3 Top Tips for creating engaging posts on Facebook

“How do I create an engaging Facebook post?” – this is a question I get asked all the time! It’s no longer enough just to whack out any old post and hope for the best. The best posts are ones that engage existing fans, and potential new customers. So how do you actually create a post that people want to engage with? Here are our 3 top tips for doing just that …

1. Ask questions. Asking questions really is an excellent way to encourage comments and interaction. Imagine you are a local eatery. You can post something simple like “Scrambled eggs or poached?” with a scrummy photo of the two breakfast dishes for comparison. Not only are you showing off some of the items on your menu (make sure they are good photos!), you’re letting your audience know that you offer both options, and you’re opening up the post for some healthy discussion and engagement! This type of post is much better than a more sales-y post along the lines of “We’ve got scrambled egg and poached eggs on the menu today!”.
2. Create Polls. Polls can be a great way to encourage engagement – and also at the same time get some market research done! At the time of writing Facebook currently allows for 2 answer when creating a poll. If you’re a local company selling home blinds and shutters, an example would be: “What’s your favourite?” With “Shutters” “Blinds” being the two possible choices. But it does not have to be as broad as this. If you’re a Bar, you could ask customers to vote for their favourite type of Gin. The list is endless, but the best polls posts would be ones that capture attention, without being too complicated or requiring too much thought. Keep it short and simple otherwise people won’t bother to engage with the question!
3. Use Video!! I cannot tell you how much I talk about this. VIDEO, VIDEO, VIDEO!! Using videos, rather than still images, is THE BEST way to generate more engagement (and also eyeballs on your stuff). They are simply far more interactive, eye-catching and engaging than images. And because there’s the feeling that videos are harder to do, not many small or local businesses actually use a lot of videos on their page! Which, my friend, is a big bonus to you, if you do. I’m not talking fancy production videos, or something you’d need to pay someone to make for you (although if you have the budget for it, a great looking promo video could do very well). I’m talking, whip out your smartphone, video a sneaky behind the scenes video of your business, talk on video yourself letting your customers know about a new offer you are running, or a new product you’re just launching. Are you a local furniture shop? Grab your phone and do a sweeping 20 second video of your wooden bedroom new collection. Local restaurant? Get a quick video of your chef preparing today’s special dish. People are far more likely to engage with video content and this should be high on your list of priorities! Also … I know not everyone is comfortable enough to speak on video. If you can just grab the bull by the horns, and do it anyway, great for you. If not, there’s still tonnes of video ideas you can crack on with (and you can create custom ‘video slideshows’ on Facebook anyway).

So that’s 3 tips to get your creative juices flowing! Let me know if this post helped you by leaving a comment below.