How To Engage Your Customers On Facebook

By Emily Johnson

“You don’t earn loyalty in a day. You earn loyalty day-by-day.” – Jeffrey Gitomer.

 

What does success mean? Is it enough to start a business and turn a few prospects into customers to call yourself a successful business owner, entrepreneur or marketer? I say, that’s only the beginning of success. To be truly successful, you need to not only start a business and get customers, but also, expand your business and turn your one-time customers into loyal customers - and that’s not an easy thing to do.

 

After all, how can you make sure that once your customers complete a sale, they’ll be happy with the product they purchased and come back to your store to shop for more items? You can’t. What you can do, however, is to build relationships with your customers and thus, increase your chances that they’ll become loyal to your brand.

Customer Engagement: What It Is And Why It Matters

Customer engagement is about creating a connection between you (i.e. your business and your brand) and your customers. Both big companies as well as small businesses, which want to be successful and so, strive to grow, do whatever they can to keep their customers engaged with their brand. Why? Because engaged customers buy more, promote your products and, eventually, become loyal.

 

If you’re not convinced, yet, that keeping your customers engaged is important to the development of your business, check the statistics. According to the research done by Gallup:

 

“Customers who are fully engaged represent a 23% premium in terms of share of wallet, profitability, revenue, and relationship growth over the average customer.”

 

Thus, the more you interact with your customers, the more engaged they are and the more profit you receive. Right, but how and where can you engage your customers?

Facebook: The Perfect Channel To Interact With Your Customers

You can work on customer engagement on many platforms and through a number of channels, for example, your website and your blog, or email as well as sms marketing. However, one of the best ways to interact with your customers nowadays is social media. Why? Because that’s where your customers spend most of their time. And, since they are there, on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, so should you.

 

Now, although there are many social media platforms where you can engage your customers, Facebook is the one you should start with. Here are a few reasons why:

 

• Facebook is addictive. People access it 8 times per day on average, so you will be able to reach your customers any time.
• According to a survey by Yes Marketing, over 80% of Centennials, 74% of Millennials, 58% of Generation X as well as 41% of Baby Boomers say that social media influences their purchase decisions (Facebook leads at 52%).
• According to statistics, Facebook images, videos as well as Ads generate high engagement and have high click-through rate, and thus, increase your sales.

 

Need more reasons to start interacting with your customers on Facebook?

How To Engage Your Customers On Facebook: A Guide

Since now you know that Facebook is a platform that can give you a remarkable ROI, let’s figure out what you need to do to boost Facebook customer engagement. The best advice I can give you is to observe others and learn from them. Now, let me guess, you have no time for that, right?

 

Don’t worry! I did the research myself, so that you didn’t have to. Here are 15 creative ideas on what to post on Facebook to increase customer engagement:

 

1. Present your products in a smart way.

 

Imagine checking your Facebook early in the morning only to find a dozen ads encouraging you to buy products you don’t need. You’re bombarded with such slogans as: “Buy today and receive a 20% discount!” or “Buy today. Pick up tomorrow. Only $9.99.” You frown, sigh and close the page.

 

The truth is that nowadays most young people are savvy and so, they notice advertising messages on FB within a second. Then, they get frustrated and so, ignore them. Thus, to draw your customer’s attention, you need to adopt a different strategy. Check out this ad from Sony:

 

Can you see the number of likes, comments, shares and views? People clearly love it. Why? Well, because in the ad, Sony doesn’t encourage anyone to buy their headphones. They simply show in what way their headphones can be useful to you. That’s all.

 

2. Create a “Did you know?”/“Tell us about…” post.

 

Let’s be honest, people love sharing their thoughts and opinions with others. After all, by nature, we are social animals. Why, then, not to use that knowledge to your advantage and ask an intriguing question in your next FB post?

 

Depending on the type of your business, you can ask a variety of different thought-provoking questions, start a deep conversation and educate your audience. Take a look at the posts from Lintbells and Lenovo and learn from them:

 

A small remark: when you decide to create a “Tell us about post,” make sure the question you ask is connected to your business, services you provide and products you sell.

 

3. Make a quiz.

 

Another great way to engage your audience on FB is to create a quiz, a survey or a poll. Since many of us love challenges, checking your knowledge on an interesting and fun topic can be pretty entertaining.

 

Would you resist checking how much you know about chocolate, your favorite holiday or… a particular product, such as Lego? I doubt you would, right?

Of course, to engage your audience you don’t have to create a long quiz. Most business owners have no time for that. Thus, instead, you can create a simple poll, just like Trade Me did. Ask a question for which there are two possible answers and let your customers vote. That’s it!

 

4. Ask for feedback.

 

Did you know that, 70% of consumers will leave a review for a business if asked to do so? Pretty astonishing, isn’t it? Now, asking your customers for their opinions about your products is a great way not only to engage them, but also, to strengthen the relationships you have with them. It builds trust towards your brand.

 

Moreover, asking your customers for their views and opinions makes them feel important and gives you valuable feedback. Thus, if you don’t know what your customers want or prefer, ask them  about it. Simple as that.

 

5. Create a holiday themed post.

 

When a holiday approaches, it’s a great time to let your imagination run wild and show creativity in your posts. Remember, people love to see that there’s a human behind the brand they support, one who has emotions and feelings, and not a corporation interested only in selling products.

 

Thus, they want to know that you also like and celebrate such holidays as Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas. So, use FB posts to prove it, just like Tupperware and Honda does it:

Here’s a small tip: create not only holiday themed posts but also seasonal posts. Variety increases engagement.

 

6. Make a DIY post.

 

Do you like receiving something for free? Of course, you do! Who doesn’t? It can be a small item after completing an expensive sale, knowledge on how to be better in your profession, or… guidelines on how to create something original by yourself, such as a hanging jar lantern:

Now, what’s great about DIY projects and crafts? Well, the fact that you can create something out of nothing. It’s fun and it brings satisfaction. Thus, sharing a DIY project on FB will definitely entertain your audience.

 

Here are three ideas on how to create a FB DIY post:

 

• Create a carousel ad, in which you present how to create an item using images and one-sentence instruction points.
• Take a photo of a finished DIY project and post it on FB as an incentive. Above the photo write a short text encouraging people to visit your blog and learn how to create an item they see below, and put a link to your site.
• Create and post a video, in which you show, in real time, how to make a particular item.

 

7. Use FOMO in your posts.

 

“FOMO” means fear of missing out. It’s a psychological trigger most of us can’t help responding to. After all, nobody likes feeling left behind. Thus, using FOMO in your posts can be a powerful strategy to increase your sales.

 

However, if you want to engage your audience, you can use the power of FOMO in another way: create a “Don’t miss it!” post. It can be an information about an upcoming event, a new episode of a TV series you watch…

... or a live video in which you’ll teach your audience something new. There are many possibilities!

 

8. Share your blog posts as well as other people’s content.

 

“Content is king.” - Bill Gates, 1996.

 

Did you know that in 2016, according to Demand Gen Report, 47% of buyers viewed 4-5 blog posts before considering a product and completing a sale? Also, companies who blog receive 97% more links to their website, and 94% of people who share blog posts do so, because they believe it can be helpful to others.

 

Thus, an awesome blog post can boost conversions, drive traffic to your site and... increase engagement. For these reasons, it’s worth to create a blog for your site and share your new content with your audience on such social media platforms as FB. Check how Gillette and Virgin do it:

Although it’s best to share on FB the content you created yourself (because it drives traffic to your blog), it’s also beneficial to share other people’s content:

Why? Because this way you show your audience that you’re not scared of your competition and acknowledge that there are other experts in your field who also give good advice. It builds trust.

 

9. Create and share “behind-the-scenes” content.

 

Are you a curious person? Of course you are! All humans are innately curious creatures. We want to know what the future will look like, whether there’s life on other planets, if that handsome guy has a girlfriend, what they add to those doughnuts that makes them so delicious, and a lot more!

 

People want to know everything, including what makes your products special, how you celebrate holidays in your company or where you take your ideas from. Thus, to engage your audience, satisfy their curiosity once for a while with a “behind-the-scenes” post, just like UPS does it:

 

10. Share causes you support.

 

Are there any local heros you admire, interesting festivals you attend each year or events worth to take part in? If yes, do share them with your audience!

By doing so, you show others that your business doesn’t focus only on getting more customers and increasing sales, but also, on educating others, encouraging them to help change the world for the better and remember what others sacrificed for your freedom and wellbeing.

 

Sharing is caring, so show that you care by sharing the causes you support. It’ll engage your audience and help humanize your brand.

 

11. Create original Facebook Ads.

 

Most companies and small businesses create FB Business Pages with one goal in mind: to get more customers and increase sales. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. However, the way you try to achieve that goal, well… that’s another issue.

 

Remember, people get easily bored. So, if you keep on creating only one type of ads, such as image ads, your customers will soon get disinterested in your brand. Variety is the key to success. So, be smart! Choose ads that drive a lot of engagement, such as carousel ads:

… or collection ads, and post them interchangeably with other types of FB ads (there are 11 types to choose from, so make a good use of all or most of them).

 

12. Use and encourage user-generated content.

 

What is user-generated content? Well, user-generated content (UGC) is any type of content, which was created by a user and posted on an online platform, such as Facebook. Now, why should you encourage it? Because it’s fun for your audience and you receive free advertisements. After all, when users generate content for you, it’s them who’s promoting your brand, for free, not you per se.

 

Here’s one interesting idea on how to encourage UGC on Facebook:

… and here’s another:

 

Run a contest or a quiz, in which you ask your audience to, for example, post a picture on Facebook showing how they use your product (ask them to add a particular hashtag above it). Next, inform them that the next month you’ll pick a few of photos you like the most and give the lucky users a reward.

 

13. Post motivational, inspirational and thought-provoking quotes.

 

When you browse through social media pages, you can notice that a lot of companies and small businesses decide to create inspirational quote posts. Sometimes such posts generate a lot of likes, comments and shares, sometimes they don’t. Thus, opinions are divided as to whether to use quotes in your Facebook posts.

 

Although there’s no guarantee that when you start creating thought-provoking quote posts on Facebook, you’ll boost customer engagement, there are a few reasons why you should create such posts sometimes:

 

• They add variety to your Facebook Page,
• They are easy and quick to create,
• You’ve nothing to lose (it’s not an ad, so you don’t pay for it).

 

Here’s an example of a quote post:

Now, if you decide to use quote posts in your marketing strategy, don’t share random quotes. Make sure the quotes you use support both the mission as well as the purpose of your brand.

 

14. Create live videos.

 

Have you already gone live on Facebook? If not, it’s about time to change it!

 

Did you know that, according to Livestream and New York Magazine Survey, live video is more appealing to brand audiences than other types of content? 80% of users say they’d rather watch a live video from a brand than read a blog post. Also, as much as 82% of users admit they prefer a live video from a brand to social posts. Pretty astonishing, isn’t it?

 

Thus, going live on Facebook is a great way to increase customer engagement. Now, all you need to do is to inform your audience in one post when you’re going to start broadcasting, and make a live video in the next one. That’s it! Take example from Johanna Basford:

15. Update your cover image.

 

Last but not least piece of advice I have for you is to update your Facebook cover image often. Why? Well, not only because it drives engagement, but also, because the cover image represents your brand and it’s the first thing people see when they arrive at your Facebook Business Page.

Now, when you update it often, you communicate to your audience that you care about your Facebook Page design. Moreover, people see that you’re active and thus, are more likely to follow you.

 

If you’re still not sure whether it’s a good idea to update your cover image often, check the posts above. How many likes, comments and shares do they generate? A lot, right? So, will you give it a shot?

 

How To Engage Your Customers: Bonus Tips

 

If you want your Facebook marketing strategy to work and increase not only customer engagement, but also get more customers, increase your sales and boost brand awareness, remember that nobody follows inactive brands. So, make sure you post new content on Facebook as often as possible, even a few times per day.

 

Also, follow these tips:

 

• Use emoticons in your posts (they increase click-through rates and engagement),
• Add call-to-action phrases to your posts (they increase conversions),
• Remember to respond to comments (it will strengthen the relationship between you and your customers and inspire trust),
• Use Canva when creating your posts and images,
• Add call-to-action buttons to your posts.

 

Use the above and all the other tips mentioned in this article and see the difference in your sales.

 

Be creative!

 

About the Author: Emily Johnson is the founder of and the content strategist at OmniPapers. She writes insightful articles about digital marketing, social media, remote work and productivity. Her blogs about content marketing and blogging help writers improve their skills. Feel free to follow Emily on Twitter.

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