Increase Facebook Shares With These 8 Tips

Saying that competition for customer’s attention is tough on Facebook is an understatement. With over 1 billion users, 50 million small business pages, and 2.5 million advertisers, it’s hard to stand out on this leading social network. Hard, but not impossible. We’ve put together a few tips for how you can improve your content and increase social shares.

1. Use Videos and Images When Appropriate

Using eye-catching additions to your posts like videos and pictures is a great way to increase engagement and social shares. And for good reason! Videos and pictures grab our attention and convey information more quickly and vividly than text can.

2. Give Them an Incentive

Free is a powerful tool in social media marketing. Try giving people a concrete reason to share one of your posts by offering them something of value in exchange for social shares. You might be surprised by the results!

3. Spark an Emotional Reaction in People

Engaging. Compelling. Surprising. Unbelievable. Hilarious. These are the types of social media posts that make people want to share them with their friends. If you’ve posted one too many bland posts in a row, this may be why you aren’t seeing a lot of social shares.

4. Involve Your Customers and Fans

One great way to encourage Facebook shares is to post content related to individual customers. If you publish case studies, for example, share those to social media and tag the subject of the case studies on Facebook. The other party will see this and will be more likely to share the post with their followers.

5. Write Longer Posts

If you want people to share a blog post after reading it, make your posts longer. Neil Patel of Quick Sprout, citing outside research and his own observations, notes that blog posts with 1,500 words or more are some of the most popular. If you write list posts, it’s simple to add a few more list items to a post to bring it up to this target word count.

6. Have a Little Fun!

Research from Fractl, a content marketing agency, found that the most popular reason for sharing content on Facebook was that people wanted to entertain their friends. Is your content entertaining? Be honest. If the answer is no, you’ve got to do an overhaul in this area ASAP.

7. Why Should They Care?

The second most popular reason people share Facebook content, according to the same research from Fractl, noted above, was to express emotions and share things they cared about. Many businesses these days highlight their social responsibility and the difference they make in people’s lives. Consider how your business makes a difference and find a way to turn this into engaging content.

8. Reach Out to Influencers

When you’ve tried all the tactics above and you’re successfully creating amazing, exceptional, innovative content and interacting with your fans, take it a step further and ask for a share. Don’t just ask anyone and don’t just ask your friends and family. Reach out to key influencers in your field with a polite, personalized message acknowledging their expertise, expressing your respect for them, and asking that they share your content. It may surprise you how many people oblige this request!

Social media marketing is a constant struggle. In addition to keeping up with the changing algorithms and advertising options from the platform itself, you have to navigate the tricky science of giving people the content they want while still linking all of your work back to key business objectives and staying on top of time and cost. It might seem downright impossible, but these tips can help you set yourself apart from the crowds and get more Facebook shares and visibility.