8 Ways to Improve Your Facebook Engagement

by mubashir pp
Published September 18, 2013 

Are you looking for fun ways to get your Facebook fans engaged?

Wondering how other pages are developing their posts to increase likes, shares and comments?

In this article I’ll show you eight examples of how to create Facebook posts that drive more engagement on your Facebook page.

#1: Solve Problems With Photos

Posts with a simple image and a caption that shows fans the solution to a problem or a way to improve their daily lives receive marked engagement.

Whole Foods uses this post tactic to encourage fan discussions about product-related solutions to common problems.

Whole Foods boosts engagement by sharing lifestyle tips.

Tips for posting images to Facebook:

• Larger images tend to get more likes, shares and comments. Use the Upload Photos/Video function to publish photo files directly into your post instead of posting a link that shows a thumbnail.
• Optimize images for the 403 x 403 pixel display in the timeline. Larger images display from the center of the image, and some of the edges may not appear in the news feed unless a user clicks through.

Find a great selection of socially recommended how-to’s on Snapguide or Reddit’s Life Pro Tips.

#2: Give a Shout-out to Your Customers

People love to see their content and their friends’ content shared by brands.

Use your fans’ content instead of your own to give your post a viral push through specific communities that are close to the content creator.

Starbucks showcased a talented customer’s drawing as their cover photo, then provided a shout-out to this dedicated customer by including a link to the artist’s Instagram profile in the image description.

Starbucks uses customers' art in their cover photo.

Every few weeks, Walmart creates a new seasonal cover image with photos of real people from their fan base.

Check out a recent one below:

Walmart using fan photos for its cover photo.

Tips for customer shout-outs:

• Cross-promote your Facebook shout-outs with Instagram and Twitter to extend your reach and impact.
• Call attention to fans who show off your products or promote your brand.
• Capitalize on brand-related content from clubs and teams with many members to boost your shout-out exposure.

#3: Involve Customers With a Question

Every customer wants to be heard and questions let them use their voice in the form of comments.

Ask your fans to share about consumer preferences, help you name a product or describe memories and moments associated with your brand.

When Skittles asked fans to describe the moment they opened a pack of the candy, the post received over 5,000 interactions.

Skittles asks questions to engage their Facebook fans.

London Drugs asks their fans to weigh in on either/or questions.

London Drugs' "Crafty or Tacky" photo.

Tips for asking questions on Facebook:

• Keep your questions simple.
• Relate questions to specific consumer lifestyles, such as where or how they use your product.
• Monitor your customer feedback on Facebook posts and comments, Twitter mentions and emails to find question topic ideas.

#4: Let Them Fill in the Blank

Use a short sentence with one word missing to generate a significant amount of comments, likes and shares.

Pringles used a fill-in-the-blank post to connect their chips with a relaxing summer holiday. A bonus of this tactic is that Pringles got a snapshot of their fans’ product preferences by monitoring the comments.

Pringles markets using fill-in-the-blank posts.

Tips for fill-in-the-blank posts on Facebook:

• Use fill-in-the-blank posts as a two-pronged engagement tactic: interact with your online community and get to know them better for future marketing campaigns.
• Use the post tactic in conjunction with a specific event, such as a summer holiday or a family ski trip.
• Awkward or funny situations get people to engage on a more personal level.

#5: Crowdsource Photo Captions

Photo caption posts combine the allure of photos with people’s love of interacting with brands they identify with.

Think about the emotion you want to trigger and choose an image that makes participating irresistible. Upload your image and write a short description that invites fans to provide a caption.

In keeping with their core 125-year-old brand, National Geographic posts the world’s best photos from experts and amateurs alike. They interact with their Facebook fans by asking for captions. This one post had over 250,000 interactions.

National Geographic invites us to do what we've always dreamed of—contribute to its photos.

Tips for photo captions on Facebook:

• Use inspiring, provocative or humorous images for captioning.
• Find photos on Reddit’s Pics, Flickr Creative Commons, Shutterstock andiStockphoto. Remember to mind copyright if you share images that aren’t in the public domain.
• To add a boost to your photo caption engagement, offer an incentive through a photo caption contest.

#6: Share Quotes

Quotes are great for engaging people’s “Me, too!” feelings. On Facebook this is especially powerful as the Like button makes it easy for fans to express that feeling. A quote can associate your brand with good feelings and create a deeper connection with your market on Facebook.

Just like Apple used imagery of iconic 20^th-century personalities in its “Think Different” campaign, you can use quotes from icons to reinforce your company’s brand.

Disney uses quotes from their feature films to inspire, relate to and create funny moments with their audience. Each quote is posted with a full image to increase engagement.

Disney shares a classic quote to connect emotionally with their audience.

Tips for quotes on Facebook:

• Tie your brand to quotes that support your campaign goals.
• Use visuals and memes with your quotes to increase shareability—a few good sites to create memes are Quickmeme, Imgflip and Memecrunch.
• Find quotes on Bartleby.com and The Quotations Page, or use a #quote hashtag search on Facebook or Twitter.

#7: Gather Votes With Like vs. Share

Ask your fans to like a post to vote for option A, or share the post to vote for option B. Because vote counts are visible, fans are motivated to participate.

Walmart frequently uses the like vs. share post with a mashup of two competing images and a small graphic overlay of a like vs. share icon. They post the full image with a brief description that tells fans how to participate.

Walmart directly asks for likes and shares by giving their fans a face-off.

Tips for like vs. share posts on Facebook:

• Use controversial choices that evoke strong emotions within your community.
• Integrate your product or brand in the posts.
• Use digital image editing applications like Photoshop, Photofiltre or Paint.netto create your image with a graphic overlay that shares simple participation instructions.

#8: Use Hashtags

A relatively new addition to Facebook, hashtags use categorized terms behind a # symbol to increase brand, product and campaign awareness to wider audiences.

Sephora uses the hashtag “#OneQuickQuestion” to open up engagement for a campaign beyond the reach of their current fans.

Sephora spreads its reach with #hashtags.

Tips for #hashtags on Facebook:

• Use tags to create awareness and engagement for specific marketing campaigns such as contests or product sales.
• Use common terms such as #socialmedia in your hashtags to increase post dialogue and visibility.
• Search for hashtags being used by your customers, competitors and partners to find keywords and conversations you can participate in.

How to Get a Lot of Facebook Likes

Steps

1. 
   1
   Get a lot of Facebook friends. The easiest way to improve your chances of getting a lot of likes is to have a lot of Facebook friends. If you only have ten Facebook friends, then you won't be able to get very many likes, no matter how amazing your posts are. Here's how to get as many Facebook friends as you can:
   • Don't be shy about friending acquaintances. If you briefly met someone and you run in the same circles, it is socially acceptable to friend that person. As long as you don't go over the top and send the acquaintance a message or post on his or her wall immediately, just sending a friend request will be a great way to make a new Facebook friend.
   • Don't be afraid to friend someone from your past. If Facebook keeps recommending friends to you, it will be because you have friends or a network in common. As long as the person knows who you are, it's okay to request to be his or her friend.
   • Be socially active. If you're friendly in the workplace, in your yoga class, and during your Saturday afternoon volunteering sessions, you'll be more likely to meet more people who can be your friends on Facebook.
   • Don't be discouraged if many of your Facebook friends never like your posts. Many people feel that they have to be closer friends with someone to like his or her photos, but there are many exceptions to this rule, and you will definitely get likes from people you haven't heard from in years if you post the right things.
2. 
   2
   Develop real-life relationships. Having a lot of Facebook friends will certainly improve your chances of getting likes, but cultivating real-life relationships will also help you get people to like you're photos. Here's how this works:
   • If people feel closer to you, they will be more likely to browse your profile. If they find something they like, then they will let you know!
   • People will also feel more comfortable liking your photos if they hang out with you face-to-face.
   • You can also tell your real-life friends about things you have posted. You don't have to be obvious about it or plug yourself too much, but you can casually say things like, "Hey, did you check out that link I posted on Facebook?" or "I just posted an album from last weekend's party. You should check it out--there's an amazing photo of you there!"
   • You can also tag your friends in your photo albums. This will make them much more likely to browse your photos, and to like your various posts.
3. 
   3
   Be active on Facebook. You have to be a Facebook community member of good standing to get a lot of likes. You can't expect to post an album, photo, or comments and get an instant reaction if you don't reciprocate. Here's how:
   • Update your status with something fun or meaningful at least once a day. That way, people will be thinking of you.
   • Go on Facebook at least once a day. Make a goal to like at least five things that come up on your newsfeed.
   • Try to like the posts of someone different every time, so you are on his or her radar. If you like the posts of a person you don't know so well, he or she will know it's okay to like your posts. Just make sure to not like the photos of someone completely random who barely remembers who you are.
   • Make a goal to post on the walls of a few of your Facebook friends each day. Send at least one person a message each day.
   • Don't underestimate the power of an occasional poke.
   • Be active on Facebook, but don't be annoying. You don't want your Facebook friends rolling their eyes at how often you pop up on their newsfeed. If you're too active, some of your friends may block your status updates or unfriend you.
4. 
   4
   Post the right photos. Once you've amassed enough Facebook friends and have many real-life connections, you can work on honing the photos that you post. The type of photo you post can determine how many people will like it. Here are some Facebook photo posting dos and don'ts:
   • If you post a photo of yourself, make sure it's silly, fun, or extraordinary in some way. If you're in a new location, wearing a fun costume, or dressed up for a special occasion, it's worth posting. If it's just an ordinary photo of you, then it may not be like-worthy.
   • Posting a photo with a celebrity is guaranteed to get you lots of likes.
   • Posting a photo from your childhood, if it's really cute or goofy, will also get lots of likes.
   • If you graduated from school or ran a marathon, post a photo of you with your diploma or your finisher's medal.
   • Generally, posting photos of more than one person will make it easier for you to get more likes. If multiple people are tagged in the photo, then they will be more likely to look at it.
   • If you post a cute photo of you and your significant other, people tend to like those. Just try not to look too smug in the photo, because your Facebook friends may get annoyed by that.
   • Post your photos at the right time of day, when you know people are at their computers. If you post it too early in the morning or too late at night, it may get overlooked.
   • Avoid posting too many photos of scenery or monuments. You may be really proud of your vacation to Rome, but if you're not in the photo, then you will just be the 100th person to post a picture of the Trevi fountain that day.
5. 
   5
   Post the right status updates. Your status update is not only your way of letting people know what's going on in your life, but your way of trying to show your Facebook friends how witty, thoughtful, or just plain fun you are. Here are some ways to get a lot of likes on your status update:
   • Be short and sweet. Pretend that you're posting on Twitter. Try to entertain your audience in 100 characters or less. If your status is so long that your friends have to click to read the rest, they will get bored.
   • Don't be afraid to be completely silly. You don't have to show off all the time.
   • The right quote from a popular TV show right after it airs is sure to get lots of likes from the people who know what you're talking about.
   • If you're going on vacation or have recently arrived in a new city, post about it and people will be excited for you.
   • Don't post too many updates that complain about the weather, talk about how boring work is, or are way too personal for the Facebook community. Your Facebook friends are used to seeing this every day, and will be more impressed if you're original.
   • Check the news frequently. If you're the first person to spot a breaking news story and you post it, you will get lots of props.

Increase Your Facebook Page Likes Using Magic Tagging

  Magic box is a trick mostly  used by the admins of Facebook pages.

What is Magic Box :
This trick is used for increasing likes or promoting facebook pages here I will discuss in detail.
You have often seen  some pages like "see more" or "see who unfriends you on facebook" . When you click on these kind of pages , small facebook like buttons appear on your screen saying " like these buttons first " to see what you were looking for .

How does it work :

Behind each like button , there is a hidden link of a facebook page which on clicking automatically likes the page without you knowing it . In this way a facebook page get more hits and fans automatically in no time . It is a very help full and reliable trick for promoting a facebook page in no time . If you have a facebook page on Facebook and want to promote it using this trick then just Read this article and you will also be able to make one for your page

Okay so here it is:

1. First of all Download all the magic tagging codes from the LINK

2. After downloading, open the file, press CTRL+F and paste "Pagelinkhere" in the find what section like in the image below:

3. Now Change the words "Pagelinkhere" with your first Facebook page link like http://www.facebook.com/tipsfollowers.tk. This is my page link.

4. After pasting your first page link, click on find next and then again Change the words "Pagelinkhere" with your second Facebook page link.

5. Keep on doing this until you have finished adding all your page links.

6. Okay so you guys have a Facebook page. In the Facebook search option, Search for Static XFBML to make a welcome tab for your page like in the image below

3 Facebook “Like Button” Tricks You May Not Know

The Facebook ‘Like’ button is a powerful tool you can utilize to increase the fan base for your brands, companies and products. As part of the marketing strategy for many pages, this Like button is used as a ‘gate’ before any potential customer gets to see detailed info or perform downloads.

There are actually three actions you can program your ‘Like’ button to do. It can be a gate for redirects, to allow downloads as well as to reveal a page. And we are going to show you how in this tutorial.

Recommended Reading: How to Display/Update "Facebook Likes" Using Node.js

#1. Creating A Like Gate

You can use the ‘Like’ button as a ‘gate’ that will hide your original content from public view. Readers who want access to the full content available on the Facebook page will have to ‘Like’ the page first. Technically, this is the simplest way to gain more ‘Likes’.

Creating a ‘Like gate’ with Woobox

With Woobox, you can simply install the app to your Facebook Page and start creating tabs with a Like gate, for free.

1. To start, go to the Woobox website and click on the signup button.
   
   
2. Sign up with your Facebook account.
   
   
3. You will be redirected to the page where you can start installing your Woobox application. On the left menu, click on HTML Fangates.
   
   
4. If you already have tabs created with Woobox, it will be listed here. To create a new tab with a Like gate, click on the link at the bottom that says Add a new HTML Fangate Tab.
   
   
   
   
5. You will get a notification saying your new tab has been created. Now you can edit your tab here or directly from your Facebook Page.
   
   
6. To make it more visual for you, go to your Facebook Page where the tab has been added to, look for the new tab and click on it.
   
   
7. Click on the ‘Authorize’ button to proceed.
   
   
8. Once authorized, you will be redirected to the Tab’s content settings page. Scroll down and you will see the main section where you can set your page content under ‘Page Source’ and then set the ‘Non-Fan Page Source’.
   
   
   The ‘Non-Fan Page Source’ will act as the Like gate. An example of a Like gate you can use is as shown.
   
   
   The ‘Page Source’ is what your fan will see. Once they ‘Like’ your page, the content you set on ‘Page Source’ will appear.
   
   
9. When you have completed the form with the relevant content, don’t forget to scroll down and click on the Save Settings button.
   
   
10. Once saved, your Tab is now ready with a Like gate! That’s how easy it is, now click the View Tab button to see your final result.
    
    
11. In this page, as the admin you will see ‘Admin Tab Options’ at the top of your content. Click the View as Non-Fan to preview your content for your non-Fans.
    
    

#2. Creating ‘Like to download’ action

‘Like to download’ also function like a ‘gate’ before ‘download’ can be done. Say, if you have a freebies to give your website visitors, you can require them to click on the like button before they can perform any download. The link to download will only appear after a person click ‘Like’.

To do this, go to the Facebook Like To Download official page, scroll down and fill up the simple form with your Facebook Page address or target website address, then provide the link to download, set the width and preferred color and then hit the button ‘Create Your Like Gate Now’.

After this, you will get to see the preview together with the working code. Copy the embed code and paste it to your website or blog.

After adding the code to your site, your visitor will see the instruction to ‘Like’ before the download can be done, and once they click Like, the download button will appear.

#3. Creating ‘Like to redirect’ (to a different page)

‘Like to redirect’ will help you redirect your visitors to an external page or website after they click the ‘Like’ button on your Facebook tab page. Now, instead of preparing a landing page or ‘page source’, you can actually redirect the new fans to your own website’s landing page after they click the ‘Like’ button.

creating ‘Like to Redirect’ with Woobox

To redirect with Woobox, follow the first part of this article (Creating a ‘Like Gate’ with Woobox) until ‘Step 8‘ and under ‘Page Source‘, select ‘Redirect‘. Fill up the external page with the URL you want to redirect your fans to.

Don’t forget to set the ‘Non-fan page source’ too, and save the settings. Now, whenever a person clicks on the ‘Like’ button from this tab page, they will be redirected away from Facebook, to the URL you specified.

Note: Facebook changes most of its features all the time, and if previously you can also redirect users who like your page directly from your website, it seems difficult to achieve that when Facebook additionally pops up the ‘share’ option whenever you click ‘Like’.

Conclusion

With these tricks, you should be able to gain more ‘Likes’ on Facebook and increase your fan base. Ask them to like before download as a token of appreciation, or redirect them to a special offer page after they click Like. If you have a Like gate active, always redirect your potential fan to the gated tabs for higher chances to gain more Likes.

13 Facebook Tricks You Probably Never Heard Of

Now Trending | October 9th 2012

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Everyone knows Facebook, but not everyone knows Facebook very well. You could spend your days on the world’s biggest social network liking and sharing, or you could learn a few tricks that will bring you closer to being a power user.
These 13 Facebook tricks will help you take charge of your Facebook activity, as well as earn you some savvy credit-points with other Facebook users. Use them wisely! If you have Facebook secrets of your own to share – do tell and leave us a comment!

Create & Manage Friends’ Lists

Create & manage friends’ lists

Organize your friends in lists and control who can view what’s on your profile. Go to Facebook Lists Page and see the default lists prepared for you. Click on “Create List” to make your own.

Schedule Posts

Schedule Facebook posts

Want to make sure your posts go live even when you’re offline? Use Facebook’s scheduling tool and set a publishing time for your posts. Click on the clock icon in the status line field and take it from there.

Create a Secret Group

Create a secret Facebook group

Make your own private space on Facebook and invite only people that you want! Go to Facebook Groups Page and click “Create Group”, then choose the “Secret” option.

Download Entire Photo Albums

Download Facebook photos

Want to make sure your Facebook photos are safe? Save them to your computer! Use Pick’n’Zip to log in with your Facebook account and choose the albums you’d like to download.

Choose Who Can See You on Facebook’s Online Chat 

Who can see you on Facebook chat

No need to apologize. We all have some people on our files that we don’t always feel like talking to. All you have to do is the click the ‘Settings’ icon at the bottom of the chat section, go to “Advanced Settings” and make your choice.

Post Upside-Down Texts

Write upside down Facebook posts

Drive your pals a little nuts with FlipText, a fun Facebook trick that automatically turns everything you write upside down. Just a simple copy/paste and your post is flipping.

Language/Geo-Target Fan Page Posts

Language/ Geo-targeting your Facebook fans

Did you know you can make your posts visible only to people in your city? Or only to people in a certain country who speak a certain language? When you write a post, change the “Public” status according to your wishes and target your specific group of interest.

Edit Your Published Comments

Edit Facebook comments

Typos? Misunderstandings? Freudian slips? Thankfully, Facebook lets users edit their comments quite easily. All you need to do is roll over the comment, click on the pencil icon and edit away!

Have Some Laughs with Pirate English

Pirate English

Normal languages aren’t nearly as fun as pirate talk! You can change the entire Facebook terminology to pirate English by going to your Account Settings and changing the language choice. Forget about Likes, they’re called “Arrr, This be pleasin’ to me eye” now.

Discover Messages that Facebook Hides

Find hidden messages

Not many people know that Facebook messages get split into two folders: Messages and Other. If you haven’t looked into the Other folder before, you probably missed some messages you didn’t want to miss.

Turning Off Notifications from Apps, Users, Etc.

Turn specific notifications off

Have too much spam coming in from an event, a group or a page? You can shut notifications off by clicking on the notifications icon (the globe), rolling over the nuisance with your mouse and clicking X to delete. Faceboook will then ask you if you want to turn off notifications from that user permanently.

Customize Your “Posted Via” Line

Funny “Posted Via” lines

Another fun trick you can do to spice up your Facebook posts is to add a customized “Posted Via” line with this awesome Facebook tool. You can publish your posts from Air Force One, from a banana phone or via Jedi mind control, to name just a few.

Delete Your Facebook Account
If the day comes when you decide to leave the blue planet and go out into the real world, this link will be the red pill that takes you there. Hope you enjoyed the ride.