With over a billion active daily users (yes, billion), it’s getting harder than ever to break through the clutter and really connect with the audience you want to reach through your Facebook marketing plans. Because of our ever-growing need for instant gratification, our brains have developed a way to effortlessly ignore things that don’t entertain us within seconds of seeing them. This problem has also resulted in the “fake news epidemic” that we keep hearing about, with clickbait headlines that have unbelievable claims and often photoshopped images.

So the question is, how can you avoid your content getting sucked into the black hole of un-viewed and unappreciated Facebook posts? Engagement is the answer. It’s the key to standing out and getting more out of the content you put your heart and soul into to share with a carefully selected audience. Engagement comes in many forms, but creating posts that people want to open, read, like, and share is not as easy as it used to be.The good news is there are many tools and tactics available to measure the effectiveness of your post’s engagement. These give you useful insight so you can turn followers to customers. Here are six ways to create results and increase engagement with your Facebook posts.

#1 IF IT AIN’T BROKE…

By now it’s been all but beaten into our brains that visuals work. Social media marketing must be comprised of pictures, videos, and GIFs. After all, a picture says 1000 words and sometimes only 140 characters are allowed. Visuals also help us convey tone much better than written text, simply because when we’re reading we can’t see the writer’s facial expressions or hear the inflections of their voice.

According to Buffer, a social media management app, visual content is more than 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content, and Buzzsumo learned that Facebook posts with images received 2.3 times more engagement than other posts.

#2 PIN POSTS FOR GREATER VISIBILITY

Much like Twitter, you can pin certain posts to the top of your wall so that viewers can see them every time they go to your page. Pinned posts are highly visible because of the way they stand apart from the rest of your updates, making them more likely to see engagement.

#3 SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE WITH INFOGRAPHICS

For a long time people believed that by adding a link back to your website’s blog or landing page on photos in posts, it would result in a higher click-through rate to your site. And while that might be true, it may also deter your Facebook following from engaging with the post at all in order to avoid leaving their current page. Instead, we suggest infographics. Infographics illustrate useful information and explanations with text, numbers, and graphics. They’re usually clever and eye-catching, so if design isn’t your thing, try implementing infographics from other sources into your content curation strategy mentioned previously.

#4 POST FACEBOOK ORGANIC VIDEOS

As it turns out, Facebook prefers organic videos uploaded directly from a phone as opposed to those posted from a computer — and luckily for brands, users seem to prefer them as well. According to data from SocialBakers, native Facebook videos on average receive 135% greater organic reach compared to posts with images. These videos automatically start playing on mute as users scroll through their newsfeed capturing the attention of bored Facebook perusers. And if you want your videos to be even more effective, add subtitles so that people can watch the video without missing dialogue even when the volume is off. Facebook has actually collected data suggesting that videos with subtitles are viewed 12% longer than those without.

#5 CAPITALIZE ON FACEBOOK LIVE

If you haven’t started already, we suggest you hop onto the Facebook Live bandwagon soon. Facebook live is transforming the way news is shared. From journalism to social functions and cooking classes, people have responded extremely well to the feature that was launched for public use in April 2016. Research done by Facebook says that time spent watching live-streamed videos on Facebook is 300% more than other videos. This type of viewership could be great for businesses in the form of live advertorials, classes, and Q&A’s. Just be sure to promote your Facebook Live session well in advance and often enough, so you don’t end up talking to an empty room.

#6 UTILIZE FACEBOOK GROUPS

Facebook uses “groups” to help people with similar interests connect and interact. You can promote engagement from your target market by creating a group for your business. The personal page for your group can display your business’ accomplishments and any other relevant news, but it will also become a place where people can leave feedback and opinions or questions, so be sure to stay attentive and reply quickly and respectfully. Think of it as a space where like-minded people go to discuss things that directly relate to your industry or business. And if you want to go a step beyond that, don’t be afraid to promote yourself in existing groups. By initiating the engagement on someone else’s post and providing your feedback without explicitly stating your business, people will come to think of you as an expert and seek your advice.

For some, Facebook may seem foreign, but digital marketing cannot be ignored. With the right South Florida marketing agency by your side, you’ll be conquering the digital landscape in no time. Call us today for a free consultation.

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