Social media engagement is key to building a strong online presence for your business, and Facebook is no exception. But how can you maximise your engagement rate on this highly competitive platform? We’ve compiled 10 practical tips to help you increase your engagement rate on Facebook and connect with your audience.

With 2.89 billion monthly active users, Facebook is a dominant force in social media. What was once simply a place to connect with friends has now become a vital platform for businesses to market themselves. However, with 93% of businesses active on Facebook, it’s also one of the most competitive channels out there. So, how can your business thrive amidst such fierce competition?

That’s where the concept of audience engagement comes in.

Engagement on Facebook refers to the interactions users have with your brand’s content, including likes, comments, shares, and reactions. It’s a key metric that shows how interested and involved your audience is with your brand. A high level of engagement indicates that your content is resonating with your audience and can help boost your brand’s visibility and credibility on the platform.

Why is user engagement so crucial for businesses on Facebook? For starters, it can improve your organic reach by indicating to Facebook that your content is relevant and valuable, which can lead to it being shown to a wider audience.

Organic reach refers to the number of people who see your content on Facebook without any paid promotion. It’s determined by Facebook’s algorithm and is influenced by factors such as the quality and relevance of your content, the interactions it receives, and the timeliness of your posts. In contrast, paid reach refers to the number of people who see your content as a result of paid advertising, such as boosted posts or ads.

Additionally, when your audience actively interacts with your content, it can foster brand loyalty and trust. By creating posts that truly resonate with your followers, you can establish a deeper connection with them, leading to increased loyalty and repeat business. Finally, the interactions and feedback you receive from your audience can provide valuable insights into their preferences and interests, allowing you to tailor your content to better meet their needs and expectations.

By creating compelling content, leveraging images and videos, using Messenger chatbots, working with influencers, and monitoring insights, you can increase engagement with your audience and grow your brand on Facebook.

In this list of tips, we’ve covered some of the most effective strategies to boost your Facebook engagement and keep your followers engaged with your content:

1. Boost Your Top Performing Posts

To succeed on Facebook, it’s important to understand its algorithms and how they work. Facebook prioritizes content with high engagement, such as posts with more likes, reactions, and comments, as it aims to optimize its users’ experience by showing them content they’re likely to engage with. 

One way to increase engagement on Facebook is by boosting your top-performing posts. When you boost a post that has already performed well organically, you trigger the algorithm and make the post appear on more newsfeeds. This is an effective tool for marketers looking to increase engagement, especially as organic reach on Facebook continues to decline.

Here are some of the benefits of boosting a post on Facebook that you can expect to see:

• Enhanced engagement with your content
• Better utilization of your existing content
• The ability to inexpensively test your content
• The opportunity to reach specific audiences through targeting

2. Consistently Post at Optimal Times

Posting consistently and at the right times is essential to increasing engagement on Facebook. Due to the platform’s algorithm, your audience may not see your content right away. The timestamp of your post is one of the triggers for Facebook’s algorithm, so it’s important to post when your fans are online. 

To determine when your audience is most active, use the Page Insights tool and match up your time zone with your fans’ time zones. Facebook recommends posting at least two or three times per week to increase engagement, but testing will help you determine the optimal frequency. 

Check your Facebook Insights regularly to note the content and format of your most engaging posts, and use that information to guide your posting strategy over time. By posting consistently, you’ll increase the chances of your audience seeing your content regularly and engaging with it.

3. Run a Contest 

Running a contest on Facebook can be a quick and effective way to boost engagement with your audience. Using a Messenger bot to manage the contest can further enhance its potential benefits, including instant lead and data capture, low-friction user participation, and automated follow-ups. 

Contests also provide ample room for creativity with rewards and incentives, but it’s essential to ensure that the prizes align with your brand and appeal to your target audience. Rather than generic rewards like gift cards, consider offering prizes that are relevant and valuable to your audience.

4. Don’t Use Too Much Engagement Bait

As the Facebook algorithm continues to change, it has become increasingly difficult for brands to generate engagement on their organic posts. Facebook’s crackdown on “engagement bait” and spam has made it clear that companies need to develop a specific strategy for earning organic reach.

Simply asking for likes and shares is no longer an effective tactic and may even lead to penalization by the algorithm, resulting in your posts being pushed down the News Feed. 

Instead, focus on asking genuine questions and requesting thoughtful feedback from your followers. By avoiding cheap tricks and staying true to your brand, you can still increase engagement and maintain a strong organic presence on Facebook.

5. Pin Best Posts On Your Facebook Timeline

A useful but often overlooked feature of Facebook is the ability to pin your best post to the top of your timeline. This is a great way to showcase your best content and improve the overall look of your business page.

If one of your Facebook posts receives a significant response in terms of likes, shares, comments, and sales, consider pinning it to the top of your page. This way, your new audience will also have the chance to be impressed by your most successful content.

You can pin as many posts as you want, but be mindful of overwhelming your audience with too many options. It’s best to limit the number of pinned posts to a select few to avoid confusion.

6. Make Sure to Use A Variety Of Post Formats

Posting the same type of content repeatedly can become boring for your followers, causing them to lose interest and stop engaging with your page. By switching up your post formats, such as using images, videos, or text-only posts, you can keep your audience engaged and interested in what you have to say. Additionally, different formats may resonate with different segments of your audience, allowing you to reach a wider range of people. 

• Text Post

Crafting a simple text post is a straightforward way to get your message across to your audience. While it may seem basic, a well-written text post can still generate significant user engagement if your copy is effective. It’s important to keep in mind that brevity is key. Avoid writing lengthy posts, as most people tend to prefer shorter, more concise content that’s easy to digest. 

• Images

Consider including visuals in your Facebook posts to capture your audience’s attention. Images can generate nearly twice the engagement of an average post. Make your post visually appealing by attaching attractive images. Consider creating a Facebook carousel post with multiple visuals instead of using a single image in your post. This format is widely used by shopping apps. Facebook provides well-versed carousel ads with the possibility to add images, GIFs, and links as Calls To Action (CTAs).

• Video 

In today’s social media landscape, video content has become a critical part of any successful Facebook marketing strategy. People simply love to watch videos, and by creating and posting engaging video content on your page, you can increase your engagement rates significantly.

Keep your Facebook videos short and sweet – under 2 minutes in length is optimal, with 15–30 seconds being the sweet spot. This ensures that your audience stays interested throughout the entire video. Additionally, make sure your video makes sense without sound since many users watch videos without sound. Consider adding subtitles to your videos to ensure that your message comes across loud and clear.

• Live Video 

Going live on Facebook can be a powerful way to boost engagement. Live videos tend to get six times more interactions than regular video posts, and they immediately shoot to the top of your followers’ news feeds when you start broadcasting.

When you go live, it’s also possible to get a notification to people who have interacted with your page recently, helping to bring in more viewers.

Once your live broadcast is over, the video will be available on your Facebook page. This means you can continue to promote it, share it on other social networks, or even embed it on your website to drive more engagement.

7. Partner with Influencers for Increased Reach

Collaborating with influencers in your industry can be a highly effective strategy for increasing your reach and engagement on Facebook. Influencers have established followings that trust and value their recommendations, so their endorsement of your brand or product can go a long way in gaining new fans and customers.

When selecting influencers to work with, make sure to choose ones that align with your brand values and target audience. You’ll also want to ensure that their engagement rates are high and that they have an active and engaged following.

Working with influencers can take many forms, such as sponsored posts, product reviews, or social media takeovers. Whatever approach you choose, make sure that the content is authentic, relevant, and adds value to both the influencer’s audience and your brand. By partnering with the right influencers, you can significantly increase your Facebook engagement and drive real business results.

8. Prioritize Comments & Replies

In addition to creating engaging content, it’s important to prioritize comments and replies to increase Facebook page engagement. 

When someone comments on your post, take the time to respond to their comment promptly. This not only shows that you value your followers’ opinions but also helps to create a sense of community on your page. Studies have shown that brands who respond to comments on their posts receive more interactions overall. 

Furthermore, it’s important to respond quickly, as people now expect a response within a few hours of commenting. By taking the time to reply to your followers, you not only increase engagement but also improve your brand’s reputation and build a stronger relationship with your audience.

Using a Messenger chatbot can be a great way to automate your responses to messages and improve your Facebook page engagement. Chatbots can handle simple queries and frequently asked questions, freeing up your time to focus on other aspects of your business. Plus, chatbots can be programmed to respond quickly and provide personalized responses, making it feel like the user is interacting with a real person. 

This can help build trust and loyalty with your audience, as well as increase the likelihood of them engaging with your content in the future. By automating your responses with a chatbot, you can ensure that your fans are receiving timely, helpful responses, without having to constantly monitor and respond to messages manually.

9. Utilize Cross-Promotion to Drive Traffic to Your Facebook Page

Cross-promotion is an effective way to attract more followers and increase engagement on your Facebook page. By promoting your Facebook page on other social media platforms, websites, and even offline materials, you can reach out to a wider audience and let them know about your presence on Facebook.

For instance, you can include a link to your Facebook page on your Instagram or LinkedIn profiles. You can also embed your latest Facebook post on your website or blog, which can entice your website visitors to engage with your Facebook content.

Furthermore, don’t forget to include your Facebook page URL on your offline materials such as business cards, event posters, and packaging slips. This way, you can turn your offline audience into online followers who can engage with your brand on Facebook.

10. Use Insights

To truly understand how to increase your Facebook engagement, you need to make Facebook Audience Insights your best friend. The data and information provided by Insights can be incredibly valuable in crafting your social media strategy. 

By analysing your post reach, engagement by post, and audience demographics, you can gain insights into what your audience likes and tailor your content to meet their preferences. Regularly checking and analysing your data will help you create more effective content, remove the guesswork, and make data-driven decisions. 

So, don’t ignore Facebook Audience Insights – use it to your advantage and see your engagement soar.

Bonus Tip: Truly Understand your Audience

While Facebook Insights is an essential tool to help you understand your audience and their behaviours, it may not provide all the insights you need to stay ahead of the competition. Social listening tools can offer a more in-depth analysis of your audience and help you understand their needs and expectations better.

Social listening tools can help you monitor brand mentions, analyse sentiment, and track keywords related to your business or industry. These insights can give you a better understanding of your audience’s perception of your brand and how you can improve your content strategy to better meet their needs.

Furthermore, social listening tools can also help you keep tabs on your competition. By monitoring their social media activities and analysing their content strategy, you can gain insights into their strengths and weaknesses and adapt your strategy accordingly.

For example, SentiOne Listen, our state-of-the-art social listening system, allows you to track your brand’s engagement rate for every social media platform with a single click.

Want to Improve Your Facebook Game Further?

Marketers who want to stay ahead of the curve in terms of customer engagement on Facebook should use tools powered by artificial intelligence.

AI social listening can monitor conversations, and track or even understand and interpret the mentions of your brand, allowing you to stay in touch with your audience’s needs and expectations. Messaging automation via chatbots can help you streamline your customer service and engagement efforts, allowing you to respond to customers quickly and efficiently.

These futuristic tools give you a significant advantage over your competitors, allowing you to create a more personalised and engaging experience for your customers on Facebook. If you want to know more, take a look at our Social Media Strategy Guide! Don’t miss out on the opportunity to take your Facebook engagement strategy to the next level!

SentiOne offers AI-powered tools dedicated to marketing, PR and customer service.

SentiOne Listen is an online monitoring package utilising cutting-edge intent and sentiment analysis NLU (Natural Language Understanding) algorithms. It provides complex audience insights, anomaly detection, custom automated reporting systems and so much more.

SentiOne Automate is a complete solution for creating AI conversational interfaces, such as Messenger chatbots. Automate achieves a 94% intent recognition score, meaning it is one of the most accurate NLUs on the market. It can understand human intents and motivations almost as accurately as humans! Pair this powerful algorithm with an intuitive no-code interface and omnichannel bot integrations and you’ll get a perfect tool for your customer service automation needs.

1600+ brands worldwide have trusted our AI solutions. If you’d like to try them out and see how they’d improve your social media presence and engagement, contact us and book a demo.