There could be several reasons why you may not be getting the engagement you expect on your Facebook posts. The most common reasons include having a low number of followers, posting at the wrong time, posting too frequently, posting irrelevant content, and using poor visuals. Don’t be discouraged if your posts aren’t getting traction – there are some simple strategies you can use to boost engagement.
Do You Have Enough Followers?
One of the biggest factors that impacts engagement on Facebook is your number of followers. If you only have a few hundred followers, you’ll be reaching a much smaller audience than someone with thousands or tens of thousands of followers. The more followers you have, the more potential people there are to like, comment on, and share your posts.
To build up your following, focus on posting valuable and shareable content consistently, engaging with others in your niche, running promotions to incentivize follows, connecting your other social profiles, and using relevant hashtags. Be patient – growing an engaged following takes time. Once you start building momentum, it gets easier over time.
Are You Posting at the Right Time?
Timing is everything when it comes to social media engagement. Posting when your followers are most active and likely to see your content is key.
For Facebook, the best times to post are:
- Weekdays at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
- Saturdays at 12 p.m. and Sundays at 1 p.m.
Avoid posting early in the morning or late at night when engagement is lower. You can use Facebook Insights to view when your followers are most active and target those high-traffic periods.
Are You Posting Too Frequently?
While consistency is important, there is also such a thing as overposting on social media. Flooding your followers’ feeds with multiple posts per day can lead to engagement dropping off over time.
Here are some best practices for Facebook post frequency:
- 1-2 times per day for profiles with under 10,000 followers
- 2-3 times per day for profiles with 10,000 to 100,000 followers
- 3-4 times per day for profiles with over 100,000 followers
Space your posts out over the course of the day during peak times. Avoid posting multiple times within a short window. More isn’t always better when it comes to Facebook engagement.
Is Your Content Relevant to Your Audience?
One of the quickest ways to kill engagement is by posting content that your audience doesn’t find relevant or valuable. Generic, overly promotional posts tend to fall flat, especially if they aren’t tailored to your audience’s specific interests.
Make sure each post provides something useful to your audience. This could include:
- Industry news and updates
- User-generated content like customer photos and testimonials
- Behind-the-scenes company info
- Exclusive deals and special offers
- Polls and surveys to encourage comments
- Interesting and shareable articles and videos
Post a mix of content types while sticking close to topics your audience cares about. This helps ensure a higher level of engagement.
Are Your Visuals Eye-Catching?
Posts with images, videos, and other visual media tend to perform better than text-only updates on Facebook. When scrolling through their feeds, visuals are more likely to grab users’ attention.
Follow these tips for creating engaging visual content:
- Use high-quality, non-stock photos and videos
- Make images bold and text easy to read
- Use relevant captions to tell a story
- Show real people and emotions vs posed stock photos
- Customize visuals for Facebook vs repurposing from other platforms
Visual media should reinforce your messaging rather than act as generic decorations. Vibrant images and video boost engagement so don’t neglect the visual aspect.
Have You Used Enough Hashtags?
Adding relevant hashtags to your Facebook posts makes them more discoverable to users interested in those topics. Much like on Instagram or Twitter, people search and follow hashtags on Facebook to see curated content.
Including 3-5 topical hashtags can expose your posts to new audiences and help increase engagement. Just be sure hashtags are relevant to the post content so they attract the right audience. Avoid using an excessive amount as they will appear spammy.
Do You Engage With Your Followers?
Simply broadcasting content through posts is only half the battle. The other half is interacting with your followers through likes, comments, and shares.
Dedicate time to regularly:
- Reply to comments on your posts
- Like and reply to comments on your Page
- Check notifications and respond
- Share user-generated content from followers
- Join relevant Facebook Groups and participate
When people feel heard and acknowledged directly, they are much more likely to engage with your future posts. Two-way communication is key.
Have You Run Any Promotions?
Running social media giveaways and contests is a proven way to spark engagement. Everyone loves the chance to win something!
Promotion ideas include:
- Photo contests (ex. Snap a pic with our product)
- Caption contests (ex. Come up with the best caption for this photo)
- Polling contests (ex. Vote and comment on your favorite product feature)
- Tag-a-friend giveaways (ex. Tag 3 friends for a chance to win…)
- User-generated content contests (ex. Repost your best memory using our product)
Promotions give followers an incentive to like, comment, tag friends, and share – all of which will make your posts stand out.
Have You Advertised Your Posts?
One shortcut way to get more engagement quickly is through Facebook advertising. You can create boosted posts and page posts to target specific demographics and reach larger audiences.
Benefits of Facebook ads include:
- Increased post reach and impressions
- Ability to target niche demographics
- Drive traffic to your website
- Gain more page likes and followers
- Relatively low cost per click/impression
While organic engagement takes time, advertising allows you to shortcut results while continuing to build your audience. The two strategies together are powerful.
Conclusion
Gaining traction with your Facebook posts takes effort but is achievable by anyone. Analyze your follower demographics, post frequency and timing, content relevance, visual appeal, engagement habits, promotions, and advertising strategy. Make adjustments to align better with best practices. Be patient and keep focusing on value for your audience. With a thoughtful strategy and commitment to consistency, increased engagement will follow over time.