Chart The Waters

The average American spends 38 minutes per day on Facebook, so it’s no surprise that it’s the most-used social media platform in 2020. Many businesses spend a lot of time on the platform, trying to catch the attention of digital passers-by, but it doesn’t necessarily translate into results.

Do you feel like you’re talking to an empty void full of distractions? Stay tuned, because our social media experts are about to reveal their top tips and tricks for growing an audience.

Don’t have the time to spare? Cut straight to the point and schedule a consultation with one of our social media experts.

How does Facebook work?

Facebook is a constantly evolving platform, which means keeping up with the latest algorithm changes and social trends can seem like a full-time job. The starting point for businesses on Facebook is to create a Business Facebook Page, but the act of creating and managing one doesn’t guarantee success like it used to. Even tactics that worked six months ago might not work anymore. So how do you get your content seen on Facebook?

What good brand engagement looks like

First things first, it’s important to understand how your audience engages on Facebook. Your audience can talk to and engage with your brand in many different ways. In Facebook terms, when we’re talking about engagement, we mean reacting, commenting, or sharing.

• A reaction: Remember the time where Facebook only had the “like” function? Nowadays, your audience can react to your comment with a range of emotions, rather than a single positive gesture. They can like, love, laugh, be surprised, be sad, or be angry. This year even brought in a new emotion, reflecting a very relatable sentiment many of us experienced, which is that people can now also “care” about a post.
• A comment: When your audience takes a few seconds to comment on your post, it means that they have something to say! In the busy and loud world of Facebook, this is a fantastic signal that you are connecting with your audience by posting relatable content. Comments are really powerful, as they can create more traffic, give constructive feedback, and even generate leads! They’re a really powerful form of engagement, and you’ll definitely want to track them so you can refine your content strategy as you go.
• A share: If a reaction is worth a bronze medal, and a comment is worth a silver, shares take out the top prize every time. It means your audience feels so strongly about your content that they want to share with their own circle! Marketers love the words “going viral,” and this is always how it starts.

It’s important to remember that Facebook actually wants your audience to engage with your brand as much as you do. Why? If your audience is engaging with your content frequently, Facebook will show your content to more people, because they know that will translate into people spending longer on the platform, so they can serve more ads. As such, Facebook’s ultimate goal will always be keeping people online for as long as possible.

Why organic engagement is still important

Organic content refers to things people view on Facebook just because they’re interesting. It’s different from paid content, in which brands pay Facebook to ensure their content is seen by a targeted group of people. The higher your organic engagement, the higher your organic reach (This just means “the number of people who have had an unpaid post from your Page enter their screen“), and the faster your audience on Facebook will grow.

(As a side note, if you want to learn more about paid engagement, we deep-dive into Facebook Ads here and we talk about what you should pay attention to when setting up Facebook Ads  here.)

Organic engagement is still the most sustainable way to build and grow an audience on Facebook that actually cares about your brand. The best way to achieve this? Posting good content! It’s a really simple equation. With that in mind, you need to plan content and create a posting schedule to ensure you never run out of great ideas. Consistency is key to building connection and trust with your audience, so work smarter, not harder.

How to track and analyze your results

So you’ve written lots of fantastic content, and put it out into the world on a consistent posting schedule? Fantastic! Does that mean that your work is done? Time to Netflix and chill? No!

It’s crucial that you take time to look into your Facebook Insights or Analytics every month, before you even think about setting up the next content calendar. You can do this by tracking your organic reach, the organic likes, comments and shares on the insights page. Play around with the benchmarking tool to see how well you’re tracking compared to the last period. We recommend keeping track of these in a regular social media report.

How do I create good content?

Instagram focuses on visual content, and Twitter focuses on written content, but Facebook allows you to have a lot of fun by playing around with both. The world is your oyster… as long as you don’t forget about video. In recent times, there has been a big increase in video content on the platform, and for good reason. Facebook allows you to choose between video ads, video posts, stories and live streams, so there are plenty of opportunities to capitalize on the 8 billion Facebook video views each day. You are almost guaranteed increased engagement when opting for video over photo or text, and people are four times more likely to watch a live video over a pre-recorded video.

Of course, video is not the only way to engage your audience. Audiences still love ready snappy written content and soaking up beautiful imagery. Here are a few pointers to get the best out of both media:

• When it comes to photography, professional photography isn’t an absolute necessity, but we do recommend being selective with the images that you choose. You want all images to fit your brand, to incite a reaction out of your audience, and to fit well with the message that you want to communicate. If you are struggling to find a way to produce beautiful imagery, there is no shame in using stock images.
• When deciding on copy, it is incredibly important to think strategically about your content calendar. You need to consider not just what you want to share, but what your audience actually wants to read. Stick to your niche when it comes to choosing topics that are relevant and try to provide your audience with value. You can do this by sharing educational content, something funny, solving a problem, addressing a trending topic, and much more. Just remember to use a consistent tone of voice throughout it all!

Simple tricks to grow your audience

We know, you got all excited about diving into your content calendar and coming up with new ideas to increase your organic engagement. But before you go, here are a few tips and trips to give you that extra push!

• Be active: Facebook is still a social media platform and that means that you will need to be social on the platform itself. Post consistently and have conversations with your target audience outside of your own business page to show that you are interesting, engaging, and actively using the platform.
• Facebook is relational: You probably know that you can invite friends to follow your Business Page, but did you know that you can invite anyone who has left a reaction on your post? If your audience shares your content on their personal pages and their extended circle reacts, you can invite them to like your page as they have just interacted with your content. This is a great way to activate an audience.
• Create a public or private group: If you want to have a strong relationship with your target audience on Facebook, then you should consider starting a Facebook Group. Facebook has been putting a lot of effort into Facebook Groups as they are often home to more meaningful engagement. It recently announced a new suite of tools to better manage groups and to spark more discussions.
• Engage your existing community: Prompt people who are signed up to your mailing list to like your Facebook Page by mentioning your page or by adding links to your email signature. You can also encourage audiences you have on other social media platforms to like your Facebook Business page.
• Do your research: Just like with any other social platform, it is important to do your research about the audience that you are trying to reach on Facebook. Are you sure that they are active on Facebook? What type of content do they look for and interact with? Make sure that you are creating well-targeted content on Facebook so that you can ensure that you are promoting your page to the right audience.

All that’s left to do is get started! Don’t worry if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed. With its constant changes and updates, keeping up with Facebook can easily feel like too much to handle. Remember you can outsource Facebook and the rest of your social media marketing strategy to professionals.

Want to talk to the experts? Schedule a free consultation!