When it comes to Facebook Pages, the Engagement rate is more valuable than the number of Page “Likes”. It’s one thing to “Like” the Page, and it is another thing to interact or engage with the Page. Here is why this matters to business owners.
Engagement Rate – Facebook Pages and Business Owners:
As Facebook Page owners, we need to create as many interactions on our Facebook Page as possible. Whether it comes as comments, post likes or shares, they are all needed to improve the overall Facebook Page reach. Post shares are the best for creating greater visibility; “comments” and “likes” come next. I tell my workshop participants to think of it this way: Facebook shares are worth 5 points. Facebook comments are worth 3 points. Facebook likes are worth 1 point.
Here is a screen shot below of the old metrics before Facebook changed them. The “Talking About This” metric was the number of people engaging on the Page divided by the number of people who has liked the Page. [Talking about = # people engaging/#number of Page likers]
Today Facebook still uses Engagement as one of their main metrics; which they define as “The unique number of people who liked, commented, shared or clicked on your post.” This is still a good metric to use today in understanding how visitors use the material on the Facebook Page.
Engagement Rate – Why is Engagement so important?
Engagement shows us what the visitor is doing on our Page. It tells us what they like and what they do with that material. As a Facebook Page owner, it is important that visitors consume and share your content. When people do this, it will enhance the overall visibility of the Page.
We must remember that our Pages are for our visitors, and not for our businesses. This may sound different, but it is true. We post material that our visitors, a.k. our fans, will like, share and comment on. This will not happen if our Facebook Page is nothing more than business propaganda.
Why is Like so unimportant?
Consider that many people “Like” a Facebook Page and never return or interact with it. As a matter of face, if our visitors Like our Page and then do not interact with it, the Facebook algorithm will tear them from our marketing efforts. We will vanish from their news feeds.
So if we have lots of likes and not further interactions, those likes end up being a waste. Those extra likes may actually hurt us. They can lower our overall engagement rate which can affect our overall visibility.
What is the good news?
When we get interactions, that’s a good sign of a healthy Facebook Page. We have to train people to come and interact with the content that we post. It is as simple as that. As Facebook Page owners, we must teach our Page “Likers” to become better inter-actors. We should focus on creating “Interactions”. When someone comments, we should comment back. When someone likes a post, we should thank them. When they share one of our posts, we should thank them and like what they have shared. These efforts will go well with you.
So we can have great results if we stop chasing likes, and start focusing on building community with our Facebook Page. That’s the good news. Start small and work our way up as well get better at interacting with others. This is how we do it.
Here’s wishing you a great day in business. Please share this to encourage others.
