Digital marketing is changing constantly, but one thing remains the same (for now). Facebook still rules the social media roost— and that means engagement is a key indicator of branding and advertising success. So how should you go about your Facebook engagement?

Facebook Engagement Cheat Sheet

So we’ve created a cheat sheet to help you cut through the noise with surefire engagement strategies that will keep your followers talking.

How Do You Measure Engagement?

People often find (and try) digital marketing advice without asking themselves: how do we know it worked? Measurable outcomes are key to knowing what’s working (and what’s not). You can measure engagement by tracking how many people:

• Click your Facebook ads
• Click your linked content
• Like your posts/comments
• Comment on your status updates, videos, and images
• Share your content

When Do People Engage Most?

According to data published by CoSchedule, here’s when people engage most on Facebook:

To see where and when your followers engage most. Understanding its data will go a long way to know exactly how to tweak your content and strategy to generate more buzz for your brand.

Where Do People Engage with Businesses?

You can occasionally share what your brand is doing on your personal profile.  Facebook Business Page (and a related Facebook Group) are a must to build a home for your brand in Zuckerberg’s universe.

How Do I Keep People Engaged on Facebook?

We’ve noticed two key strategies the most successful brands stick to (no matter what content they post):

• Be consistent. Post at similar times on similar days from week to week. When people know what to expect, they trust you. And when they trust you, they are more likely to believe in what you have to offer.
• Post frequently. You shouldn’t post 20 times a day, but don’t be afraid to be a regular presence on your followers’ news feed so they can keep you front of mind. Another study by CoSchedule recommends a minimum of 3x per week. But since not all your followers see all your content, most people post at least once per day.

What Types of Content Are Most Engaging?

In general, the most engaging content connects you with your followers and connects to your followers’ interests, questions, and concerns. Here’s what we suggest when creating content for Facebook engagement.

• With clients’ and customers’ permission, share projects you’ve done for them on your Business Page.
• Do people post about your brand or write a good review? Share it on your page (and give them a thankful shout-out).
• Post in industry or field-specific Groups: You don’t have to keep all your content within your own brand. Posting in similar Groups is a great way to get the word out— and meet partners for future influencer and affiliate marketing efforts.
• Create and add to your Facebook Stories [All you have to do is log into your Business Page on your mobile device and click Create Story.] Your followers will get a notification whenever you add to or create a story, so they can hop over to your Page right away and see what’s happening.
• Like and reply to people’s comments.
• Don’t be afraid to respond to criticism or criticism (just make sure you have a detailed process on hand for doing so).
• Find something to celebrate (holidays, National ____ Day, and important company milestones and anniversaries are a good start)
• Make it fun: Gameify your content with interactive Facebook posts like surveys, polls, and quizzes. Want to bump up engagement even more? Offer prizes and incentives.
• Ask questions (What are you doing this weekend? What’s your favorite thing about our neighborhood? etc.)
• Recruit your audience (have them check in for your events, post selfies from your location, etc.)
• Give back to the community (and invite your followers to do the same): Facebook now allows you to fundraise for community organizations. When someone donates, it becomes part of their activity, which means people in their network see the donation, too.
• Don’t forget images, videos, and live streams.

Facebook is an intuitive, low-cost way to engage current and prospective customers. Facebook engagement forms positive connections, and that’s just good business.

[Read All About It: Check Out our Facebook Insights]