Let’s face it: all the groups and pages we have joined in those Social Networks overstrain us a lot. What seemed like a nice idea in the beginning has turned out to be time consuming and has led to an information overload. We are annoyed, and unsubscribes, unlikes, unfollows are happening – every day. 

Along with this, engagement levels have decreased – this is what many moderators and administrators report. Does this mean Social Media is dead? Of course not, it is extremely alive yet the style of using it has changed. So you, as a contributor and creator need to adjust to this new situation.

We are living in an age of individualism. People do not want to have mainstream anymore. They want the perfect solution to their very own problems and wishes. So people are more selective with what they buy and do.

As an owner of a Facebook page this brings you in some sort of a dilemma. You, of course, want to have as many fans as possible and you want them to react to your entries. And guess what? This is what everybody wants! Because when people engage on Facebook, a story is shown on their friends’ wall; hence your page is being promoted – for free. 

The only way to trigger engagement is to post valuable stuff that is interesting enough and that meets the expectations of your fans.

How can you do this?
Before you do anything else you need to know your audience!
Facebook offers “Page Insights” for every page. These insights are there for a reason: they give you details! Have a look at it regularly to find out more about the people who like your page.
Where do they live? Which time zones are they in? Which languages do they speak? What is the average age? How many of your fans are male and female?





Demographics

If you tailor your updates to the majority of your fans, chances are that you get more engagement. Or you do the opposite: you start posting very specific news that will attract a specific type of Facebook users. Yes, you might loose some of the old fans, yet think about the many people out there that actually love your updates.

Based on your findings and your strategy, you can do the following to leverage your posts:

1. Timing is important:
If you post when none of your fans is online – your post is useless. Facebook by now even filters posts that are shown to users, so you need to use some tricks. Consider the life rhythm and work schedule of your fans and post when they are most likely to be online.
Yes, this might mean you need to post at strange times! But hey, do you want engagement or not?
 
2. Use the right language:
If you are an international business, such as a hotel, post in English – if you like, post additionally in the main business language. Also, the writing style you use needs to go with your hotel’s image yet still has to be cool enough for the web and your fans (check their age).
 
3. Customise your updates:
With each post you have the option to target parts of your audience by selecting countries or languages. So, if you would like to share some country-specific news, select the country, and only people in this place will see the post. The success is even higher if you use the relevant language of this country.

Risky: Non logged-in visitors (e.g. through Google searches) will not see this post. You need to be aware that even with customising you might reach the wrong audience as people have individual settings that might not reflect their actual profile (if they live in a foreign country yet do not speak the language for instance).




Customising


4. Tagging
You can tag others in photos, videos, notes, and status updates. The trick is: people get a notification if they are tagged. So, unless they are never online (tagging is useless in this case anyway), they at least click on your update, as they most probably want to know what it is. They do have the option to remove the tag, which is fair enough. Chances are, however, that they do react to your post. In addition, your story appears on their and their friend’s walls, so you have what you want: free promotion. This is particularly effective if you tag pages that have a lot of fans!

How to tag: When writing a status update start with @ and type the first letter(s). Facebook gives you a drop-down menu of friends and pages you like and you just select them one by one. When you write notes or upload videos or photos there is a separate option to tag people by just typing the names.




Selection of "taggable" pages

Tricky: You can only tag people that are your friends or pages that you like (as a person). If you use Facebook as your page you can only tag pages you like. Others can only tag your page, hence, when they like it.

Risky: Do not overdo it! If people get tagged too often, they might not react or even unlike your page, as they feel annoyed. So pick different people or pages each time you tag. One per update is enough very often and there is no need to tag every post!

5. Asking the right questions
Your posts are more valuable if you talk about issues that your fans are interested in. Be honest to yourself: who are your fans? If you only started your page recently or have not really seen a growth in your fan base, it is very likely that most of them are your friends, your employees and their friends. Is that correct? So what is it that really matters to them? 

Most likely, they will not share their view on any complicated statistics or political issues. Yet they might like anything that plays a role in their own life like: Which performance did you like most during the staff party? What is your favourite suite in the hotel? Which dish do guests like most in the restaurant? This way, other people do learn something about your hotel, so your fans do the marketing for you.

New: Facebook just introduced a “Questions” app that comes with pages automatically. With every update, you can do polls by offering different options or asking open questions. As per now, it seems tagging is not possible though.

6. Treat everyone’s ego
People instinctively think about themselves first. They want to know what’s in there for them. They are ego-driven. So, when you ask them questions, do use YOU as often as possible: What do you think? What is your favourite? Where do you like holidaying? 

If people are directly asked for their opinion, they feel important and many of them will share it. Or why do you think politicians and celebrities go to TV talk shows?

7. Accept when people do not engage
Not everyone likes being visible online. This needs to be accepted. Still, those people might click on your update and read it, even recommend you or your page to others, go to your website and give you feedback offline. All this is valuable engagement as well, even though you and others cannot obviously see it.

If you look at the above and think about your next “perfect” update, it should be:
Tailored and customised to your fans, posted at the right time and in the right language, relevant to the majority of your fans and their ego – and it finishes with a question. Optional tagging makes it even more relevant.

www.gabyfeile.com