According to this article on enhancing facebook engagement by Buffer Social 93% of all adults users online are using Facebook. Want some other motivating statistics on social media?

• 8 out of 10 internet users are reached through social media or blogs
• Marketers saw an increase of 74% in website traffic after devoting just 6 hours per week in social media.
• 87% of small businesses claim that social media has helped their business.

We have put together a list of guidelines you should follow when using facebook as a marketing tool for your business.

1. Get to the point

There is no limit to the amount of characters you can use in your facebook post which can be useful, but also can be harmful. With the tidal wave of text that hit your customers when they open their facebook page they will only be willing to read a status that is 250 characters or less. But you can get up to 66% more engagement with your customers if you cut those characters down to 80 or less. Customers want you to get to the point quickly and concisely. Don’t waste your time writing a long facebook post or theirs making them sift through it to your point.

(For the record you just read double the character count of what your facebook post should be.)

2. Timing is everything

There are an abundance of studies out there proclaiming all the rules of when you should post on your facebook. It’s ok we found all the best rules for your to follow. Engagement rates at 18% higher
 on Thursdays and Fridays because people are busier at the beginning of the week and less motivated to stay focused at the end of the week.

For the best time of day to post range all over the spectrum. There are a steady stream of people viewing business pages during the workday from 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Studies show that the most successful time to rack up those shares and likes are 1 p.m. - 4p.m. any time after dinner to the start of the following workday is not worth your time.

3. Photos are worth a thousand likes

People are lazy. People doesn’t want to have to read everything, we are visual creatures. That being said, photo posts get 120% more engagement than an average post. Individual photos aren’t the only way into your customer's hearts, photo albums get 180% more engagement than an average post. Sadly, posting a simple selfie is not the key to get the engagement you want from your customers. There is a secret to your photo content.

Secret code to your facebook photo posts:

• Maximum 40% of your photo should be covered with text.
• Users prefer to see pictures of retail products without people, making it easier for them to visualize wearing or having an advertised product.
• Casual photos should only have a partial body part in it. For example: someone holding a cup of coffee, but the picture is just the hand holding the coffee.

4. Emoticons :)

Many people think emoticons are only used by teens while texting, well think again. Posts by businesses using emoticons get 33% more comments, 33% more shares and 57% more likes. When a business uses emoticons it humanizes the business making them more relatable to the customer. 

5.Questions

Perhaps the easiest way to boost your customer engagement on Facebook is to ask questions in a post. Posts that include questions get 100% more comments than those without. Question post create dialogue between the business and the customer. Although questions do generate more comments these posts are less likely to be shared or liked than an average post.

Now that you know all the tips that will make your facebook page jump off the screen to your customers. Check out our other article on knowing which social media platform your small business should be using!