How small businesses can boost Facebook engagement

If you have a small business, and that business doesn’t have its own Facebook page, then you’re doing your business wrong.

Come on, people’s pets have Facebook fan pages, and your business doesn’t. Many will agree that having a fan page is essential to your business, but with basically everyone on there, the rules have changed.

Various companies and their lousy social media strategies have forced Facebook to start prioritizing posts made by 'generic' users, and to push posts made by pages below in the news feed.

Facebook has also drastically reduced the reach of a page’s post, forcing businesses to buy sponsored posts in order to get more visibility.

But it’s not all so grim news, as there are still ways for your business to take full advantage of Facebook without having to spend hundreds (or thousands) of pounds to promote your deals and new offers.

Social Media Examiner has written a guide with 11 ways to boost Facebook engagement for small businesses, but in reality, those 11 ways all boil down to just one -- being creative.

The Keep it Short and Simple (KISS) principle works a bit different on Facebook -- it should be Keep it Short and Shareable, as shareable content is king for businesses.

Images, statuses, contests and giveaways -- they won’t matter unless people want to share what you post. With sharing come likes and comments, and those three things combined will make your page a success, and will definitely help your business.

As it can be seen in the guide, being creative and having a sense of humor are the two most important aspects in getting engagement on your posts. Sharing funny pictures, jokes and being generally laid-back on Facebook brings likes and comments. Showing personality is also a big bonus.

Most of the examples illustrate what’s working for small businesses in their Facebook updates.

"For your business, focus your energy on getting into the news feed", it says in the guide.

Here are some key takeaways from these examples:

• Use visual content, including good images and interesting videos.
• Add a personal touch, which can help differentiate you from other small businesses.
• Incorporate humor and have fun -- that always gets engagement.

Photo credit: JuliusKielaitis / Shutterstock

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