Key takeaways
- Balance posting frequency. There’s no magic number, gauge audience feedback and post during high-activity times while mixing in non‑promotional and timely content.
- Use Facebook’s analytics to learn when and what to post and to identify audience overlap that can inform your email marketing and message content.
- Be creative and casual: holiday themes, behind‑the‑scenes posts and humour help you build rapport before promoting email sign‑ups.
- Ask direct questions in posts to spark authentic interaction and open chances to engage followers and present an active brand persona.
- Use targeted ads or cross‑promotion when organic reach stalls. These tactics can jumpstart brand awareness and, eventually, email list growth.
- Combine these tactics, frequency tuning, analytics, creative content, questions and paid boosts, once you’ve gained visibility to make promoting email content easier.
Introduction
As far as social media goes, it’s hard to top the raw reach and power offered by Facebook. Sure, it might not have a complete monopoly on the market, but this platform still stands as the top dog when it comes to using social networks to generate consumer outreach. Of course, having everyone vying for the same spotlight can make it pretty hard to get noticed as you try and build a following. If you’re about ready to give up hope and call it quits with Facebook, take a few minutes to read over these quick tips and tricks that could help you get back on track for converting your social presence on this front into increased email contact list membership.
The Too Little/Too Much Dilemma
The first place to look if you’re struggling to make a dent in your target audience is how often you post on this network. As Jesse Aaron of Business 2 Community explains, regardless of whether you’re trying to promote your email content or just gain a few more likes, committing to posting too often or not enough can end your chances of making a splash before you even log in to your account.
Unfortunately, when it comes to frequency, there is no magic number to aim for as you map out your social schedule. Generally, you’ll need to gauge the feedback from your audience and key in on high traffic and activity times – a little more on this later – as well as watch for opportunities to stay relevant and current with breaking stories. Social media is all about having your voice heard, so slipping in some non-promotional posts and offering insight or reactions to trending topics can help you break down the frequency barrier and keep your audience interested.
Make Use of Facebook Analytics and Data
Speaking of your audience, Aaron goes on to point out that there’s no reason not to know quite a bit about these people, considering the ample suite of data and analytics tools built into the Facebook platform. Not only can this information help you decide when and what to post, but it also has the ability to help splash a little insight into your email marketing operations and message content. Naturally, there’s not always this kind of room for crossover, but as you learn more about your Facebook audience and find this potential overlap, you’ll see that this type of efficiency offers quite a bit of incentive to keep pushing forward with both your social and inbox operations.
Take Creativity to a New Level
In terms of your actual Facebook posts and shares, AdWeek’s David Cohen recommends that you let your creative side off of its leash and have a little fun. Holiday themed offerings, “behind the scenes” insight into how your company works during daily tasks or special events, and even sharing the occasional meme or funny picture, fits the bill. People come to Facebook to let off a little steam and enjoy some digital rest and relaxation, so try and be the fun brand from time to time. If you can do this, you’ll find there’s plenty of opportunities later on to provide a quick glimpse into what’s going on in the inbox.
Ask Questions
As you probably know by now, faking or manufacturing interaction with your audience isn’t just a tough task – it’s virtually impossible. If you want to try your hand at some authentic back and forth, Victor Luckerson of Time magazine has a surprisingly simple, and effective, suggestion; ask a question.
Simply skipping the “statement” posts and requesting a response from your audience in the form of a thought-provoking or intriguing question can help get your brand name trending. The best part is that as followers respond, you’ll have the perfect opportunity to engage each person and present an active persona on behalf of your organization.
Don’t Be Afraid to Give Your Brand a Little Boost
Of course, sometimes doing your best just isn’t enough to get over the hump in this highly competitive social arena. For this reason, Luckerson goes on to point out that there’s nothing wrong with picking up some targeted ads or even cross-promoting with already established entities. Both of these methods might force you to readjust your company’s marketing budget, but the return in brand awareness – and eventually email list gains – should make this investment more than worthwhile. Once you’re on the map, putting the rest of these tips to good use, and spreading the word about your email content, should become a decidedly easier affair.
FAQ
There’s no single right number; avoid posting too often or too little. Gauge audience feedback, post during high‑activity times and mix in non‑promotional and timely or trending posts so you stay relevant without overwhelming followers.
Use Facebook’s analytics to learn who engages with your posts and when. That data helps you decide what and when to post on Facebook and can reveal audience overlap you can use to inform email message content and targeting.
Creative, low‑pressure posts work best: holiday themes, behind‑the‑scenes content and occasional memes or humour. Build rapport with those posts first, then use the established engagement to promote email sign‑ups.
Yes, asking questions prompts authentic back‑and‑forth, giving you opportunities to reply, present an active brand persona and deepen relationships that can later be nudged toward email sign‑up.
If organic tactics aren’t gaining traction, targeted ads or cross‑promotion are reasonable options. They may require adjusting your marketing budget but can raise brand awareness and help drive email list growth.
Avoid extremes. Monitor audience reactions and peak activity periods, include non‑promotional and topical posts and focus on being relevant rather than just promotional so followers stay interested.
