How many of your friends are on Facebook? How many are not? It is easier to see the difference, right? Even kids nowadays are using Facebook. Who would not want to engage with fun and exciting features of Facebook? Well, credits Mark Zuckerberg and his team in creating and continually developing the platform. Now even individual Facebook application developer Philippines has something to manipulate to make the Filipino users enjoy the said platform more.
Shout outs. Familiar? Of course, they are! It is when we can freely express our feelings socially. Whether it is a vent or a happy feeling, we post it online. For some, posting online doesn’t just mean they want to let other people know what they feel. Sometimes, what we cannot say personally to other people that we are intended to talk to, we write it down as shout outs to tell them what we really feel inside.
If you are on Facebook most of the time, you can see on your news feed different posts each person makes to the extent that we get annoyed, at times, over those people who share too much information on their timelines. We can easily say that these posts are uncontrollable and irresponsible Facebook usage that we don’t want to be a part of. No wonder why good posts gain more likes and shares. If you are one of those who publish Facebook posts thoughtlessly, these tips are for you.
Disclaimer: The tips below are mostly for social media marketing specialists although each of us can also learn a thing or two from each tip. Read on!
1. Be observant
If you want to let your followers engage in your post, you first have to be a keen observer about the happenings on Facebook, among others. You have to know what are the hot and trending issues for you to have an idea on what to post next. A lot of people talking about the politics, and you can also post a related topic if you feel like it.
Being observant doesn’t just mean reading posts, but you also have to scrutinize or balance whether the posts you have read are true or not. Of course, you can keep your judgments to yourself for as not to offend the person posting it. Or, if you are really concerned about it, you can message who made a derogatory comment privately.
It is your responsibility to know and confirm the truths about the posts that concern you and other people on social media especially when the posts are degrading or hurtful. As much as possible, verify what you read then, it is your call whether you will believe the post and publish contents with regards to the said topic.
2. Be goal-oriented
Posting for the sake of posting? That’s not the way to do it. Think of it this way: why do you post in the first place? For what and for who your post is intended for? Is your post necessary or somehow aligned with today’s issues? These are the questions you need to answer first before posting on Facebook.
If you intend to inform your followers about a relevant issue, for example, then you have to post related topics about it. Don’t deviate. If you intend to entertain your followers, you can post personal updates, images or videos that are equally amusing.
When you set a goal in posting, you will know what to do. You will have a standard on what particular topic that you will post for today. With that, you will strive to accomplish the goal and achieve the desired outcome of your every post.
3. Make a content journal
Being a person behind every Facebook post, it is our responsibility to empower other people by letting them know what they have to know. We do not post nonsense topics that can only irritate our followers and even non-followers who get to see the post through their friends’ feeds and interactions. Of course, we choose topics that are sensible enough.
Deciding what and when to post can sometimes be demanding. We need to know the ins and outs of today’s issues as well as what we need to avoid. Admit it, you sometimes post repetitive contents because you run out of good things to say. For you not to feel frustrated on deciding and choosing what topics to post, you can create your own content journal.
A content journal helps you identify what topic you already have posted online or what topic is intended for a particular issue. It will also help you keep track on how many topics you have posted for the entire week or month. With that, you can have new and interesting topics lined up that you can easily cross out of your list once done or posted.
4. Grab your follower’s attention
Making your followers notice you can sometimes be a challenge. A challenge in a sense that you need to grab their interest quickly before you lose them in a sea of posts on their news feeds and some other posts steal their attention.
A no-nonsense assumption here is if you want your followers to engage with your posts, you have to post interesting and engaging topics on your Facebook wall. You have to know what piques their interest and what intrigues them the most and make posts about that. In some instances, your best bet is the topics that are totally unique and unknown to your followers. When done right, they will eventually ask for more information about it.
5. Interact with your audience
If you want to build a relationship with your followers, then you have to communicate and interact with them. Being active on Facebook doesn’t end up with just posting something on your wall. Posts are the extension of your thoughts that you want to share with your audience.
Interacting can also build a good rapport between you and your followers and other lurkers. For instance, if any of them has a question, concern or suggestion about a particular topic or post, attend to his or her needs at the fastest time possible. On the other hand, you can also ask for their thoughts about the post. Reply to comments and answer their questions.
6. Post moderately
We can’t deny that there are many people who seemingly have nothing else to do than being on Facebook 24/7. They post what they do, what they feel and just about everything that the posts don’t make sense anymore. That is blatantly a-n-n-o-y-i-n-g, and you don’t want to annoy your Facebook followers, right?
Of course, you still have to do it. With this, you can maximize your post by observing what time of the day a post receives most interactions. You can post often, but not too often even if you are in the mode of posting.
You have to be aware of the limitations in posting. You can post topics that are relevant, informative, entertaining, educational, unique and interesting. This is particularly true when the posts are intended for branding or marketing purposes.
While Facebook is a free platform and we have freedom of speech, this doesn’t mean that we have to post whatever we like. There are boundaries when it comes to posting be it for personal or business purposes.
