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Most people have at some point become frustrated with the Facebook algorithm, and business owners especially have felt the pinch. Changes made in the last couple of years have made it harder than ever to reach organic users and gain followers. Facebook has restricted the visibility of many posts, particularly those that are marketing products or are clearly promotional in nature, rendering reach virtually nil in some cases. This can be problematic for business users, gaining followers is essential if you want your social posts to reach your intended customers, gain leads, and generate sales.

Here are some ideas that will help you to regenerate audience growth on your Facebook accounts.

Make it factual with data and graphs

You are an expert in your industry, so share your knowledge and educate potential customers about your products or challenges faced by your particular niche. People love figures and statistics so instead of adding the typical image or photo to your post, back up your information by using explanatory graphs and charts. Creating a visual impression of the data you are trying to convey can add much more interest.

Solicit opinions from your followers

Instead of allowing your followers to remain in the background scrolling through your news feed, incite them to participate by asking for opinions. It’s a great way to gain feedback as well as discover interests or concerns that your customers may have. The more polarising the question the more response it will usually generate. A question with a ‘yes/no’ answer will often result in users adding supporting information to their responses that you can learn from or gain revealing insights into customer behaviour and expectations.

Encourage shares by running a contest

Overcome the challenge of reaching a wider audience by getting your existing followers to help. Running a contest or competition can create a buzz around your products or services and sharing the post as a condition of entry can reach thousands of new followers. Your offer will need to be appealing so a free gift of a good discount on your products that can’t be found anywhere else will work well. It will also be helpful to include an ‘enter by’ date to create a sense of urgency.

Build interest by sharing ‘secret’ news

Keeping your followers updated is a fantastic way of retaining users, but reaching new ones may take a bit more effort. Provide teaser posts that hint at a new product or some big upcoming event that your audience will want to know about. People like to think they know more than the next guy, or are privy to top-secret information, so this can be a great way to get people to follow your Facebook pages as curiosity will drive them to want to know more.

Increase engagement by spotlighting staff

Audiences want to know who they are getting just as much as what they are getting. While Facebook is the perfect place for showcasing goods or new releases, using the social platform to feature staff and colleagues can provide your followers with insights into your business. Learning about the things that your individual employees are interested in or passionate about can create an affinity with your business that makes it appealing to followers.

Use videos and stories to generate more interest

Video is being consumed at an alarming rate across social channels, and media shared in this way is already showing that it generates more engagement than standard posts. So use things like short video posts and Facebook stories to make the most of the medium. Share news, make fun videos, and go behind the scenes of your business to give users an in-depth visual of day-to-day operations. Videos that instantly grab attention have a better chance of being shared across your follower’s other social channels, giving you a good chance of attracting new users.

Boost posts strategically to gain followers

Facebook has the option of boosting posts for just a few dollars and the rewards can be worthwhile. Not every post on your Facebook account should be boosted, posts that didn’t get much engagement to start with or are not resonating with your audience will just end up costing you money. But those posts that have generated a lot of activity in terms of likes and followers may be worth boosting. Use built-in analytical tools to identify the posts that are the best performing and consider giving them a boost.

Make ‘how to use’ or hidden features posts

No one knows your product offerings as well as you do, so share your expert knowledge and make user guides or videos that show lesser-known features or tricks to using your goods. This can provide your followers with a ton of useful information and is a way to up sell your products. Introduce secondary products that work well with the original one and show how investing in the add on will benefit your customers. Creating posts like this as part of your social media management strategy can assist your followers and be added to the resources tab of your Facebook pages.

Capitalise on holidays and national days

Almost every day is associated with an event or an occasion. National pizza day, grandparents day, to the usual holidays and celebrations seen on the yearly calendar. You can make use of these days by structuring posts around them and interest in your Facebook feed. Reaching beyond the typical posts about your business can widen your page’s reach, pushing your posts into different markets and interest groups. While this may not gain a huge number of followers it will allow you to expand on your current audience base.