Facebook for business is a tool which no business person or company can afford to be without, given that the social media network currently has around 1.65billion active users each month.

Facebook has become the global social network of choice – connecting not just friends but also brands and businesses to their audiences and markets.

Business success on Facebook will almost wholly depend on how engaging you make your business page.

Engagement is central to all that you do on Facebook and here we’ll take an overview of some of the steps that’ll help give your page the edge on the world’s largest social media network.

Facebook page tone

Develop a personality and be responsive – be human! Some of the best small business pages on Facebook work long and hard at getting their social tone just right. Ask questions, use humour and be uplifting or inspiring and your audience will respond. Never leave messages unanswered or let comments pass without acknowledging them. Fans appreciate brands that take time to respond. Aim to respond to messages and comments within 24 hours

Stand out in news feeds

Give your posts a real visual strength – images and video content is crucial to your page’s success. Image posts get much more engagement than plain old text while Facebook’s algorithm loves both picture and video content. Captivating and eye-catching visuals will help your content stand out in news feeds. Adding subtitles to your video will let people watch without sound – ideal for the always on the move mobile generation.

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Invite Facebook fans

Invite your fans go behind the scenes, let them meet the people behind the business or allow them to see what no one else gets to see. Facebook Live video is a great way to do this – think about a Q&A with key personnel. Or you could create great behind-the-scenes video content of a never normally seen aspect of your business.

 

Hashtags on Facebook

Use hashtags – the # is not just for our dear friend Twitter. Hashtags help garner awareness around specific campaigns, like contests and product sales. They give your content greater visibility and place your voice into the most relevant conversations.

 

Know your Facebook fans

Know your audience and do more content that works for you. Use the info in Facebook insights to not just show you who your fans are, when they are online etc but also to see what posts have worked really well for you. If images and video posts got most engagement adjust your content strategy to reflect this, if it was polls or a call to action that did well, then do more.

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Update your facebook page

Good housekeeping – Keep your page up to date. Your page should be 100% complete with a great profile and cover pic, and the about section completed in full. The short description should include keywords so you are found in online searches, while it’s imperative all company contact info is up to date and clearly defined.

 

And to sign off with a top tip, don’t forget to invite all who have liked your posts to also like your page. They‘ve already engaged with you and your content so chances are they’ll be happy to take the next step.

Just click the number of likes a post has had and click invite next to any user who can be invited to like the page.

Featured Image: “Facebook Flower” flickr photo by mkhmarketing https://flickr.com/photos/mkhmarketing/8541370656 shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license – https://startbloggingonline.com/