If you would like your fans to see your posts and build strong interactions within your community, then this post is for you
No matter how large or small your business may be, keeping customers engaged is the key to succeeding at Facebook marketing. Engagement equals greater interaction, visibility, and a more loyal clientele. Let’s break your posts down and figure out the most optimal way of reaching your customer base, starting with the types of posts.
Types of Posts
There are four major types of posts you can take advantage of:
·         Questions
·         Calls to action
·         Contests
·         Multimedia
Ask Questions
Questions are one of the easiest ways to get your clientele involved, as long as the questions are simple. Asking your customer base a complex question that may not pertain to everyone will limit your response and feedback.
For instance if you are in the automotive industry, you could ask questions like:
·         What was your first vehicle?
·         How often do you buy a new car?
·         What is your favorite brand?
Calls to Action
Including an appropriate call to action can boost your engagement and even give you a chance to harvest more users by utilizing the “share” button. Using a “click like” or “click share” technique is possibly one of the simplest ways of boosting engagement. For example:
·         Click like if you had a great weekend!
·         Click like if you’re ready for the World Series! If not, why not?
·         Click share to show support for our service members!
Contests and Rewards
Contest can be used to build your fan base; however, I’m not the biggest fan of contests, since they attract users that may not have any loyalty or affiliation with your brand. Even with the extra noise contests still hold merit to excite fans and encourage them to share your page with others.
One of my favorite contests is the Domino’s Pizza UKsuperfans contest. Dominos rewarded the customers who interacted the most with their page with promotional codes. Not only did loyal fans get promotional codes, but if they ranked high enough, their picture was posted on Domino’s UK’s Facebook page.
Multimedia
Multimedia such as photos, videos, and podcasts give customers a closer connection to your brand, especially when the multimedia is directly from the business. A podcast from the CEO or a photo of an employee helping out the community gives customers a sense of pride in a company they support.
However, don’t overdo the multimedia. Fans expect constant quality and if you can’t maintain a high quality multimedia strategy, tone it down to a posting frequency you can handle and your customers can enjoy.
It’s important to remember that the type of post isn’t the only factor that goes into engagement. The time of day and day itself is also a strong factor.
Being Timely
You or your marketing staff may only work Monday through Friday, but Facebook users are online 24-hours a day seven days a week, which brings the need for brands to adapt to their customers’ schedules to further their engagement.
Choose the Right Time of Day
Choosing the right time of day can be critical. A 2011 study from Buddy Media found that Facebook engagement has three main peaks during the day: early in the mornings from 6:30 to 7:30am, late afternoon when most people get off work around 5:00pm, and late at night from 10:00 to 11:00pm.
Optimizing your post for when your audience is online will greatly increase the amount of responses you receive. Not only does time of day matter, but the day itself has some affect.
Choosing the Right Day
The study went on to show that Thursday and Friday have 18 percent more engagement than the other five days of the week. You could conclude that more users get on Facebook when they are read to get out of the office for the weekend. This doesn’t mean to only post on Thursday or Friday, but to save important posts or posts that require feedback for these days.
Through producing the right type of post and posting it during optimal times, small businesses can better target their consumers. However, Buddy Media’s study was conducted on established brands, which means it is important to use what you know about your brand. If you keep your posts concise and open to build engagement, while using trial and error with the above data to find the right posting frequency, you’ll be on your way to a successful Facebook page!
Matthew Polsky is the Social Media Manager for VA Mortgage Center, the nation’s leading dedicated provider of VA home loans. Connect with Matt on Twitter @mattpolsky.

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