More than a few people have spent significant amounts of time trying to figure out the Facebook algorithm so they can improve engagement but not me.
That is about as effective as trying to figure out how many plastic pink flamingos are on lawns in Parma and just as interesting. You might as well try to determine whether the aforementioned flamingo is more useful than the garden gnomes people place on their lawns.
Here is the solution: STOP BORING PEOPLE.
If all you ever do is use your page as a place to publish press releases in their entirety and or fill it with insomnia curing material you’ll see that sucker bury itself alive.
How Do You Improve Engagement On Facebook
Sometimes I write silly status updates like the one in the block quotes below. Granted not every person or business can do the silly status update.
It is not always appropriate but that doesn’t mean they can’t mix things up a little. It doesn’t mean they can’t do better than to bore people silly because that is really what is happening on some of these pages.
Every time I see a page that is filled with press releases and the like I wonder if anyone at the company has a clue about social media or if they are there strictly because someone told them they had to be.
The other critical component for improving engagement is to monitor and respond to comments. It sounds obvious but sometimes it is the obvious stuff that is overlooked.
About Silly Status Updates
I am sure there are some people who aren’t especially fond of the silly status updates but I can tell you that any time I post one the comments and emails increase tenfold.
One of the nice things about social media is that it is easy to turn on a dime. So you can test and experiment and adjust. It is simple and smart.
And now here is one of those silly status updates that people respond to.
I am on my way into the grocery store when a man holding a clipboard makes eye contact with me. I start double timing it through the parking lot so that I can make it into the store before he stops to ask me to sign whatever petition he is promoting but the universe is working against me.
Lot traffic forces me to wait a moment providing clipboard man enough to set a course for intercept.
Since football season has resumed I consider yelling hike and then breaking into a dead sprint for the entrance. I figure if he doesn’t move I’ll drop the shoulder and see how well he handles 873 pounds of angry Taurus man.
But then I see two nuns and one of the rabbis from my synagogue walking almost side by side and I stop to look for the camera because this can’t be coincidence. Or maybe it is. Part of me wants to stop and ask the nuns to call their priest and ask him to join.
“Two nuns, a priest and a rabbi walk into a grocery store…”
Sadly my silly reverie has given the clipboard man all the time he needs to plant himself in front of me.
“Sir, can I speak with you about our second amendment rights and the need to protect our families?”
Most of the time when I don’t feel like speaking with these people I tell them I don’t speak English and keep walking. I can’t tell you how many times they give me a quizzical look. Sometimes they ask me if I am certain and I tell them that I am not and I keep going.
Makes for some interesting moments.
Anyhoo, this fella launches into a whole tale about the importance of being to able to carry and why Californians need to be able to protect themselves.
So I tell him I agree and say I have a technique for dealing with all situations. He asks me to explain and I tell him any time I have a situation to deal with I ask myself what would Darth Vader do.
I tell him the answer is always force choke the person or persons who are causing the problem.
“You need to take this seriously. The terrorists are already here. Those ISIS butchers could be in this parking lot right now.
I shake my head at him.
“There are no weapons that can stand against the power of the Dark Side.”
This time he shakes his head at me.
“What kind of nut are you?”
“I am a Jedi, like my father before me.”
Just as I am about to offer to demonstrate my skills clipboard man quickly scurries away and I decide it is better to just walk into the store.
The only question in my mind is whether I should saunter or sashay in. Who knew that a simple trip to the store would be such a grand adventure.
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