1. Post Consistently

I heard a great quote by Michael Hyatt this week: “If you’re not consistent, then you’re nonexistent.”

It isn’t always easy to consistently post quality content, but it certainly is necessary. When you post, you give your tribe something to engage with – and the benefits to having an engaged audience are many:

• Facebook’s news feed tries to give users the information that they are most likely to be interested in. The more a user engages with you, the more likely you will be to show up in their feed.
• With regular good content, comes shares – and shares lead to more fans and, thus, greater visibility for your brand.
• Once a person likes your Facebook page they generally don’t return to your page but interact instead on your news feed.

If you aren’t posting consistently yet, determine a schedule and stick with it. Depending on who you ask, you will hear recommendations for posting frequency that range from once a day to five times a day – though the most frequently given advice is 1-2 times per day. Social Media Examiner suggests trying out a few different scenarios to see what works best for you and your fans. Facebook Insights (Tip #4 below) can help you figure this out!

Having a tough time making so many posts? Check out a social media scheduler like HootSuite to help manage your feeds. (HootSuite is even free for up to three social media profiles.)

Bonus stat: As a general rule, Facebook posts made at 1pm get the most shares, while those made at 3pm get the most clicks. – But again, find out what makes the most sense for your brand!

2. Keep Posts Relevant

Make sure your posts are relevant to your fan base. Generally speaking, fans Like your Facebook page because they are interested in your products/services/information. If you begin providing too much content that isn’t relevant to your brand and your users, there is a solid chance those fans will soon jump ship.

That being said, you certainly can (and ought to) keep things fresh by mixing up the type of content that you provide. For instance:

• Unique content such as links to your blog posts
• Links to relevant industry news on other websites or Facebook pages
• Inspirational quotes that will resonate with your audience
• Promotions
• Polls

3. Use Photos and Images

According to socialbakers, photos account for 75% of all brand posts, and more importantly, photo posts have the highest average number of interactions.

Photos can help show a more personal, human side of your organization – making it more relatable to your customers. It is important, however, to make sure that your photos show your brand in a good light – remember, it is a business page, not a personal page.

Types of images you can use include:

• Photos of staff
• Behind-the-scenes photos
• Event photos
• Infographics
• Memes
• Banners

But whatever photo you use, be sure to attach a relevant link whenever possible!

4. Track Insights

There are heaps of great ideas and suggestions about how to best engage with your Facebook Fans, but ultimately, the ideal methods are the ones that your audience is most likely to respond to.

Facebook Insights, which is included with every Facebook Page that has more than 30 Likes, provides an excellent snapshot to help you see when your fans are engaged. Here are some of the key insights to watch:

• When Your Fans Are Online – To help you determine when to post.
  Post Type – What types of posts have the most reach and engagement?
• Post Reach – Look for the spikes on this graph for an idea of which posts to share again later or to replicate.
• Post Engagement – Under Posts/All Posts, click to change to show Engagement – this shows a truer snapshot of what your audience is interested in.
• Benchmarks – As you change your strategy, compare your reach and engagement to a prior period to help validate whether your strategy changes are working.

5. Stay Excited

If you are excited about your brand and your content, it will shine through in your posts. Excitement is contagious!

Take Action

Take the first step. Go to Facebook now and post something great to your audience. They’ll thank you for it!

What has worked great for your brand and your audience? Have questions about next steps? Leave a comment below and fill me in!

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