20 Strategies for Encouraging More Interaction on your Facebook Page
Some businesses create their Facebook Pages and think their job is done. The truth is… it’s
just beginning!
But your Facebook Page will never get off the ground unless you initiate and encourage
interaction between yourself (or your official Admin) and those who visit and post.
Fortunately, building a community and making your Facebook Page come alive as an entity in
its own right is absurdly easy… as long as you know what to do.
Here are twenty-one proven strategies to help you create strong Facebook Pages that are, as
one poster put it, “just hopping!”
1. Mix your media – don’t always just share photos or just share text. Showcase a longer
“Notes” post. Post videos as well as photos. And do share infographics, when you find
an apt one: Not only do you have the power of the Edgerank algorithm assigning high
photo value to your infographic – you get to share really interesting or useful information
in an instant visual format.
2. Use contests. As with any other form of media, don’t overdo this – but a good strategy
is to hold a regular contest on a regular day of the week or month.
Always posting your contest on the same day creates habitual viewing. People start to
look forward to the feature.
A good rule of thumb? The more trivial, fun and silly the prize, the more often you can
feature the contest. The more high end with “wow” factor your prize, the rarer your
contest should be.
3. Don’t be afraid to occasionally throw in the truly fascinating “human interest”
story – even if it’s normally not the type of post your business-focused Page showcases.
Human interest stories touch everybody – and are usually high in entertainment value,
quickly going viral.
What makes for strong entertainment value? When something is unexpected,
outrageous – or just sometimes even just plain odd.
4. Consider using Suggested Posts – What’s the difference between a “Suggested Post”
and a Sponsored Story?
Sponsored stories have to come from connections of your target viewer, whereas
Suggested Posts can appear directly from your company to any member of a
demographic you target.
5. Show followers how to find Pages they’ve subscribed to quickly – One of the most
common reasons given for never visiting a Page again? “I couldn’t figure out how to find
it.”
Let your followers know they can instantly access Pages (not just yours) by pointing out
the options in their left-hand, vertical navigation menu.
Sure, you could just tell them how to find your Page alone – but show them this easy
method, and you will probably reap more visits!
6. Use “fill-in-the-blank” questions. When you aim the right question towards the right
audience, these are almost irresistible – even in text format!
responses as it generated “Likes”.
Now that’s interaction!
7. Use your cover section tabs wisely – This little row of tabs is prime real estate on your
Facebook Page, so swap and hide any tabs that don’t actively increase engagement (for
example, your Map tab, if your business is not local; or your “Likes” tab, which is only
there for vanity) with tabs that can make people interact.
You won’t have any choice concerning your “About” section and “Photos” tab – but you
can interchange any other tabs you’ve added, as the fabric site in the following example
has done.
Since their business is highly visual, they have featured a Pinterest tab.
They have also combined a custom tab with a catchy, short title – “Deals and Steals” –
with a simple call to action to further encourage followers to click on it. (“Sign Up for
Email”. (Top marks for soliciting subscribers!)
They have also chosen to offer Customer Service via their “Need Help?” tab, reinforcing
it with a “Contact Us” call to action.
8. Throw in the odd quiz – Another way to vary your content while maintaining a high
level of interactivity: Serve up quiz-type posts where the viewer has to take some type
of action.
You can leverage it even more by adding a personal question, as this poster has done
on her Page.
9. If you have a cute logo, feature it in photos and ask questions or run caption
contests.
(Hey, it worked for the Travelocity Gnome, didn’t it?)
10. Share specialty-interest information and juicy tips your viewers really want to
know. Again, the whole key to this is making sure you’ve gauged your audience
correctly.
Do your best to provide tips that really get them excited – then take it one step further by
answering questions for those who comment on problems with the tip suggested.
11. Make your “About” bio description all about your followers! – Letting your viewers
and followers know the Page is really “theirs” can hook people in and lead to
engagement.
12. Answer questions. The only exception to this would be if you’re such a big celebrity
that you actually need to discourage people getting too personal. But for the rest of the
world (particularly small businesses) the more interaction between you and your
commenters and posters, the better!
13. Don’t be too commercial or cold! People use Facebook for social connection and
entertainment. If your Page or Page posts come across as too commercial or impersonal
– or worse, reads like an advertisement – you’ll not only put readers off and possibly
annoy them, you’ll actively discourage or kill all chance at interaction. For example, this
post, below, may say something important, but it reads like a government pamphlet and
leaves zero motivation for commenting.
14. Use polls. People love to give their opinion. As long as your main question isn’t too
bland or generic, and you haven’t given your audience members too many choices, you
stand a higher-than-average chance of gaining some interaction.
15. Give your page personality. You want people to feel like your post is coming from a
friend – not some official announcement machine. And that your voice is real. This
animal rescue page does it by starting off with a heartfelt question, adding a personal
note to a heart-rending but all-too-common rescue posters-with-statistics.
(And note that the post resulted in adoption – how’s that for success!)
16. Pay attention to your followers. Here’s one celebrity that pays as much attention to
his feedback as his fans pay to him. Here, he features a fan photo, reaps 2,827
comments on this one post and, incidentally, has now topped 3 million followers.
17. Give your followers a delicious, unexpected deal sometimes. Here, mystery author
Lisa Scottoline lets readers know that an earlier novel is on sale for .99 cents at Amazon
(and makes some sales).
18. Don’t shy away from controversial posts. You should never, ever post strictly to cash
in on shock value – but featuring a controversial question or link can really increase
engagement. One rule of thumb, however: Don’t post solely to vent your feelings – post
because you think it’s something everyone should care about (or at least, your fans).
19. Acknowledge your commenters whenever possible. People like to feel important.
(And notice that even though this is a company Page, the respondent answers as a
person – “Nicole”.)
20. Don’t automate posts. You can preschedule in emergencies – such as, you’re going to
be away for four days – but just remember that even the best pre-scheduled post can
result in a drop in engagement if (a) it feels out of context (b) it feels impersonal or
“canned” and (c) you’re not there to answer or acknowledge