published posts. It doesn’t help that Facebook is now promoting old content over the new.
Knowing this, what can you do to succeed on the social media platform without driving yourself crazy with each new update?
Here are 4 suggestions that we make to clients who want to enhance their brand presence on Facebook to increase engagement as well as “likes”:
Get with the Picture: Visual images have been so successful on Facebook that there are now multitudes of online tools (some for free) that you can use to edit, enhance, and customize photos for your page. Given that visuals are proven to elicit more engagement than text-only posts, you can’t afford to ignore this opportunity to improve your social media strategy.
- Make a Schedule: It used to be that the only way to gauge the effectiveness of your posts was to test, test, and test some more. Now, instead of choosing days and times at random, Facebook Insights lets you see when your followers are online the most. Taking this data into account, you can schedule your Facebook posts around the behaviors of your specific audience.
- Ask a Question: When it comes to Facebook users, the opportunity to share an opinion is not lost on your followers. Whether you survey your audience on what type of information they would like to see you post, or you ask which of your new logo designs they like the most, chances are if you ask a question you will see some action. (Bonus: The more interactions you receive on a post, the more likely it is to show up in additional newsfeeds.)
- Use #hashtags: When you optimize your posts with hashtags, you allow Facebook to categorize your content by topic, which users can then find when searching for relevant conversations. One caveat about hashtags: don’t overuse them; 1-2 hashtags per post is plenty.
Incorporating these suggestions with your existing Facebook strategy should help you see an improvement in the frequency and quality of interactions over time. Don’t be afraid to try something “out of the norm” – not all types of content work with every audience, but you may be surprised at the ones that do.
If you have questions about how to implement these strategies or you want ideas for creating high quality content, call RWS Consulting for a social media consultation.