You post something on your Facebook page, wait for the likes and comments to arrive... and very little happens.

It can be frustrating, particularly when you've spent time taking a good photo or writing a post you thought people would be interested in. The temptation can be to simply post more often. But before filling your page with even more content, try changing what you're posting and how you're encouraging people to interact with it.

Here are five simple things you can try this week. Don't try to change everything at once. Pick a few, test them and keep an eye on what happens.

1. Ask a question that's genuinely easy to answer

If you want people to comment, give them something they can easily respond to. That doesn't mean adding “What do you think?” to the end of every post. Think about questions your particular customers might actually have an opinion about.

A café could ask:

Tea or coffee with breakfast?

A campsite could ask:

What's the one thing you always forget to pack?

A local attraction could ask:

If you had one free day in Norfolk, where would you go?

These aren't difficult questions. Someone can answer without having to think too hard, and that's the point.

Try this:

Create one post this week built around a simple question rather than writing a normal promotional post and adding a question at the end. Make the question the reason for the post. Then reply to the answers you receive. If somebody has taken the time to join the conversation, don't leave them talking to themselves. Even better, ask a follow up question to keep the conversation going.

2. Put some real people into your content

Look back through your recent Facebook posts. How many contain an actual person? Businesses often become very good at photographing things – rooms, products, food, buildings, vehicles, scenery – while forgetting about the people behind them.

Try introducing more of the human side of your business. That could be you, a member of your team, a customer who has agreed to be featured, someone preparing an order, setting something up, serving food or simply getting ready for the day.

It doesn't necessarily need to be a professionally posed photograph. In fact, a natural photograph showing something genuinely happening in your business can often feel much more appropriate on social media.

Try this:

Take one photograph this week with a person in it. Don't overthink it.

Instead of photographing the finished cake, photograph someone putting it on the counter. Instead of only showing the finished holiday accommodation, show someone preparing it for the next guests. Instead of photographing a product sitting on a shelf, show someone holding or using it. If you're running a campsite create a reel of the gardener / wardens preparing the hedges, pitches or hot tubs for the guests.

Give your audience a glimpse of the people behind the business.

3. Turn a customer review into content

If somebody has already written something positive about your business, you've potentially got a piece of social media content sitting there waiting to be used.

With appropriate permission where needed, take a good customer comment or review and turn it into a post. But don't just screenshot the review and upload it. Add some context.

For example:

“This was lovely to read this morning. It's always good to hear that someone enjoyed their stay – particularly when they mention our team. Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review.”

That feels much more personal than simply posting five stars and saying “Another great review!” It also creates something different, away from you telling people how good your own business is. It's a customer doing it for you! Third party stories are much stronger that any story you can tell.

Try this:

Find one recent review that mentions something specific about your business.

Perhaps they mention your customer service, a particular product, the location, a member of staff or something they particularly enjoyed. Use that specific detail as the story behind the post.

And while you're looking through your reviews, check whether you've replied to them. Reviews aren't just something to collect. They're another opportunity to engage with customers.

People don't just look at the reviews, they look to see how they were reponded to, especially the 1 and 2 star reviews.

4. Share something your customer has posted

Your business doesn't have to create every piece of content itself. Customers may already be posting photographs, videos or comments about their experience with you. This is often called user-generated content, or UGC.

With the customer's permission, sharing this type of content can give your Facebook page something that your own promotional photographs can't always provide: the customer's point of view.

Imagine a holiday business. The business can publish beautiful photographs of the accommodation all year, but a guest posting a photograph of their morning coffee outside, their dog enjoying a walk nearby or the sunset they watched during their stay tells a slightly different story.

It's their experience rather than your advertisement.

Try this:

Have a look through recent Facebook posts, mentions and notifications relating to your business. Has a customer shared something you'd be happy to feature?

Ask permission if appropriate, credit them when you share it, and add a few words of your own rather than simply reposting it without context.

You might also start encouraging customers to tag your business in their posts. It gives you more opportunities to find this type of content in future.

5. Check when your audience is actually online

There are plenty of articles telling businesses the best time to post on Facebook. The problem is that their audience isn't necessarily your audience. Your own Facebook data can be much more helpful at telling you when to post.

Take a look through the professional dashboard and Insights available for your page. Look at when your audience appears to be active and compare that with when you've normally been publishing. You don't need to completely rebuild your posting schedule. Just experiment with it.

If you normally publish at 10am, for example, but your audience appears particularly active during the evening, try moving a couple of posts and compare the results.

Try this:

Choose two similar types of post over the next week or two and publish them at different times. Then compare their performance.

Don't look only at likes, look at things such as comments, shares, reach and other interactions available in your Insights.

You're trying to learn when your audience is most receptive, not find a universal magic posting time.

Don't change everything at once

This is probably the most important part of the experiment. If you completely change your content, posting frequency, posting times and style all at once, it becomes difficult to know what actually made the difference.

Instead, treat your Facebook page as something you can continually learn from. This week, try two or three of the ideas above. Then look at your results.

What received more comments?

What reached more people?

Did posts featuring people perform differently from your usual content?

Did changing the posting time make any noticeable difference?

Did customers respond particularly well to one type of content?

You don't need every post to be a success, you're looking for patterns. Once you begin identifying what your own audience responds to, you can do more of it and spend less time creating content they're simply scrolling past.

Your challenge for this week

Choose at least two of these five:

1. Ask one simple question.

2. Publish one photograph featuring a real person.

3. Turn one customer review into a post.

4. Share one piece of customer-generated content.

5. Test a different posting time.

Write down your Facebook engagement and reach before you start, then check again after you've tried them. You might be surprised by which one makes the biggest difference.

To discuss how I can help with this or any other element of your business, just fill in the contact form and I will get in touch with you.