By Jonathan Howe

So I had a lunch meeting with Chris Martin yesterday. For those of you who don’t know Chris, he’s one of our social media geniuses at LifeWay and the brains behind LifeWaySocial.com. And while I consider myself well versed in social media, Chris is always showing me something new and helpful. Yesterday was no exception.

Chris pointed out a free Facebook trick that can boost your page likes, user engagement, and blog traffic in just a few clicks. I was blown away. I’ve been managing Facebook pages for nearly a decade and had never seen what Chris showed me. So we put out heads together and came up with six more Facebook hacks you can use to boost engagement for your church or personal page—and only one of them is a paid service.

1. Invite those who like your content to like your page. This is the easiest free way to boost your Facebook page engagement. Simply click on the link where it says that people like a post and a screen will pop up. Then click on “Invite” next to anyone who liked your post but does not yet like your page.
2. Do more Facebook Live broadcasts. Facebook’s algorithm rewards you for using their platform and keeping users engaged on their site. Facebook Live is the easiest way to do this. The more people watch your videos, the more likely they are to see your other content.
3. Boost content. This is the only hack that will cost you anything. But it doesn’t have to cost much. I spoke with several churches that have switched from printed advertising to Facebook boosts and seen dramatic improvements. I’m not talking 10-20% improvement. I’m talking 500% or more. Facebook advertising and boosted posts work. There’s no other way to say it.
4. Use high quality images. When you post content online, your images don’t just stay on your website. They travel around social sites when people link to the content. So it’s important to use good images of proper sizes if you want to see better engagement of your content.
5. Engage with those who comment on your posts. If someone comments on a Facebook post, respond to him or her if possible. If they ask a question, answer it. If people come to your Facebook page and see no engagement, it doesn’t exactly fill them with confidence.
6. Turn on messages and monitor them. Some pages don’t need messages enabled, but most do. And your church Facebook page is one of them that do. Even with the information on your page and your website, people will have questions about service times or something else. And it’s good for them to be able to ask those questions and get a timely response on Facebook.
7. Turn off reviews. Some may disagree with me, but I don’t see the need for reviews on a church page. A restaurant or business? Sure. But church reviews only seem to open your church up to unfair complaints or comments from disgruntled former members.

These seven Facebook tips won’t skyrocket your engagement overnight, but when combined with sensible content and time, you will see a dramatic boost in your results on Facebook. Finally, be sure to check out LifeWaySocial.com and Chris’ weekly social media newsletter. I guarantee you’ll learn something all the time. I sure do.