Last month I wrote a post about how to spot a problem with a Facebook fan page in 3 seconds or less. One of the common follow up questions I got from that post (several via Facebook incidentally) was, "Ok, so I need to do a better job of engagement...but how do I do that?"
That's a great next question. In fact, if you're even asking that question, you're already well on your way because that means you care about actual engagement rather than the mere appearance of social networking involvement. If your organization is having trouble getting its Facebook fan page off the ground, try starting with some of these:
- Break corporate news on your fan page.
- Share behind the scenes photos.
- Interview some of the employees who make your organization great. Tell their story. Share one a week or one a month. You can do this with video, audio, or have them type it out, but keep it relaxed.
- Share a testimonial that doesn't sound like the average testimonial your company gets.
- Talk about an intra-office contest and keep the fans updated as it goes. Include pictures or video if you have them.
- Share links to stories, sites, posts, videos, etc. that the people who follow you would likely want to know as well.
- Pick a side on a hot topic in your industry. Set the rules for the debate: Disagreement is permissible for everyone, but personal attacks and obscenities will not.
- Ask people what they would change about your organization if they could. Brace yourself for this one just in case...and don't get defensive even if it stings a little.
- Ask people what they would never change about your company.
- Give something away. Maybe it's something your company makes. Maybe it's something for the good of the community. Maybe it's the boss's favorite tie. Don't put a lot of strings on the giveaway. Just give it away. Make it fun. Make it random. Make it worth talking about. Make it audacious.
Be sure to note one big thing about the entire above list: they all require a strong dose of human-to-human transparency, informality, and openness that your organization may not be entirely comfortable with. In fact, that may be your biggest hurdle, and if so, that's where you need to get to work. You may not have a Facebook problem as much as a corporate culture problem. If that's the case, begin to make changes to the full extent of your authority and influence. Even small changes that you can influence will lay the groundwork for broader change in the future.
One More Thing: Don't forget that once people actually do start to talk with you on Facebook you always want to respond back to them. The more you close the conversation loop, even for seemingly mundane comments, the more you show yourself worthy of and interested in valuable conversations.