Photo from pexels

Originally Posted On: 17 Winning Methods to Improve Reach and Engagement on Facebook (famoid.com)

 

Facebook is still one of the most popular social media platforms among the general population. Though the users are slanted toward older female populations, plenty of people from various demographics and walks of life are watching Facebook and sharing and posting with friends daily.

Many users turn to Facebook to find out what their friends think about certain products or services. How will your brand stack up with your competition?

Below are 17 ways to improve your reach and engagement on the most popular social media platform today.

1. Teach, Inform, Inspire

One of the most important things you need to know and do as a business owner or an influencer is to do more than offer products or services. Whether you have products or services to sell or are just working on getting your audience together before presenting your products or services, it is important to teach people something of value to them. Think of ways to truly create value by teaching a skill, informing them on some important issues, or inspiring them to action.

2. Get to Know your Audience

Knowing your audience is critical if you’re going to impact the people who are watching and following you. Learn what your audience wants by creating metrics that you often monitor (at least once a week), and then retarget and readjust your ad campaigns to meet the needs of your tribe.

Remember, you’re not going to capture the interest of everyone in the world even though you were on platforms that reach the entire world. People are different no matter what country, race, or nationality they’re from or what goals that they are pursuing. The key is to know who your audience is and speak directly to them.

3. Keep it Simple

KISS or “Keep it simple, stupid,” means that you should focus on the most important things and the things that are the most likely to bring you the greatest result. Remember also the 80/20 rule. 80% of your results will be obtained by 20% of your effort, so it is not as important that you work constantly and try to outdo everyone in the office, as much as it is what you do should mean something to you and your brand. It should mostly mean something to your followers who are looking to you for some guidance. If you provide quality, they will want to come back and share with others, which means increased revenue for you.

4. Use Evocative Images that are shareable

Evocative means that you are creating and sharing content that evokes a response from them. This response is often an emotional one like, “Wow, I wish I had thought of that,” or “I’m going to get started on this right away.” Evocative content will inspire people to take action, which you want for your digital marketing campaigns.

5. Do a Podcast

One of the best ideas today in marketing is finding people on the platforms where they hang out. Don’t forget those who learn by hearing or the aural learners. Many of them are on podcasting platforms, and they are downloading on their favorite platforms every week.

Most bloggers have a website that includes a list of podcasts that they have recently downloaded to mobile devices or to listen online anytime. You may also want to include a comment section after the podcast so that your tribe can comment on what they think about what you said or about what your guests were talking about. By engaging podcasts, you may recruit new members that you may not ordinarily reach by other methods.

6. Make a video, or broadcast live

Video is still the way to reach people, and you should see high positive response rates if you do this correctly. About 65% of people who see a video about a productive service go and sign up for it after seeing the video. This does not mean that you have to be an expert to gain an audience, but it helps if you have some basic knowledge of video or TV production.

Learning what increases engagement helps to grow your target audience. The good news is that unlike in the past with the traditionally high cost of TV marketing videos, now you can create a video yourself for free or use online software to do it.

7. Use retargeting to fence-sitters.

What about those deadlines or the people that never take action on your content? How do you deal with them? Should you remove them or use retargeting ads to try to get them to do something? The answer is that you should try to inspire them to rethink whether or not they should purchase or deal with your company.

8. Ask viewers and subscribers to comment or answer questions.

Remember in school when you would be sitting there daydreaming about what you were going to do after school and not paying attention to the lesson, and all of a sudden, the teacher called on you? What did this do to you or your brain cells? If you’re like most people, it woke you up at least for a minute. Even if you did not know the answer, it drew attention to you rather than what the teacher said. These situations can be embarrassing, but if done correctly, you can harvest new followers or subscribers to your Facebook by simply asking a question that you want them to answer. It makes them feel important, and if you make them the star, it may pay back in spades.

9. Start a conversation with subscribers.

How do you get shy subscribers to interact with your brand? Some people are not naturally assertive, so you have to inspire them to do it. Showing confidence in what they do is one way. Try to start a conversation with your subscribers and see what interests them, and this will give you an idea of how to motivate them to take action whenever you offer something.

10. Hold a contest or idea suggestions box.

Have you considered holding a contest to increase engagement? Facebook has millions of visitors every day, so use your business Facebook page to attract people who hold the same values as you or are interested in the same industry.

You will be surprised what this will do for your following. In addition to a contest where you’re giving away a free book or another incentive, you can also offer an idea suggestion box. The suggestion box can be anything you ask people to vote on, such as a survey, or just ask them to drop the suggestion in a box or a virtual box online, such as through Google drive or Dropbox.

11. Use a reward system for repeat buyers.

Why do brands in stores use a reward system? This is the heart of behavioral learning in psychology but applied to marketing. You can use a reward system for people who are frequent flyers with your brand. If you have webinars where you sell eBooks or anything like that, you can reward people who purchase a certain amount of books or products from your online stores or commercials.

Whatever you do, reward your frequent flyers with some incentives such as a free ebook, a $20 shopping bonus or coupon, or anything that will reward them for their time and brand loyalty. This will help grow your followers and customers, and you can use your business Facebook page to do it.

12. Prelaunch new products on Facebook first.

If you have products that you have not launched yet, consider launching them on your Facebook page to your subscribers. Ask them what they think and determine whether they like the color, size, and other characteristics. It is important what they think because they represent your target audience if you are in eCommerce. Even if you’re not, you want your audience to appreciate what you do, so listen to their advice and allow them to share their opinions honestly.

13. Hold an essay contest.

Do you have a blog, and you think you have some prolific writers in your audience? Let them show off their stuff by holding an essay contest. You may only have a few participants as most people don’t like writing essays and sharing their writing with others, but some do. Ask them to write about something of interest to your brand or the industry you’re in. You might be amazed at what they come up with, and this will allow them to shine, which they will appreciate.

14. Do a live webinar.

A great way to use Facebook to attract new people and entertain and further interest current subscribers is to host a live webinar or live video feed. Ask them what they would like you to talk about in the webinar or if you already have an idea, write it down or include a PowerPoint that they can keep and study later. Treat your brand like a class or a course that you are teaching where you’re offering valuable material and exchange for their time and money. You might want to offer the first webinar free than follow up with a paid one with more in-depth information. One person who really does this well is Amazon millionaire Seth Kneip. He has a company called “Just One Dime.” A former Apple programmer and creative team manager, he now boasts an 8-figure income on Amazon. His eCommerce and entrepreneurial webinars are full of knowledge about succeeding in online eCommerce, and it’s all free of charge.

15. Use Powerpoint or Slideshare.

You can do online broadcasts or PowerPoint presentations any way you want, but one way to succeed is to use PowerPoint or Slideshare. Both of these programs allow you to set up images, videos, and text and sound effects to do an entire presentation surrounding your brand—present new ideas on your blog and much more. Always remember your audience when preparing presentations and appeal to them primarily through your Facebook page.

16. Share and share-alike.

Continue sharing resources that your audience will like and will want to share. Remember, it’s not just about the people you bring into your platform, but the number of people they can bring back to you. You can increase business power exponentially by using this idea regularly.

17. Use fan-submitted content to let users shine.

By allowing fans to submit content that you can discuss and open the floor for debate on different topics that they come up with, you are letting your users shine. Everyone likes to be appreciated, so if you show your appreciation by all to increase your level of engagement, it will pay off down the road.

Conclusion

Facebook offers business and eCommerce owners a way to reach millions of people with their product launches, creative ideas, and mantras. But first, you need to build your followers and subscribers to have an audience to put them in front of.

Start by using some of these ideas and add your own as you learn what your audience wants. Always remember to cater to your audience and start small. If you do this regularly, you might find your small tribe has become a nation.