Earlier in 2017, Facebook announced a major, if not exactly shocking, monthly active user milestone: 2 billion. It hit the mark less than five years after notching its first billion monthly active users.
At this point, most American adults have Facebook accounts, and most check them regularly. Sure, some stick to Messenger, the platform’s lightweight mobile chat app, but Facebook pages remain central to the user experience. Your company simply can’t afford to ignore its Facebook presence any longer.
Use these six tips to boost quality user engagement on your Facebook page — and tap into its formidable lead-generating potential.
- Create Content Your Users Actually Care About
The first step to an engaging Facebook page is relevance. If you’re not regularly creating content your users actually care about, why would you expect them to frequent your page?
L.L. Bean’s Facebook page is a great example of the power of relevant content. The company really knows its audience: wholesome, active, outdoorsy, adventurous. The photos and updates it posts to Facebook reflect this: You’re more likely to see a photogenic couple navigating a beautiful landscape than a close-up shot of a fleece or jacket.
- Cultivate (And Show Off) Positive User Reviews
Facebook pages are natural receptacles for customer reviews, good and bad. As a general rule, more reviews are better than fewer reviews: A higher review count is a proxy for popularity, and therefore legitimacy.
Of course, you want to highlight positive user reviews whenever possible. Whenever you receive glowing marks from a customer, Like the post and quote it in a subsequent update. If your page is busy, this will significantly increase the review’s impression count, as post casual visitors won’t scroll well below the old to find it.
- Respond Quickly to Users’ Messages
Cultivate a reputation for responsiveness. Remember, your Facebook page displays your typical message response time. Users are far more likely to get in touch with questions, concerns and praise when they’re confident you’ll get back to them quickly.
- Curate and Respond to User Comments — Even Negative Ones
Boosting positive reviews is a no-brainer. What about negative ones?
No, you certainly don’t want to highlight negative Facebook reviews. And you should be wary about engaging directly with negative comments on your feed. Recent history is littered with examples of ill-timed, ill-conceived comments backfiring spectacularly on social media managers and their bosses.
That said, you do want to respond to well-thought-out user comments. When they’re neutral or negative, don’t be afraid to ask the next question — what can we do to make it right? — in public fashion. If the issue requires a lengthy back-and-forth, make a brief public response, then message the commenter directly.
- Run Contests
When in doubt, run a contest. Invite users to share a photo that aligns with (and hopefully features) your product or service. Ask them to caption photos you’ve shared. Run low-barrier, mutually beneficial giveaways — you get prospects’ Facebook handles or emails, and one or more lucky contestants gets something of value in return.
- Integrate With the Rest of Your Online Presence
Your Facebook page shouldn’t be an orphan. Integrate it with other pieces of your web presence: your main website, blog, other social media properties. Gold’s Gym’s Facebook page connects directly to the company’s store locator, for instance.
What are you doing to drum up user engagement on your Facebook page?
