Author: Marc Schenker / Source: Hootsuite Social Media Management

Facebook engagement refers to any action that someone performs on a Facebook page. This might include liking a post, leaving a comment, sharing one of your updates, clicking a link, viewing a video, etc.

Engagement is an important part of any Facebook marketing strategy as it can lead to better organic reach, which in turn can help drive traffic to your site—or even boost sales for your business.

Read on for 11 smart tips for driving engagement on Facebook.

How to increase Facebook engagement: 11 tips that actually work

1. Select the best posting times and frequency

To get your audience to interact with your content, you have to post it during the times they’re most likely to be using the platform. Perfecting the timing of your social media posts can have a positive impact on engagement.

Know that Facebook’s complex News Feed algorithm can make it hard to get the timing correct, but it’s still possible to increase your chances.

Hootsuite’s social media marketing specialist, Amanda Wood, says:

“For us, Tuesdays are a bit behind other weekdays in terms of Facebook engagement. But 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. is still the most effective window on that day.”
Specifically, Hootsuite’s marketing team determined that:

  • The best time to post on Facebook is between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
  • And on Saturday and Sunday between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m.

Post at these times, and you can expect a greater number of likes, comments, shares, and click throughs to your website.

Of course, the best time to post will be unique for every brand. To determine which time works best for you, always consult Facebook’s Page Insights to track and analyze your engagement data. You can also use Hootsuite Analytics to stay on top of your engagement data.

2. Share valuable content

What does valuable content look like?

In our content marketing 101 guide, we recommend creating and sharing content that meets these five criteria:

  1. It is helpful to the audience. Are you actually solving their problem (“this is how you increase your sales”) or masking product information as advice (“how to increase your sales = book a demo with our sales team”).
  2. It is rooted in specific, tangible, and real customer problems. Saving time on social media is not a problem. But spending four hours trying to create social media reports for your boss in Excel is.
  3. It delivers on its promise. You know the problem (customer wants to drive sales) but does the advice actually show them how to solve it? To make the customer successful, your advice needs to provide concrete steps that helps them solve their challenges.
  4. Is it actionable. After reading the content, what can the reader go and immediately apply to their business?
  5. You are proud to share it. Is it something you’d share with your friends?

For more on creating and sharing valuable content, read our content marketing guide here.

3. Learn from your successes and failures

Track your performance. Figure out what worked, and do more of that. Determine what failed, and adjust your strategy accordingly.

The great thing about Facebook is that you don’t have to be a seasoned marketer to track what worked.

Case in point: Dr. Mark Sutor, a dentist, began creating Facebook Live videos to give average people actionable information on what to do with various dental issues. With no sizable budget or fancy effects, Dr. Sutor succeeded in getting thousands of views for his videos. With a customer base of approximately 5,000 at most, reaching that many people is significant for business.

For more on tracking Facebook performance, read our guide to using Facebook analytics.

4. Use compelling visuals

Visuals enrich your content and help it stand out on busy Facebook News feeds. Your audience is made up of visual creatures, so using images, graphics, and the like is a…

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