New Update: Boost Social Proof with Reviews & Automation
Introducing RafflePress's new leave-a-review giveaway actions. Boost customer engagement and build trust effortlessly by incentivizing reviews in WordPress.
New Update: Boost Social Proof with Reviews & Automation
Stacey Corrin
Stacey Corrin
John Turner
John Turner
Wondering how to increase engagement on Facebook without spending on ads? I’ve run dozens of campaigns for small businesses, and the real secret is knowing what content your audience actually wants to see.
In this guide, I’ll show you how to increase Facebook engagement step-by-step, from what to post and when, to tips that make your content stand out in the feed.
Facebook engagement is defined as measurable actions people take on your Facebook posts and pages. They can be simple actions such as liking, clicking, or sharing your post content or more involved ones like leaving a comment or asking a question.
When Facebook users engage with your posts, it sends a signal to Facebook’s algorithm, which prompts your content to appear higher up in the news feed. Higher engagement on your Facebook posts directly links to the potential for more people to see them.
So how do you get more engagement on Facebook? The following quick tips will get you more comments and shares in no time.
Table of Contents:
Let’s dive in.
If you want to know how to increase engagement on Facebook, you should first get to know your followers. You need to understand what type of content your target audience relates to and what gets them excited enough to interact with your updates.
An excellent place to start is your Facebook Page Insights data. Here you’ll find heaps of information about your audience, such as which formats they like the most if they prefer video posts over text posts, and more.
Once you’ve studied this information, you can decide what to post to increase engagement.
People don’t like being sold to. If you’re sharing content on any social media platform that reads like a sales pitch, you won’t see positive results.
The truth is that people use social media to escape and distract themselves. They want to consume content that entertains, informs, and delights them, not endless Facebook ads.
With the information gathered from your insights, think carefully about your audience and what you think they’d like to know. What would make them smile or laugh out loud enough to share with a friend?
Build-A-Bear Workshop does a great job with this social media marketing campaign. They clearly understand that their audience enjoys a bit of light-hearted fun, and by using a trending meme, they’ve managed to put their own spin on it while promoting their brand.
Just look at the engagement on that!
If your content looks low-effort, it won’t stop the scroll. On Facebook, quality matters, especially when it comes to visuals.
You don’t need expensive gear or a design team. Just focus on keeping your images clear, consistent, and well-framed. Even a smartphone photo with good lighting can outperform stock images if it feels authentic.
Whenever possible, create content that feels native to Facebook, square images, bright colors, and real-life moments tend to perform best. You can also use free design tools like Canva or source free public domain images to tell a visual story.
Video is fast becoming the most used media type consumed by users on social media. Facebook reports they get 8 billion video views daily. That’s way more than newer social networks like TikTok.
Adding regular videos to your Facebook strategy is a great way to engage with your audience. Facebook live video, for example, can get you 6 times more interaction than a regular video.
Remember that if you host live videos, shoot them in portrait mode. Vertical Facebook videos take up the most space on mobile devices, making them far more visible.
Sometimes it’s the simple things like asking questions that can get people’s attention. A well-phrased question can launch a bustling comments section that’ll see your Facebook post engagement soar.
Here are a few ways you can kick off a good question post:
In this example, the Facebook Page for a popular PC game used their update to ask fans what they’d like to ask developers in an upcoming real-time Q & A session.
This 2-pronged approach generated a good deal of engagement and gave the page owners valuable Facebook insights.
Attention spans are short. That’s why Facebook recommends keeping posts brief, and making it obvious what readers should do next.
A strong call to action (CTA) gives people a reason to engage. Whether it’s asking a question, prompting a comment, or encouraging a share, make your CTA simple and direct.
You can also use Facebook’s built-in CTA buttons to encourage actions like contacting you, signing up, or shopping. Keep your captions under 80 characters when possible, and put your call to action early so it doesn’t get cut off on mobile.
No rule says everything you post on Facebook must be 100% original. The majority of posts on Facebook are updates shared from other sources. You can use this to your advantage when you’re stuck on ideas.
Collect excellent quality content from around the web that you know your audience will love. Then share it on your page when you know they’ll be active (more on that later) to get the most engagement. Even a well-timed case study can generate a ton of engagement!
It might seem simplistic, but the act of actually replying to comments and questions from your fans can go a long way to improve engagement.
Getting a response to their Facebook comment makes people feel like they’re listened to and that their opinions matter. Doing so makes them more likely to engage with you in the future.
Make sure you or a team member dedicates time to reply to comments. If you use Facebook Messenger to interact with fans, aim to get the ‘very responsive’ badge which shows potential customers you’re quick to respond.
UGC is content created by fans that you can use to drive engagement on your Facebook posts. You can use UGC to make your fans feel more involved with your brand, which is a great way to increase brand loyalty.
Here are some ways you can use UGC to increase engagement on Facebook:
In this example, a popular game leverages UGC as a regular feature to share their favorite fan art. Just take a look at those reactions!
Posting randomly won’t build engagement, but consistency will. And even great content can flop if it’s posted when your audience isn’t online.
Use your Facebook Page Insights to see when your followers are most active. For most brands, the best posting windows are mid-morning and early afternoon on weekdays.
Once you find your sweet spot, create a simple schedule. Aim to post at least 3–5 times per week to stay visible and build familiarity. You can use scheduling tools like Buffer or Hootsuite to automate this.
Remember that Facebook update you shared a year ago that got heaps of engagement for your page? Well, there’s no reason why you can’t share it again.
It makes sense to capitalize on content that’s performed well for you in the past, but don’t make the mistake of re-publishing the same content.
Say you shared a link to an article with a caption listing the main points, which got heaps of attention in the past.
You can recycle that by sharing the link with an explainer video instead. That’s precisely what Buffer did, and it got them more Facebook engagement.
Another way to get more mileage out of those Facebook posts that perform the best is to use some of your Facebook advertising budget to boost posts and reach a wider audience.
Look at it this way. Your best-performing content is content that’s proven to engage your audience on Facebook. With the correct targeting, they can keep increasing engagement and reach more people.
Check out these Facebook marketing tips for even more ideas.
Like Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories sit at the top of the News Feed, which is a great way to draw people’s eyes upwards.
Stories are a more informal way to share updates with your fans because they’re only available for a short time. You can post as frequently as you like without interrupting your followers’ feeds.
Due to that authentic connection, fans are more likely to engage with your posts now and in the future. You can also cross-promote stories to Instagram stories and include trending hashtags to attract new fans and influencers.
Contests and giveaways usually generate a ton of engagement on Facebook. When you use RafflePress, the best contests plugin for WordPress, you can seamlessly link your Facebook giveaway to your blog or website.
The Grow Your Facebook Page giveaway template included with RafflePress is the perfect way to grow your Facebook followers and increase engagement successfully.
The built-in entry actions are designed to help your contests go viral, ultimately leading to more growth for your page.
Some of the methods to enter include following you on LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, and more.
Moreover, RafflePress is lightweight and SEO-friendly. That means it won’t slow down your site and can help your giveaway page rank in search engines.
You can check out our step-by-step guide to run a giveaway on Facebook here, or you can click here for more Facebook giveaway ideas.
Creating a Facebook Group linked to your business Page is a genuine way to increase discussions around your brand. While people engage with you in your group, your brand will be at the top of their minds making you instantly more recognizable across Facebook as a whole.
Because your Facebook group is linked to your page, the group engagement could influence how posts from your Facebook page rank in the news feed.
Take a look at this example from WPBeginner. Their WordPress vision check update posted to their Facebook Group generated over 600 comments.
Related: How WPForms Got 11K+ Facebook Group Members with RafflePress
By displaying a Facebook feed on your website, you can make it known that you’re on the platform. Plus, visitors can interact with your Facebook content directly from your site.
To embed a Facebook feed on your WordPress site, we recommend using Smash Balloon.
Smash Balloon’s Custom Facebook Feed Pro is super simple to set up. All you have to do is install the plugin, connect it to your Facebook account, and in less than 30 seconds, you can display a beautiful Facebook feed anywhere on your site.
With Smash Balloon, you can also display likes, comments, shares, and reactions to show social proof, and the built-in share options make it easy for users to share your Facebook posts on other social media sites.
In this article, I’ve shown you how to increase engagement on Facebook. Now all that’s left is putting it into practice and increasing your engagement rates.
While you’re here, you might be interested in learning why you should NOT buy Facebook likes, go check it out. Or, if you’d rather learn how to increase engagement on Twitter, read this.
Don’t forget to follow our YouTube channel for video tutorials. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter here.
Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, then we may earn a commission. We only recommend products that we believe will add value to our readers.
Copyright © 2024 SeedProd LLC. RafflePress® is a registered trademark of SeedProd LLC
