How to engage more people on Facebook
Q: I’ve created a Facebook page for my small business, and I want to do more with it than get people to “like” my posts. I want to engage them so that my business is top of mind when they have a need for my services. Do you have any suggestions on how to do that?
A: One way is to post a question. Relate it to your particular business or services or to trends in your industry. This is a great way to not only engage your audience but to also position yourself as an expert. For instance, if you own a lawn service business, you could ask the question, “What’s the best time of day to water your lawn?”
This could lead to an online conversation about how much water a lawn needs during our hot how often to mow and how much of the leaf blade to cut.
Just be sure that once you pose the question, you reply to any and all answers to keep the conversationand to show that you know how to keep your customers’ lawns looking good-year-round. Pictures and graphics draw attention to the post, so include those whenever possible.
Another tactic is to share articles or blogs that you find interesting, even if they’re not directly related to your line of work.
One cave at here: Avoid anything political.
If people share your posts or complimentyour business or your services, be sure to thank them online. Also ask if you can feature them on your page along with a brief testimonial about your business.
Another idea is to light en up every so often and post something for the fun of it: trivia questions, your staff enjoying a pizza lunch, pictures of your pets.
Our UH Bauer College SB DC hosted an impromptunetworking event for last month’ s National Do nut Day that included a plastic dough nuts tacking competition.We posted video of that on our Facebook page. It attracted a lot of attention.
When you’ re ready to expand your social media presence, think about settingup a Linked In account next. Linked In features industry groups you can join where you can engage with prospective customers by starting or participating in conversations relevant to your business.
Jacqueline Taylor is deputy director of the Texas Gulf Coast Small Business Development Center Network , a partnership of the U.S. Small Business Administration and the University of Houston C.T. Bauer College of Business. Information is intended to provide for general guidance only. Questions to jtaylor@uh.edu.