5 Tips For Greater Facebook Engagement (Without Spending a Cent on Ads!)

You have a few choices.

You can be one of those eCommerce merchants who moans and complains about Facebook’s ever changing algorithm – but is powerless to do anything about it.

You can skill up on Facebook ads or hire a pro and get busy advertising.

Or, you can get up to date on what types of free Facebook marketing strategies are still converting well for brands in 2015, and make sure you incorporate these ideas into your marketing campaigns.

I’d actually suggest that you do a little of both of the two latter options, and in this article I’ll share with you 5 quick tips to help you get more Facebook engagement without spending a cent on ads.

#1. People share posts that make them look good – give them something to share.

Why do you think inspirational quotes and funny memes get shared so much on Facebook? It’s because, if it’s funny or inspiring and I’m sharing this type of content among my friends, then it makes a particular ‘statement’ about me. “I am someone who is inspiring with a great sense of humour.” It makes me look good.

Create posts for your audience on Facebook that are easy for them to click, like, and share. And you can make that interaction almost an impulse reaction, by creating posts that, when shared, make them look funnier, smarter or inspiring.

#2. Write every status update as if talking to a friend – be intimate.

Think about the close, personal way you would talk to a friend. Now I want you to ask yourself, is this the way you communicate on Facebook? Even though consumers follow the business pages of their favourite brands, they don’t come on Facebook to be sold to, they come to follow their friends and family and stay up-to date on things that matter to them. So remember this, keep your messaging personal 80% of the time, and promotional 20% of the time.

 #3. Create great images in a time-efficient way with content batching.

We all know that coming up with incredible brand imagery for your social media marketing takes a lot of thought and, if done inefficiently, can also take up a lot of time. If you are creating your content yourself then batching will go along way towards saving you hours each week. It will also force you to think strategically about your marketing plan as you will be creating the assets for it in advance.

One of my all time favorite tools for creating great graphics for free is Canva. Yes, it has it’s limitations, but its functions far outweigh them, unless you’re a pro Photoshop user. Try and include an eye grabbing, on-brand image for the majority of your posts, as text-only links traditionally don’t perform as well.

#4. Upload video directly to Facebook.

Uploading video directly to Facebook generally tends to result in a lot of more clicks and views than links to videos hosted on other channels like Youtube. This is great for brands, because it means they can simply host their videos on both platforms and increase their reach.

What type of videos should you create?

• Make a quick introduction video to you and your brand.
• Shoot some behind the scenes footage of a day in the office.
• Create tutorials that help your customers get more out of your products.

Don’t be intimidated by thinking it has to be some big elaborate Hollywood production. It doesn’t. Your videos just have to have decent lighting, good audio, and be short, sweet, and personable. So why not try adding video to your Facebook marketing mix and track your results in Insights?

#5. Focus on the fans you have not on the fans you don’t.

Don’t be one of those business owners constantly looking for the ‘next like, the next follower, the next customer’. Focus on the making the ones you already have feel valuable and appreciated, and you’ll start to solidify their loyalty to your brand.

This tactic is even more important if you’re running paid Facebook campaigns or any other paid traffic to grow your page. If you’re not nurturing your new ‘likers’, they will quickly and abruptly stop paying attention. Your content will no longer get out into their newsfeed. and the money you spent acquiring that ‘like’ will have been for nothing but a vanity number on your page.

Respond to the fans you have — share pictures of them wearing your merchandise, like their comments, then take those comments and dive deeper into the conversation. Facebook doesn’t care if you have 10000 fan or 100 fans, its algorithm cares whether you have engaged fans, so you are better off with a small, engaged page than a large graveyard of a page.

Which of these Facebook posts ideas and tips do you plan to try out with your audience? Or, is there another type of Facebook strategy that you find is really moving the needle? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!