Facebook has had more lives than a cat. From college get-together, to worldwide phenom, to privacy violator to social media elder statesman, Facebook has seen many changes! Currently it rests as the kingpin for a community of your fans, acting as a sleeker mainstream message board if you will. We’ve heard the numbers coming in saying 95% of social media usage is Facebook. Interaction and engagement with those fans is KEY…and it’s an artform…looking for increased engagement with your fans? Read these tips…what suggestions did we leave out?
1) ASK QUESTIONS!
Nothing gets your fans involved more than questions. The more creative the question the more discussion you will get. Have a food brand? Ask your fans to come up with a creative recipe . We have seen excellent results when you can link your brand with a current trend so tie something current into your question. Fill in the blank questions have been known to attract more people contributing, for example “Facebook engagement happens most when you ________ “
2) GRANT ACCESS!
Whether it is a behind-the-scenes pic you wouldn’t find on a brands corporate website or a tidbit of news that nobody else knows – nothing creates loyalty and engagement like access. Now don’t think you need to give your company secrets away — this is more like “perceived” access — create the illusion of access. Why would someone want to engage with you on social media if you are just re-printing or re-purposing the corporate press releases that the whole world is privy too? We’ll say it for you… “AMEN!”
3) CELEBRATE YOUR FANS
Way too many brands take fans and followers for granted. Social media has to be a tribute or celebration to the fans of the brand. Whether you have a “Fan Appreciation Month” or special giveaways, the focus should be on praise for the people who took the time to click that little “Like” icon. With the importance of Facebook in people’s life, don’t underestimate the meaning of someone “Liking” you. Especially for younger social media users, the personal page is an extension of themselves and they know their friends will be looking at their list of likes — just like when you used to check out someone’s record collection or bookshelf.
4) DON’T BE SELF-CENTERED
Maybe the biggest mistake brands make with social media. None of your fans are going to get excited and want to comment on a post if you are just bragging. This happens more on Twitter because it is just so easy to re-tweet praise. Don’t fall into this trap! Take a look at the bigger picture of your brand and what category it falls into and see how you can talk about the brand without beating your fans over the head. For instance,our client Aurora created YooHoo & Friends which are plush toys with a envinronmental theme. We found that posting photos of REAL animals in nature is a great way to take a break from our brand while still keeping with the general theme. In fact some of our biggest interactions (Likes & Comments) have been with these posts!
5) TRANSFER IT TO THE REAL WORLD
Just because you live in the on-line world with social media does not mean you need to ignore the real, physical world. We love doing giveaways on our clients Facebook pages that have “real world prizes”. Whether it is sending out keychains or plush toys for winning a Facebook contest or giving someone a special VIP ticket to one of the many concert tours we do publicity for. Tangible prizes carry big weight on-line. Just be careful about sweepstakes and promos USING facebook. You can promote them through the site, but you can’t orchestrate them through Facebook or you may put your page (and hard earned fans and followers) at risk.
These are just a few tips that will get those Facebook likes increased and more people commenting on your status updates. Especially now that Facebook has added a “Talking About This” number right on your page, it is more important than ever for engagement. If you enjoyed this article make sure to post a comment on our TGPR Facebook page! If you’d like more information about growing your engagement on Facebook, contact Dan at dan[at]tellemgrodypr.com.
-Andy and Dan, TGPR
