8 Actionable Strategies for Increasing Your Comments on Facebook Post
1. Post Open and Closed Questions to Spur Responses.
Asking questions is the most efficient method of engaging someone, be it your blog reader or Facebook follower. Questions trigger the natural human reflex called instinctive elaboration. This reflex forces people to pause and start looking for or formulate an answer.
Getting always-moving Facebook lurkers to stop for a second is half of the deal. Now, it’s up to your question to engage them.
Because every audience is unique to the page it’s attached to, there’s no single recipe for a good engaging question to ask on your Facebook page. That said, keep the following guidelines in mind while you brainstorm, play, and experiment to find the right formula to engage your community.
A good question typically has some of these qualities:
- Open — It promotes an open-ended discussion.
- Timely — It revolves around a current trend or a hot topic.
- Easy — It doesn’t require too much thinking and invites an impulsive or emotional answer.
A bad question tends to have some of these characteristics:
- Loaded — It contains an answer.
- Political — As a brand, you’ll be accused of either taking a side or failing to do so.
- Complicated/philosophical/rhetorical — It requires some research and much thinking.
Asking questions on your Facebook wall will also help you understand your audience better and create buying personas.
2. Use visual content.
Unless it’s a very compelling story or deals with a hot-button issue, a post that includes just text is unlikely to get many reactions. According to a study by NewsWhip, which tracks social media engagement, 86% of the Facebook posts that get the most comments are videos, and 14% are pictures.
3. Timing is Everything.
Afternoons and evenings are the best time to post. In the mornings, when young people are at school and the rest of us are just settling into our workday, we’re less likely to be scanning our Facebook feeds. As the day progresses and the post-lunch fatigue sinks it, people are more likely to start engaging with Facebook. After 5 pm, things really pick up – this is Prime Time on Facebook too!
And don’t forget to post on weekends! Lots of users out there are glued to their screens on the weekends and have plenty of time on their days off to read your posts, respond with comments, share and like. (For this reason, the weekend is an ideal time to post something a little longer…)
4. Ask fill in the Blank Questions.
Another way to make less work for your Facebook fans is to use “fill in the blank” questions. When you ask these, always begin with “Fill in the blank:”. Your fans will be more likely to answer a question if they know what’s expected. And everybody knows how “fill in the blank questions” work.
5. Post Interesting Content that People will Want to Talk About.
NewsWhip found that posts that are controversial, related to top news stories, or involve usual topic tend to get the most comments. Many businesses are wary of getting political on their pages, but there’s always less-volatile local news to post about, like favorite sports teams or regional events.
6. Add Reaction.
You know those situations where you don’t want to reply to comment yet want to acknowledge it? Thankfully, similar to posts, you can add reactions to comments as well. Usually, Facebook supports six emoji reactions but they keep adding new ones for a limited time.
To react to a comment, hover your mouse over the Like button or long-tap the Like button (if you are using the mobile app). Then select the emoji that you want to use.
7. Make a Video or Broadcast Live.
Video posts see even higher engagement than photo posts. Like photography, videography can be simple and inexpensive, and you can get started using your mobile phone. Keep in mind that vertical video gives you the most screen real estate on mobile devices.
Live videos see the highest engagement of all, getting six times more interactions than regular video posts. Can’t think of a reason to go live? Get creative. Mymuesli used a Facebook Live video to promote their muesli advent calendar. They set it up to mimic a live infomercial or shopping Chanel show, with an added dose of humor to suit their brand personality.
8. Get Active in Facebook Groups.
Creating a Facebook group is a great way to get fans involved and engaged. More than 200 million people are members of Facebook groups that they consider to be meaningful. And those meaningful interactions in groups can create brand loyalty and lead to engagement on your Facebook page.
Joining other relevant Facebook groups is also a great way to connect with fellow entrepreneurs and thought leaders in your industry.
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