...and it named Zimana among the 46 pages it considers a top resource for small businesses.
Like most businesses (and probably your business, too!), Zimana has a Facebook page. But managing Facebook page becomes a dice throw in gaining audience engagement activity. Some businesses try to increase their luck by posting multiple times every day.
Posting your activity every few minutes in the same manner as a Twitter account is not a great idea. Facebook runs a different algorithm than Twitter in which post comments drive visibility among page fans and, depending on profile setting, their followers. While Edgerank is no longer named Edgerank, aspects of the algorithm - including time decay and commentary - are still operational and should be treated as a factors for influencing engagement (for more, see this Zimana post)
So how does one engage fans meaningfully? The best approach starts with planning content variety. Consider how to use the following ideas to create variety for your Facebook page:
1. Share pictures and video. Pictures, images, photo albums, and video are popular with fans. Photos can permit fans to show their interest in a product or image.
2. Share related trivia. Trivia or sharing of historical company facts can speak to fans not well acquainted with your brand.
3. Ask questions. Asking fans to share a story or point of view related to the company products or services is one of the most effective ways to increase page engagement. “Where does your Mustang take you?” is an example question that Ford uses on its page to encourage owners to share images, thoughts, and stir interest. This is particularly helpful as the new Mustang is being introduced or 2015.
Other question ideas can include “What do you think?” or “What do you say, FBF?” (FBF means Facebook Family or Fans) An alternative is asking about topic that have a strong us-versus-them, do-or-do-not theme in it, such as “Mac or Windows?” or “ to declaw a cat or not?”
4. Use fill-in-the-blank statements. Fill in the blanks provide another way to draw fan comments and to learn fan perspective. An example of a fill-in-the-blank would be “I love social media because _____” or “The one thing I learned from analytics is______"
5. Call to action. If you want your content shared or your posts to be liked or commented on, ask! Simple “Like [or share] this post if you agree” or “What do you think?” would do the trick. However, use it sparingly.
6. Celebrate milestones, holidays, and saying thank you to partners and fans. All these occasions offer a way to include others and acknowledge their role. Did you reach an important milestone? Celebrate holidays that are important to your fans as wells to your business.
7. Share quotes. Quotes are among the most popular content shared on social media platforms. They are meant to express widely held beliefs, so share quotes that represent your brand.
8. Survey Your Fans! Asking your fans can gather new ideas based on what they would like to see on the page.
9. Give A Peak Behind Closed Doors. Behind the scenes videos posts that will give your fans exclusive inside scoop on what’s happening within your company. Short videos can be gathered in an album and shared, and they can be shared on Pinterest boards; Fans who use Pinterest frequently may have their activity show on their pages, encouraging friends to understand their usage.
10. Highlight important hashtags Like Twitter (and Instagram), Facebook adopted the hashtag function. But not every fans is on Twitter or Instagram, so those fans may not know what a hashtag is. Offer to not only explain a hashtag, but to develop one that identifies your brand, product, or service.
After trying any of the above content tips, use Facebook Insights to see how far the content reached. Focus on the following metrics and dimensions as a starting point.
You can use referral source reports in web analytic solutions like Adobe Analytics or Google Analytics to see if any activity lead to website arrivals or influenced conversion rates.
Finally, remember not to overpost. Reports and studies are indicating that significant engagement occurs when posting is not excessive. A 2 - 3 postings/day schedule gives followers time to view a post in their feed, depending on the activity in the comments, not in the amount of times a page has made a post.
