It's the dog days of summer, people -- and it's getting crazy hot!
I heard it was like 130 degrees in Death Valley yesterday. WTF?!
Most Facebook page admins know engagement is low during summer.
With so many people on vacation & different holidays coming & going, it's tough to keep your fans engaged. I mean I'd rather be sitting on the beach than commenting on your latest post.
No offense! ;)
So what's a page owner to do?
Should we all just stop posting, so our Edgerank doesn't tank? No, that's actually a bad idea because not posting actually hurts your Edgerank!
Hmm... What to do, what to do?
Engage your Fans During the Dog Days of Summer
Try these 3 easy tips to engage your fans during slow times:
1) Contests
One of the quickest & easiest ways to ramp up engagement on your page is via a contest.
People love to win free stuff -- and they love being involved in a fun contest.
Try running a contest where fans submit photos of their vacation -- and everybody votes on the best photo.
Or even better, have fans take a photo of themselves using your product on vacation!
Boom! Increased engagement ASAP!
Of course, there are many do's & don'ts of contests that you should pay attention to -- so you don't get slapped by Facebook.
Here are some quick tips:
- You MUST use a 3rd party app to run a contest
- You MUST follow Facebook's rules on disclaimers
- Give away relevant prizes (you don't have to give away an iPad!)
- Promote your contest
- Give away your prize & follow up
For more detail on these tips check out this post:
Make These Mistakes with Your Facebook Contest & Get Your Page Deleted
2) Post Photos
Photos crush it on Facebook!
Why?
Because photos are quicker to consume than text updates or links.
Plus photos are easily viewed on all devices -- which makes them even more popular.
I don't want to get into a debate about whether photos get more Reach or larger "People Talking About This" numbers (even though it's probably be true).
Just based on pure engagement, photos usually do better.
And during summer, when people are on Facebook less often, you need to catch their attention -- and do it fast.
Photos are a great way to do this. Here are some examples:
>>> Post a photo you take yourself
Like this one by ShortStack celebrating the 50k fan milestone:
(Jim, their CEO, has a major pancake fetish/addiction!)
>>> Post a goofy picture
Like this one we shared on our page:
(It got over 180 Likes & nearly 50 shares! Not bad at all!)
>>> Post an image related to a blog post
John Haydon of Inbound Zombie & Non-Profit Facebook Guy does a great job posting images that are directly related to his blogposts -- or to 3rd party blogposts he's recommending.
>>> Post funny Memes!
Memes can be hilarious (or totally lame!).
I'm against them being the only type of image you post -- but they're great to post during slow times to increase engagement.
3) Post Questions
I'm a huge fan of asking questions on Facebook -- and no, I don't mean via Facebook's "Questions" (polls) feature.
People want to give their opinions on things -- it's just human nature.
And yes, they'll even opine when your question has nothing to do with your page.
Now I think it's probably better to stay mostly on topic -- but sometimes a whimsical, intriguing question is appropriate & super effective for engagement.
We ask a ton of questions on the Post Planner page, because:
- we know they get engagement — as shown in the above example
- we have a huge arsenal of questions in our Status Ideas Engine
My advice on questions is to:
- keep them short
- ask Yes/No questions when possible
- ask multiple choice questions & list the choices as A, B, C
- ask light-hearted questions to get the biggest response (lighten up!)
Now Get To Work!
The summer months are always going to be slower on social media.
Your job is to find ways to engage fans anyway!
Then when they're back in their normal routine in autumn, you'll have already locked them down as loyal fans of your page.
Trust me -- you reap what you sow on social media.
Do the work now while it's hot & the fall & winter dividends are sure to come.
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