Facebook can be a challenge for small businesses and realtors. Algorithms, privacy settings, and other updates can change at any time, which may result in a decline of your content views. If it seems like your Facebook reach can use a boost, follow these tips!
Learn Facebook Audience Insights
The first step is to make sure that you target the right niche on your Facebook page. Facebook Audience Insights provides access to audience data on pages and interest groups on Facebook. You can see things like activity levels, pages the audience follows, and what type of device they use.
When you open Audience Insights, choose “Everyone on Facebook” as your audience. Then, enter your niche phrase into the interests section. You can see things such as how many people are in that space, what pages they like, and some of their demographics. If you go into the Activity tab, you will see how engaged this audience is on Facebook. You will see how many likes, comments, and shares they give on average per month. Also, you can see how many ads they click on.
You can also look at audience data for individual Facebook pages. Look for pages in your niche and see if their audience is similar to the audience you want to attract to your page. Look for the pages whose audience actively engages by likes, comments, and shares of the content. Once you have found a Facebook page with an engaged audience you would like to reach for your own page, you can use Facebook signals to let them know your page is similar to the page with high traffic. You do this by going to the high-traffic page and like or comment on their content, share their content to your page, or tag their page in one of your posts. This tells Facebook that you are similar to this page. Facebook will then start driving traffic from the active audience to your page. You will see a boost in page suggestions once you start growing your audience.
Tailor Your Content To Improve Your Facebook Reach
If you only share about your business and products, you will not get much engagement. Your audience wants to relate to you on a personal level. When you create content that your audience can identify with, they will share your content and engage with you more.
Research what type of content your target audience wants to see. You can do this by looking at the target pages you identified. Take note of what kind of content they create that has high engagement. Create a message that your audience will want to tell the world about them. Your audience will share your content that relates to their story that they want to tell their world. Create content that reflects who your target audience is, so they will positively self-identify with it. Instead of your content focusing on their problem, focus on the solution. Your audience will be more likely to share your content that offers a solution they can relate to. They may want to share with their own friends to inspire them.
Once your audience starts growing and engaging with you, they will be more likely to respond to your posts and purchase your product or services. You can still post your business promotional content. However, it should not be your primary content. There are etiquette guidelines, particularly in real estate, for how often you should promote your business. Remember to be more social and relatable to improve your reach on Facebook.
Create Posts That Will Engage Your Audience
When you post content that encourages engagement from your audience, it sends signals to Facebook to drive more traffic to your page. Post these types of content to promote engagement:
- Photos – When you share memes, photos of your pet, and photos of your family, you will likely get many likes and comments. People love to share a good meme. So make it an eye-catching image to grab attention and compel your audience to stop scrolling and read the content attached to the photo.
- Videos – Facebook users are more likely to share or save a video if it is something relevant to them. This sends a strong signal to Facebook that it is quality content. Once you master videos on Facebook, you will notice more engagement. Keep in mind that people often watch Facebook videos with the sound muted. Use word captions or text overlays so that people can read the words if they are not able to hear or have the sound turned off. Give your videos a catchy title that will make your audience want to share them.
- Conversation Starters – Ask a question in your post to encourage your audience to comment. Make it something relatable to your audience and they will want to share their thoughts.
Once you have published a few photos, videos, and conversation starters, it’s time to publish a promotional post. Once your audience has had time to see your posts that encourage engagement and they respond accordingly, they will be more likely to also see your promotional posts. Use a call to action to encourage them to sign up for your newsletter, read your blog, or visit your website to view another form of your content. This will encourage them to continue to follow your other forms of content, which will increase your chances of relationship-building and eventual conversion to clients. Remember the ultimate goal of social media is to build relationships and be social, not to sell. Your social media should allow your audience to get to know you, and trust you.
What are your favorite types of content to foster engagement?
