Social media is arguably the most powerful medium on the web for small businesses and brands these days. While search engines remain as popular as ever, even small businesses can break into the market with a combination of social media and great marketing techniques. This places it above SEO in many respects for those who want to begin earning dividends immediately. Through a combination of paid and organic strategies, Facebook pages can be the perfect source for new traffic, increased sales and more awareness. We’ll discuss some organic strategies today that can improve overall Facebook engagement and deliver more effective results.

Know Your Audience’s Schedule

Not all Facebook posts are created equally: we are already very familiar with this concept. Equally important is the notion that not all publishing times are created equally. When pinging links on social media to your audience, it is vital that you understand their browsing habits: when they get online, what days they are most active, and so forth. Luckily, Facebook Insights provides some pretty good data in regards to previous engagement rates, allowing you to quickly determine when you should be posting. With the ‘Schedule’ feature also available, you don’t even have to be online to publish each piece of content: just schedule it to publish in advance and let Facebook do the work!

Don’t Be a No-Show

Various forms of engagement are easier to come by than others. A simple like on a post is about as cheap as it gets. A share is more valuable than a like. A comment, arguably, is the most valuable form of engagement you can generate, because it demonstrates interest and commitment to the brand. This is why whenever someone posts on your page, it is important for you to respond. This signals to Facebook that there is valuable engagement occurring, and will help improve visibility algorithms in the long-term. However, it is just as important for you to engage with fans whenever possible because it shows them that you value their comments, concerns and thoughts. This will ensure that they come back again and again in the future.

Consider Post Length Carefully

Whenever you post something to Facebook, are you careful to consider the length of the content in question? This doesn’t just apply to blog posts and pages that are being shared, but your actual comments on each post. Ideally, Facebook page posts will not have more than 100 characters. This ensures that a) everything is visible in people’s news feeds without needing to click “see more”, and b) that people’s attention spans don’t drift off when reading it. People generally are reading dozens of different posts and updates as they scroll through their news feeds: it’s important to keep in mind that they are browsing for items that pique their interests, and not necessarily carefully reading every single item they see.

By shortening your posts, responding every time a fan interacts with you and knowing when your audience is active, you can dramatically increase overall engagement for the long-term. What other actions have you taken to boost engagement? Let us know below.