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<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nThis post is based on <\/span>episode 183<\/a><\/span>\u00a0of the ProBlogger podcast.<\/span><\/p>\n Do readers engage with your Facebook page?<\/p>\n A lot of people spend time on Facebook. And as bloggers, it makes sense that we want to reach them.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, it\u2019s increasingly difficult to grow your audience using Facebook \u2013 especially if you don\u2019t have the budget to boost posts or advertise.<\/p>\n But you can still use Facebook effectively without spending any money.<\/p>\n One thing that helps a lot is to build engagement with your existing followers. This will prompt Facebook to show your posts more widely.<\/p>\n As well as signalling to Facebook that people like what you\u2019re posting (and that it should show your posts to more of your followers), high levels of engagement also mean:<\/p>\n You can get several different types of engagement, including:<\/p>\n The one I like best is the comment. When readers leave comments, it gives you an opportunity to learn more about them. They\u2019re not just going for the easy option of clicking \u201clike\u201d. They\u2019re putting themselves out there and responding to your post.<\/p>\n This post is all about getting more comments on your Facebook page. And the most effective way I\u2019ve found to do that (and not just on Facebook, but also on blog posts and any kind of social media) is to ask questions.<\/span><\/p>\n That sounds obvious, right? But I\u2019m amazed how many of the pages I follow never <\/span>ask questions. They never take the opportunity to get me commenting and engaging with them.<\/p>\n If you want to grow an audience of people who feel like they know, like and trust you, then you need to ask questions. But not just any questions. You need to ask the right types of questions.<\/p>\n This is a really easy (and often very effective) type of question to ask. Here\u2019s a question I asked on the Digital Photography School Facebook page:<\/p>\n The lens attached to my main camera right now is _______.<\/span><\/p>\n For a blog such as ProBlogger I might ask:<\/p>\n My first blogging platform was __________.<\/span><\/p>\n And for a food blog you might ask something like:<\/p>\n The word that describes my approach to diet is ____________.<\/span><\/p>\n or<\/p>\n My favourite comfort food is _______________.<\/span><\/p>\n The beauty of this type of question is that it\u2019s incredibly simple for someone to answer. They just have to leave one word.<\/p>\n Asking a \u201cfill in the blank\u201d question is often a good way to get someone to leave their first comment \u2013 especially if they\u2019ve been following your page for a while without commenting.<\/p>\n With this type of question, you get your followers to choose one of two options. It might be something like \u201cAre you a cat or a dog person?\u201d<\/p>\n On Digital Photography School we might ask, \u201cDo you prefer Nikon or Canon?\u201d or \u201cDo you post-process your photos or not?\u201d<\/p>\n You can also use this for a yes\/no question such as, \u201cDo you exercise daily? Yes or no\u201d.<\/p>\n Be careful if your question is likely to spark a lively debate. We don\u2019t ask about Nikon vs Canon too often because it can end up getting a bit negative. (Some people have very strong views about the brand they prefer.)<\/p>\n This is a technique one of my online friends Samantha Jockel from School Mum<\/a><\/span>\u00a0uses. She\u2019ll write a post like this:<\/p>\n These questions (which always start with \u201cA School Mum asks\u201d) are sometimes funny, sometimes start debates, and sometimes offer a way in to more controversial topics. And they often get a lot of comments.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t have any questions from readers, you might be able to create some by digging into:<\/p>\n While asking your readers to share their biggest problems, challenges, obstacles or even fears might seem a bit negative, you\u2019ll be surprised what comes out in the discussion.<\/p>\n You can ask fairly specific things. For instance, on a parenting page there might be questions such as:<\/p>\n These types of questions help you understand who\u2019s following your page. They can also inform future pieces of content for your blog.<\/p>\n You may also find people mentioning problems you\u2019ve written about in the past. You can reply to them and say, \u201cHere\u2019s an article with some tips on how to overcome that challenge\u201d, and drive people back to your archives.<\/p>\n This is the flipside of #4. Ask people about their dreams and aspirations. It helps you understand not only what your readers are going through right now, but also what they want to do or become.<\/p>\n Again, you can use readers\u2019 responses to create content that helps them move toward the dreams they have.<\/p>\n People love to talk about their dreams, ambitions and hopes for their future. So this type of question often gets a lot of comments.<\/p>\n Although people are coming to your Facebook page to learn from you, the reality is that in any community there\u2019s a lot of collective wisdom.<\/p>\n With this type of question you can say, \u201cI want to hear from you today with your tips\u201d about a particular area.<\/p>\n You may not get as many responses to this type of question as you would to a \u201cfill in the blanks\u201d question. But the responses will be deeper, longer, and more useful. They\u2019ll be valuable both to you and your other readers.<\/p>\n And if you get permission from those who comment (which you can do by mentioning you plan on using some responses in a future blog post), you can also turn these answers into content for your blog. Just make sure you give credit to the people who left those comments.<\/p>\n While\u00a0this won\u2019t work for every type of site, asking readers to share a photo (or video) can be relevant to many Facebook pages.<\/p>\n We do this a lot on Digital Photography School, where we might ask people to upload their best portrait or landscape from the previous month. The result? A long list of photos, with many people not even leaving a comment.<\/p>\n This could work on many other types of blogs. Here are some I\u2019ve seen.<\/p>\n Again, you may not get as many comments as you would with other types of questions. But you\u2019ll likely get some really interesting ones.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll find this type of question used in a lot of Facebook groups, where they ask things like, \u201cWhat\u2019s your biggest goal of the week?\u201d <\/span>or\u00a0\u201cWhat do you want to achieve this week?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n This can be a great way to get engagement because it gives you the opportunity to respond to readers later in the week.<\/p>\n I left a comment on a post like this on a Monday. On the Friday the blogger left a reply to every single comment that mentioned a goal, asking, \u201cHow did you go with\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n I hadn\u2019t completed my goal. But I got it done about ten minutes after he left that comment. I was really grateful that blogger took the time to keep me accountable. And I know I\u2019ll be going back to that page.<\/p>\n If your page involves people trying to build a habit, learn something or become something, you could ask this type of question and then come back to encourage them and help build some accountability.<\/p>\n When you share a link to a blog post you\u2019ve written, you can add a question. This can encourage readers to read your post as well as comment.<\/p>\n For instance, one post I shared a while back on Digital Photography School was The 19 Most Popular Compact System and Mirrorless Cameras With Our Readers<\/span>.<\/p>\n As well as posting the link to Facebook (which automatically pulled in the title and image from the post), I added a question: \u201cDo you use one of these popular compact camera systems?\u201d<\/p>\n My goal was to get people reading that blog post. But I also got lots of people answering the question. We don\u2019t normally get many comments on our links to blog posts, but in this case 23 people answered the question. That particular Facebook post also had a higher-than-average reach.<\/p>\n Hopefully you\u2019ve already tried some of these types of questions on your Facebook page. The key is to get into the habit of asking questions regularly, and mixing up the types of questions you use.<\/p>\n Finally, here are some things to keep in mind when asking questions on your Facebook page:<\/p>\n Make sure your questions relate to your topic. Occasional off-topic questions can help build engagement, but don\u2019t do it too regularly or readers may feel your page topic is getting lost.<\/p>\n Using an image helps your question stand out in people\u2019s newsfeeds. It could be a plain image, or an image that includes the question text. Spending a minute or two doing this can really boost engagement.<\/p>\n Facebook Lives get more reach than other types of post. So you may want to go on Facebook live and ask your readers a question. Once your live video is over, it will appear in people\u2019s Facebook feeds as a replay.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t ask questions at the wrong time of day. The other day a question popped into my mind, and I shared it at 3.30pm Australian time. That\u2019s the middle of the night in America (where most of my audience is), and my Aussie audience is picking up their kids from school or about to go home from work. Not many of my readers are online at that time of day.<\/p>\n Mix up the types of post that you publish. Share links, videos, pictures, and so on as well as questions. Facebook seems to prefer this, and it\u2019s likely to be better for reader engagement too.<\/p>\n If people answer your question, it\u2019s really nice if they get a response from you. They\u2019ve taken the time to respond to you, so take some time to respond to them. That doesn\u2019t always need to be with a comment. You might use a \u201clike\u201d or other response, particularly if they left a \u201cyes\u201d\/\u201cno\u201d or single-word comment.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t be too open ended with your questions. You\u2019re likely to get much better responses if your questions are fairly focused. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to comment, and if your questions are too open ended they may not know how to respond.<\/p>\n I hope this helps you come up with lots of ideas for questions you could ask on your Facebook page to build engagement. Of course, you don\u2019t have to limit your use of questions to Facebook pages. You can use them in Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, on Twitter, or even on your blog.<\/p>\n Seen people using any other types of questions on Facebook or other social media? Let us know about them in the comments.<\/p>\n Image credit: Camylla Battani<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Why Engagement Matters So Much \u2013 And What it Looks Like<\/h2>\n
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Nine Types of Question You Can Ask On Your Facebook Page<\/h2>\n
#1: \u201cFill in the Blank\u201d Question<\/h3>\n
#2: \u201cThis vs That\u201d Question<\/h3>\n
#3: Question from a Reader<\/h3>\n
![\"School](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/problogger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/school-mum-question.jpg?resize=516%2C303&ssl=1\")
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#4: \u201cBiggest Problems\u201d Question<\/h3>\n
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#5: \u201cDreams\u201d Question<\/h3>\n
#6: \u201cTips\u201d Question<\/h3>\n
#7: \u201cShare a Photo\u201d Question<\/h3>\n
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#8: \u201cAccountability\u201d Question<\/h3>\n
#9: Question About a Blog Post<\/h3>\n
Final Tips for Using Questions on Your Facebook Page<\/h2>\n
#1: Stay On Topic<\/h3>\n
#2: Consider Using an Image<\/h3>\n
#3: Consider Using Facebook Live<\/h3>\n
#4: Time Your Questions Appropriately<\/h3>\n
#5: Don\u2019t Ask Too Many Questions<\/h3>\n
#6: Be as Responsive As You Can<\/h3>\n
#7: Be Quite Specific With Your Questions<\/h3>\n