How to spark interaction—and not just ‘likes’—on Facebook

Organizations continue to pour resources into persuading people to “like” their Facebook page, even citing the number of “likes” as a metric.

Likes, however, are worthless if a sizable number of those people don’t return to the page to interact. Most of us have liked a page to access some piece of content and then never returned.

Fan engagement on your organization’s page increases the likelihood that your fans will see your status updates in their news feeds. Commenting, uploading videos and photos, participating in polls, and other interactions count far more than a like in Facebook’s EdgeRank alogirithm. A fan liking your page is your invitation to engage him.

Organizations that understand this employ all kinds of tactics to encourage fan interaction. They introduce contests, solicit answers to questions, ask for feedback on product plans, and offer coupons.

All of these tactics are fine, but they overlook an approach that can produce more sustained, long-term fan interaction on your page: routinely integrating your page into your communication and PR strategies.