Getting more shares on Facebook is important for increasing your reach, driving traffic, and boosting engagement. With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is too big of an opportunity to ignore. But getting noticed on Facebook and getting people to share your content is easier said than done.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover actionable tips and strategies to get more Facebook shares, including:
- Optimizing your content for sharing
- Leveraging the power of images and video
- Using emotions strategically
- Understanding Facebook’s algorithm
- Promoting your content
- Analyzing your results
Follow these proven best practices, and you’ll be well on your way to increased Facebook shares and engagement.
Optimize Your Content for Sharing
Not all content is created equal when it comes to shareability. Certain types of content simply resonate better with audiences and are more likely to be shared. Here are some key ways to make your content more share-friendly:
- Focus on value. Content that teaches something useful, solves a problem, or provides actionable tips and takeaways has high value for readers. Valuable content gets shared.
- Appeal to emotions. Emotional content connects with readers and makes them more likely to share. We’ll cover this more later.
- Use informative headlines. Headlines that clearly communicate the topic and content get more clicks and shares.
- Keep it scannable. Break up long blocks of text with subheadings, bullet points, images, and captions to make your content easy to digest.
- Include quotes and stats. Back up your points with data, quotes from experts, and real-world examples.
Master these tactics, and your content will be primed for higher Facebook shares.
Leverage the Power of Images and Video
Posts with images and video tend to perform better on Facebook and get much higher engagement, including shares. Here are some best practices for using visuals:
- Use high-quality, eye-catching images. Images should be at least 1080×1080 pixels. Use vibrant colors and compelling scenes.
- Make images text-heavy. Overlaying text on images, like quotes and statistics, makes them more shareable.
- Include relevant videos. Short videos under one minute perform exceptionally well on Facebook. Embed them in your posts.
- Use custom link preview images. When sharing links on Facebook, customize the image that appears to make it more attractive.
The right visuals paired with great content will boost Facebook shares.
Use Emotions Strategically
Content that evokes strong emotions like inspiration, humor, surprise, or outrage tends to be more viral on Facebook. Here are some emotions you can tap into with your content:
- Inspiration. Share motivational stories and quotes to inspire.
- Humor. Funny videos, memes, comics, and stories get likes and shares.
- Amazement. Fascinating facts, cool life hacks, and “who knew?” content taps into a sense of wonder.
- Anger or outrage. Content about controversial issues get people riled up enough to share their indignation.
Just don’t go overboard. You want to get people engaged, not alienated. Aim for a thoughtful and strategic use of emotions.
Understand Facebook’s Algorithm
Facebook’s algorithm determines what appears in users’ News Feeds. While the algorithm is complex, these are some key factors known to influence reach and engagement:
- Quality interactions. Posts with a high number of reactions, comments, and shares have quality interactions. This signals to the algorithm that the content resonates with audiences.
- Engaged followers. Posts from Pages whose followers frequently interact with their content get shown to more people.
- Video. Native Facebook video content appears prominently in the News Feed.
- Freshness. Newly published content gets priority over older posts.
With this knowledge, you can make smarter content decisions tailored to the Facebook algorithm.
Promote Your Content
Creating amazing, share-worthy content is just the first step. You also need to proactively promote your content to get in front of more eyeballs. Here are some proven promotion tactics:
- Share on your personal profile. Leverage your own social reach to give your content an initial boost.
- Run Facebook ads. Consider putting a small budget behind high-potential posts to target relevant audiences.
- Repurpose your content. Give existing content new life by resharing it with a new caption or angle.
- Promote on other channels. Cross-promote your content across all your social media accounts to maximize exposure.
Spread the word far and wide about your amazing content, and the shares are sure to follow.
Analyze Your Results
The final critical step is to analyze your Facebook sharing metrics. Look at key data like:
- Total shares per post
- Share rate (shares divided by reach)
- Content topics and types that get high shares
- Shares by audience demographics like age, gender, location
Use Facebook Insights and third-party social media analytics tools to uncover actionable insights. Then test and refine your approach over time.
Here’s an example data table analyzing Facebook shares:
| Post Topic | Total Shares | Share Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Listicle of Life Hacks | 2,538 | 4.2% |
| Inspirational Quote Image | 1,733 | 3.1% |
| Controversial News Analysis | 922 | 1.8% |
Analyzing performance data will reveal what content resonates most with your audience. You can then create more of that high-sharing content.
Conclusion
Getting Facebook shares takes effort, but implementing these proven best practices will set you on the path to greater reach and engagement. Focus on creating truly valuable content optimized for social sharing. Use compelling visuals and tap into emotions. Promote your content across channels. And finally, analyze your metrics to continually improve.
With the right strategy tailored to your audience, you can master the art and science of getting more Facebook shares.