Facebook’s selection of paid advertising options continues to show up in social media news and related blogs. Companies are scrambling to learn the best ways to get the most out of the ads they pay for on Facebook.
But for some businesses, it’d be better to focus on building their Facebook engagement score rather than jumping into Promoted Posts.
There’s a caveat to Promoted Posts.
Promoted Posts require at least 400 followers. Before you can even pay for the opportunity to reach more people on Facebook, you have to put in work to reach more people manually on Facebook.
Build Your Facebook Engagement Score to Reach More People
It’s not as hard as it sounds. (Anything that involves building “scores” using social media sounds challenging, doesn’t it?)
What is Facebook Engagement?
Actually, defining “engagement score” might be helpful. Your engagement score is the measurement of your ability to get people to like, comment and share content on your Facebook Page. The higher your engagement score, the more people come to your page to ENGAGE with you and the content you post.
So by consistently posting in a way that encourages interaction and influences further action, you can increase your Facebook engagement score pretty swiftly.
Why is Facebook Engagement Score So Important?
An increased Facebook engagement score means you’re more important on Facebook. When Facebook starts seeing that people enjoy your Page, they begin to show your Page and posts to more people.
By default, only a small percentage – about 16% – of your fans see each post you make. An increased Facebook engagement score tells Facebook to start showing your posts to more of your fans based on others interacting with the posts regularly.
How to increase your Facebook engagement score:
The key is to know what kind of posts set the stage for increased engagement from the audience you already have.
Posts that increase your Facebook engagement score:
– fill in the blank posts. Type the beginning of a sentence and ask your followers to fill in the blanks. Make sure it is something wacky, fun, creative or helpful but also relevant to the audience. By doing this, you’re encouraging comments.
– use quote images like those commonly found on Pinterest. Those are becoming increasingly popular on Facebook. Take advantage of it. But don’t just post them. Include a call-to-action. By simply including “Like if you agree.” above a quote image post, people are more likely to do just that. Likes increase your Facebook engagement score.
– include infographics. Post infographics related to your audience’s interests or your company’s goods. Ask for Likes. Ask for comments. Ask for shares. Most people won’t do anything if you don’t ask them to. Once asked, most are glad to like, comment or share.
These kinds of posts don’t require a lot of time. And because quotes, interesting images and infographics are more plentiful than ever, finding them isn’t hard either.
By posting 2-5 times a day consistently, Facebook users start to notice your Page on their timeline. More attention means more interaction.
The beauty of it all is the viral traffic that can result from shared posts, likes and comments. When friends of your Facebook audience members see their friends engaging with your Facebook Page, they are more likely to start doing the same.