During our first Twitter chat this year, we touched on Facebook’s latest News Feed update. We decided to expand on that topic during last week’s #SMTLive chat called “Managing Your Brand’s Facebook Page in 2018”.
We had an amazing turnout; our digital marketing friends from the #SMTLive community joined in from across the globe to meet and learn from each other. One participant created this awesome visual chart of the group chat. Thanks, Marc!
#SMTLive via NodeXL https://t.co/lDtvJE5OM7@socialmedia2day@kristaboniface@timburrows1266@robinselvy@joegill88@iamjanicebox@katmtaylor@feliciapaigexo@cbarrows@roxstarroxanne
Top hashtags:#smtlive#facebook#socialmedia#fblive#facebookgroups#marketing#a2
— Marc Smith (@marc_smith) January 30, 2018
In this chat, we wanted to cover Facebook marketing basic principles as well as dive into new trends we are seeing taking off this year.
Here are the questions we asked and discussed during this chat:
- Regardless of the News Feed update, what are basic ways to generate engagement on Facebook?
- What is something you have found success with on Facebook? (ads, groups, promoted content, etc.)
- There’s been a lot of talk about Facebook Groups recently. Do you manage or are you a member of any Facebook groups that you believe functions extraordinarily well? What are best practices for a successful Facebook group?
- [Poll] Which one of these do you want to learn more about? Facebook group management, Facebook Live logistics, Facebook ads, or Facebook influencers.
- Follow up to the poll: Share your struggles. Ask a question about one of these topics that you need clarification on.
- Do you think you will spend more or less time on your brand Facebook page given the latest update?
Because this is a juicy topic to start with and we had so many great ideas shared on Tuesday, I will expand this article into a chat recap series so that you can digest this information by each topic covered.
What are basic ways to generate engagement on Facebook?
1. Create dialogue. Ask questions and respond back to your audience.
A1: Some basic ways to generate engagement on #Facebook are to ask questions, get your audience for their opinions, and stay consistent. Most of all know your audience so you can craft posts that speak to them. #SMTLive https://t.co/NVBgZ8NDV0
— Dhariana Lozano (@DhariLo) January 30, 2018
A1 #SMTLive We’ve found that simply asking questions will promote engagement. Seems easy, seems silly, but it works! People are always eager to share their opinion… whether you like it or not. 😉
— Ellipses PR (@EllipsesPR) January 30, 2018
A1 Being responsive to comments, and tagging those you are engaging with. #SMTLive
— xsmarketinggenius (@xsmktinggenius) January 30, 2018
2. Be smart and be creative with the content you put out. Do your research, know your audience and tailor your content in a way that will appeal to them.
A1 – Research your target audience to learn more about the content they want to see/engage with so you can dish it up regularly! #SMTLive
— Imaginative Group (@imaginativegrp) January 30, 2018
A1: Creating engaging content and providing value to your followers is what it’s all about! Before you post, ask yourself “Would I want to like/share that?” #SMTLive
— Blab! Media (@BlabMedia) January 30, 2018
A1: Knowing your audience & creating/curating content they actually care about. Avoid posting just to post. Great photo/video also go a long way. #smtlive
— felicia mckinney (@feliciapaigexo) January 30, 2018
A1: Some organizations I’ve worked for have had great opportunities to share great visual content–sometimes, that’s all you need to get engagement going (a great caption or question is good, too) Pictures really are worth 1000 words (or convos). #SMTLive https://t.co/qvDhep0K37
— June Findlay ???????? (@missladyniobe) January 30, 2018
4. Video (live or not) is proven time and again to win over the attention of users.
A1 Video is king, photos and stories that have emotional or sentimental value. You want to be relatable and authentic while showing something new and interesting. #SMTLive
— Krista Boniface (@KristaBoniface) January 30, 2018
A1: We have always found that sharing behind the scenes photos/videos from our office generates strong engagement on Facebook. Everyone loves to get a taste of our company culture! #SMTLive
— MyCorporation (@MyCorporation) January 30, 2018
Here is a quick visual guide to help anyone exploring new ways to add video into your Facebook marketing strategy: A Small Business Guide to Facebook Video Marketing.
3. Go Live! Take them backstage, talk to them and share information in a creative and authentic format.
A1 We found running a Facebook live program helped tremendously and not necessarily during the live event. Our engagements primarily came with the post watches. #SMTLive
— Jamie Doherty (@MnkyGrl47) January 30, 2018
A1. Answering FAQs live seems to garner good engagement for us. #SMTLive
— Posse Social Media (@PosseSocMedia) January 30, 2018
You can see this was just the first question asked. I will continue to recap the rest of this chat over the next week.