It’s the question every franchisee and brand marketer has been asking for the last few years, ever since Facebook diminished the reach of page posts to 1 to 4 percent of all page followers: How do I get more people to see my content?

The answer lies with the amount of engagement your posts receive. See, Facebook created an algorithm that shows content to people based on what they’ve engaged with in the past. If you don’t engage with a Facebook page, then Facebook will show content from that page to you less.

And now based on customer feedback, Facebook will be restricting the content shown by pages in people’s News Feeds, focusing on what content received shares.

Us marketers are losing our minds. We’ve worked hard to build our audience and our follower base, so why is Facebook doing this?

Over the past few years, Facebook has seen a decline in original sharing by individuals. Less people are creating unique posts about things happening in their daily lives. And Facebook wants to ensure their userbase stays connected and shares unique, individualized content with them and not their competitors.

We can learn from their decision. In fact, knowing the problem Facebook’s having helps us create better content for our business, our customers, and for Facebook. Win-win-win, right?

Bottom line, we need to create more content that people want to share. Firstly, because Facebook now focuses page posts’ organic reach on the number of shares it receives. And secondly, because when a person shares a post, they can write their own comment about the post before they share it. In a way that gives the page post new life from the perspective of the person, personalizing it to their friends.

Powerful.

So what are some types of posts that can get more shares? Here are a few you can implement at the local level:

6 Ways to Get More Shares on Facebook Posts

1. Local events and celebrations: Think holidays, local fairs and parades, and even the special anniversaries and success stories about your employees. Did one of your interns just graduate from college? Are the owners celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary? Did you have a booth at the July 4 celebration? Post these local, heartwarming stories on your page and focus on the person or event. (Not the time to ask people to share.)

2. Customer stories: With their permission, take a photo of your happy customer and feature them on your Facebook page. If possible, share a part or all of their story on the post. Use this opportunity to feature people who had part of their life change through your service or product, and include others who simply have a positive story to tell.

3. Curated content: It’s easier now than ever to look for similar, popular content that other pages are sharing or that your customers are posting. Take a customer’s photo from Instagram and post it to all your pages linking back to the original poster. Or find an interesting post from another Facebook page and share it on your wall. If you find it shareable, your customers will, too.

[bctt tweet=”Businesses need to post the content people want to share” username=”rallioHQ”]

4. Helpful, relevant articles: Sometimes the most interesting thing in the world is a bit of good, old-fashioned information. Whether it’s a thought piece or breaking news, a perfectly timed article can be a viral hit among your community. Stay aware of current events in and out of your industry, and when you find a piece that’s really powerful, share it with your followers. Or, better yet, figure out what they want and write it yourself.

5. How-to videos: Now, don’t pass this one by because you don’t think it’s relevant to your business. While it would be best to have the how-to video be about a topic customers can apply to their lives (such as tax or insurance tips), people will also share how-to videos that they probably won’t do but are cool, interesting or “mind-blowing.” Look at this video below: Few people are going to make those cookies, but they’re beautiful enough to share.

6. Facebook live: Remember the Chewbacca-mask lady? She originally went live on Facebook before going viral across the world, and all because she shared something a bit ridiculous with her followers. Don’t be afraid to be a bit silly; people are looking for authentic and transparent businesses, so opening up a bit and showing what you’re really like (with or without the Chewbacca mask) can brighten someone’s day.

7. Funny videos: If you have a creative idea — like these dentists who like to post their dubsmash videos to Facebook — then post a few videos and see how people react. Do they comment with a bunch of emojis? Do they tag their friends in the comments (a form of sharing with a few people)? Do you see them sharing on their Facebook pages or on their friends’ pages? Test different videos and see which ones generate the most shares from your customers.

8. Sponsored posts: Artificially creating shares can lead to more organic shares. And Facebook’s made this easy for businesses to do, indicating that if your posts aren’t encouraging organic shares and engagement, then you can pay-to-play with the ones that are. While it’s easy to boost any post, wait until one gets more reactions, likes and shares than the others, and sponsor it to your audience and their friends.

---

How are you working to increase engagement on your Facebook posts? And what posts on your page get the most shares? Let us know in the comments what you’ve seen work and not work for your business.