As you know by now, there's more to maintaining a business Facebook page than setting it up and hanging up a proverbial "Open" sign.
Much like your business itself, you need to interact with the people that visit it in order to make your Facebook page successful and to grow your business. It doesn't take much time and it doesn't have to cost a lot of money (although Facebook would probably prefer that you pay them for it).
Here are some simple, free ways to increase engagement on your Facebook page:
Ask Questions. Questions are a great way to spark dialogue with fans. It is probably the easiest way and one of the best methods to get people to respond to your posts. There are several types you can ask, but steer clear of questions that can be answered with a "yes" or "no." Make sure you reply to the answers and, if you can, offer a gift to the person who answers first --- just make them take a screen grab to show it to you when they come into your shop. Also, remember even though this is your business page, you don't have to ask business-related questions.
Crowd sourcing. Rather than answer a question directly, spin it and pose it to your audience, with a tag line like: What do you think? Has this ever happened to you? Does anybody else know the answer? People like having the opportunity to show off their own knowledge.
About, face! Another good way is to tell your potential customers more about you and the best way to do that is by improving the "About" section on your page. Don't just list the basics of who you are, where you're at and the hours you're open (although those are very important details that, surprisingly, many business owners forget). Include a mission statement, service guarantees, a bit of history about your business or yourself. Better yet, include some nice, smiling pictures of your staff, so customers will already feel like they know you when they come in.
Pin important posts. If you have a piece of content you're particularly proud of --- and we sincerely hope you do --- pin it to the top of the page so it's the first message potential customers see when they visit. You can make them seasonal, too, to coincide with any specials you are running at your shop. Pinned posts stay up as long as you want them to, and it's a snap to swap them out.
All in good time. Experiment with your Facebook analytics to determine the best time to post content. Generally, it is between 5-7 p.m. for more audiences. If you're looking to reach out to busy mothers, you might want to see how a Saturday morning time slot works for your content. Focus on the times bring you the most "likes" and repeat the above suggestions, then.
Frequency. If you're looking to get more engagement, post more content. Stay away from doing it too often, however. We shoot for one a day at a reasonable hour; perhaps you want to reach out twice as often, or post three or four messages on weekends. Make sure to keep track of them and see if the additional posts are gaining you additional engagement --- or just taking up more of your time.
How do you increase engagement on your Facebook page? Let us know in the comments!