Ben Leftwich | March 4, 2013

Three tips to keep your fans engaged on Facebook

Managing a Facebook page for a company can be a daunting task. How do you keep all those fans interested every day? In fact, how do you even build a fan base in the first place? Here are three tips to help grow your fan base, and keep them happy and engaged.

1. POST PHOTOS (PREFERABLY OF PEOPLE)

Remember Facebook’s roots: a social network for college students. Even though it has grown way beyond that, the basic premise of connecting with friends still applies. Post photos of your staff throughout the years (timeline is perfect for that) and marvel at how much you have all changed. Posting photos of friends also allows you to tag them, extending the reach automatically into their social networks and giving your organisation greater visibility.

Even if you can’t post a photo of a person, studies have consistently shown that users engage with photos on Facebook more than other types of updates. Show off your latest product or service channel, take exterior photos of your office, or simply throw up an interesting graph you found online.

2. ASK OPEN-ENDED AND FILL-IN-THE-BLANK QUESTIONS

The key here: make the question short. Status updates aren’t the place for paragraphs of copy. Instead, play around with on-brand, pithy questions. For example, if you sell home insurance in an area that is always threatened by hurricanes (see Cayman), ask something like: “when do you start your hurricane kit shopping?” Not only will you keep fans engaged, but you might learn some valuable market research in the process.

Another favourite is the fill-in-the-blank question. This type of question can become an online madlib, and can be pretty entertaining if the question is set up correctly. For example, if for a supermarket, a fill-in-the-blank question could look like: “Fill in the blank: the ________ you sell is my guilty pleasure. I would eat the last one even if my ________ was giving me puppy dog eyes.”

3. RESPOND TO FAN POSTS

As simple as it sounds, taking the time to let your fans know you’re listening to them helps to engage your followers tremendously. Watch your Facebook page on a daily basis, and see what comments are appearing. If fans are providing positive comments, thank them for their contribution. If they are saying negative things, respond and offer to chat with them via phone or email privately so you can fully address their concern. Either way is a win-win.

Of course there are many ways to engage with fans on your company’s Facebook page, but these are three good ones to get started with right away.

Ben Leftwich

Account Director