Think about this as a Facebook user, you have a lot of friends posting things simultaneously yet you only see a portion of them on your timeline. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: “Did you see the video that I posted?” Facebook uses a complex algorithm to determine what does and does not show up in each one of our individual timelines. There are many more things fighting for priority as well, like ads from Facebook marketers, and posts from groups that you’re a member of.

Everything is predicated on your Engagement, and this goes way beyond a “like”. Clicking articles, staying long enough to read them, sharing pictures and videos, posting a comment … it all plays a part in what shows up in the future. We — the users of Facebook — influence our timelines this way, so as we interact artificial intelligence picks up on who we actively communicate with, what pages we visit, and which groups are more important to us.

So, on the flip side as the owner of a page, you can see the challenge of getting your content on the timelines of all of your followers. Facebook pages are at the bottom of the barrel in terms of what will show up in anyone’s timeline. To get any sort of engagement, it will take a lot of strategic work.

Boosting Posts versus Organic Engagement

When you post to a page there’s an option to Boost, which is to pay $5.00 or more to force it to the front of your page’s followers. For many this is a deal-breaker (e.g. “What? I have to pay to show my audience my posts”) but for desperate page owners, it is a surefire way to get their information onto other’s timelines.

Organic reach from a Facebook page is tough but not impossible. Admins will need to post content that encourages engagement from the small percentage of people that see it. You will need to post engaging photos, and videos that encourage viewers to comment or share. Why photos and videos? According to a study conducted by Quintly, they are more likely to show up on timelines. Although, with the heavy influx of memes (i.e. photos with quotes that are meant to be funny) this might soon change.

Some Tips to Improve Engagement:

• Treat your engaged audience like gold, and monitor what interests them most. Facebook insights will show you what content does the best. You can use those metrics to see what you should be posting more.
• Answer questions and mentions as fast as you can. You can set up a scheduled, time of day to login and do this. Speed matters. No one wants an absentee admin, so take this very seriously to improve your page.
• Don’t post too much.  This will not help at all. In fact, you may want to limit it to one or two great posts a day.
• Tag people, pages, and brands when relevant.

Get enough likes and comments going, and even more people will start to see them and engage.

Growing an Audience for Your Facebook Page

Share Excellent Content

If you see something interesting and on topic for your page from your own Facebook timeline, why not share it? You will get points from the person who shared that original content, and your followers can benefit from it as well. Just be careful not to abuse this simply to keep content flowing on your page. It is also very important to check the source fully, before sharing anything on your business page. It’s not easy to unring a bell, especially if it comes from a fake news source whose goal is to stir up emotions. You don’t want to share content from pages or people that could be deemed offensive, and similarly, you do not want to share false information.

Vet Your Blog Posts

Blogs with catchy titles and photos will influence clicks and possible engagement, but flat titles and uninteresting stock images will be treated very much the same as ads. Before adding a blog post to your page, think about how it will be received by your followers. It’s not enough for an article to be helpful – since most people won’t read it anyway – the title has to work, and so does the photo.

BONUS | Leverage SEO

One thing that many page admins don’t take advantage of is Facebook’s ability to segment updates based on specific audiences. You can target men and women separately, relationship or educational status, interests, jobs, etc. in order to filter and pinpoint exactly who will see your posts. There is also an option to put an expiration date on posts, so that if your sharing something  that’s meant to be temporary, you can take advantage of this option!

Like most social networks, Facebook takes a lot of time and effort to become an influencer. Nothing is easy or automatic, no matter who you are. The things I’ve outlined will help you to get going on your journey to engagement, but never forget that your audience must always come first.

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