My Facebook fan page, Slap Dash Mom, is almost like a personal page. I share my ups, downs, things I find funny, things that piss me off… you name it, it’s there. I have many friends in the blogging community that have asked how I get my posts seen, while they’re struggling with getting likes, comments, and shares. I tell them, it’s all about interaction! Talk to your readers/fans like they’re your friends – because they are!
Facebook interaction is all about – you guessed it – interaction. No, it’s not about numbers – you can have 100,000 fans and only have your “talking about” number be in the hundreds. Or, you can have a few thousand fans and have your “talking about” number be in the 10s of thousands. It all depends on many things, but mostly on how hard you work at it. If all you do is share links to your blog posts, nobody will care, and your interaction will be minimal. If you share fun stuff, things your readers want to see, your interaction can go through the roof!
Yes, Facebook’s algorithm sucks – and it changes constantly! It seems like every time I find something that works, it stops working. So, I think one of the most important things to remember is: change it up!
Your page interaction (likes, comments, shares, etc) will go up and down, kind of like waves do. Don’t get discouraged when you’re experiencing one of the dips – it will go back up as long as you work at it!
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13 Ways to Increase Facebook Interaction
My page isn’t large or popular by any means, but I truly care about each and every one of my readers, so it helps my fan page grow on a regular basis. I think people can tell when you’re genuine. If you allow that to shine through, your page will be shared, recommended, etc. However, it’s not magic.. and it doesn’t happen quickly.. so if you want a head start on it all, consider trying some of these types of posts:
1. Funny stuff. Everyone loves to laugh, right? Share funny photos, status updates, quotes, etc that make people smile and laugh. When I see a post that makes me laugh, I share it on my personal page! Then, friends see it and they do, too. It all goes back to the page it came from, which increases their interaction and/or likes.
2. Photos. Whether you’re a DIY blogger and you share photos of a project you’re completing, or you’re a mommy blogger and sharing photos of your kids, photos generally do better than plain updates.
3. Trivia. People love trivia! You can Google trivia questions all day. If you’re not seeing many answers, make it easier (or harder), or offer a prize.
4. Personal, geographical, and/or advice questions. Ask your readers what their kids names are. The number of responses will blow you away! Ask their kids ages, or ask where they’re from. Talk about how you have a large/small family, and ask if theirs is similar. Ask for advice – everyone loves giving advice.
5. Recipes. Post a full recipe along with a photo of the finished product. Encourage readers to share to their wall to save the recipe. To get clicks through to your blog, post a photo of the cooking process, and then add “click here for the finished product”
6. Choose a favorite. Ask your readers which item is their favorite. You’re car shopping: do they like the blue Focus or the red Camry better? You’re painting your bathroom: do they like the sea green or the lavender better?
7. Creative blog posts (yours and others’). Don’t be greedy! Share your posts, but also share other bloggers posts. No, these won’t get seen by as many people (because of the algorithm/links), but if you get creative they will be shared by the few that do see them. When the posts are shared, you benefit and the person who you linked benefits as well. When they see that you helped them out, they might be so inclined to help you out in return.
8. Debates. These are tricky. Debates work really well on my page, because my readers are very interactive, open minded, and they know that I won’t censor them unless it gets really bad. So, they basically know they’re allowed to speak freely even if they disagree with me. That means I have to be completely fair when it comes to keeping/deleting comments, and that can be verrrry difficult when I completely disagree with them. You could always do a funny debate: Peanut butter – crunchy or smooth? Soda – Do you call it pop, soda, or coke? Ice Cream – chocolate or vanilla?
9. Controversy. You have to be careful with this one, because if you play it wrong you will lose lots of fans, but I love controversy so I post something controversial once in a while. I don’t know that it helps with my “seen by” numbers, but I’ve seen it help with my “talking about” numbers, and I usually get quite a few comments on controversial posts.
10. Quotes. Sappy love quotes work on most pages, while sarcastic/snarky/mean quotes work best on mine. Figure out what your readers respond best to, and use it to your advantage. Search Pinterest for good quote ideas.
11. “Like” if, “Share” if… These are kind of overplayed, so I don’t use them, but I think they can work if done properly. “Like” if you’d rather live in a beach house, “share” if you’d rather live in the mountains — add a photo of each, and see what happens. There are lots of others you could do this with, that’s just the first one that came to mind.
12. Games. (Find the hidden image, guess the number, etc) I love these! Share a photo that has a hidden object, word, or meaning. Ask your readers to help you spot the difference, find the hidden gem, or whatever.
13. Giveaways. These are a last resort for me because giveaways are just soooo overdone! If it’s an amazing high value giveaway, I’m all over it. But if I don’t have anything awesome to offer, I don’t want to waste my readers’ time, ya know?
As a rule of thumb, I would say sharing 2-3 status updates each day is perfect. Sometimes I go overboard, and have been known to post as many as 8, but it’s more about the quality rather than quantity. Share two good posts each day, and your interaction will increase. Share two crappy posts, and your interaction will tank. Watch your Insights page in your dashboard, and this will give you a better idea of what to post and when to post it.
I’d like to finish this with 100% transparency: I’m not an expert when it comes to Facebook, or any social media platform. What works for me might not work for you. Everything thus far has been trial and error, so if you have your own tips (what’s worked for you), please leave them in the comments!
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