“If you were a booger, I’d pick you first.”

We’ve all struck out with a cheesy pick up line. Breaking the ice can be tough.

Read more to learn how to master engagement and turn your neglected Fan Page into a relationship marketing poster-child with these 8 sure-fire updates…

How your page can get more comments on Facebook right now:

Building a business-to-consumer relationship is vital to the success of your Facebook Fan Page.  Your approach to engagement should be genuine and transparent, but most importantly – simple.

Give your fans the tools they need to be the talkers and all you’ll have to do is respond to get the conversation started. The easiest way to break the ice is by asking  short questions with a closed-response (avoid essay prompts). Combine these with valuable multimedia content and prepare for engagement lift-off.

1. Yes or No: You engage your online community.

No you say? Try asking a simple yes or no question. Getting a yes or no response is just as good as getting a 7 paragraph response. They are both opportunities for you to engage with your community and get feedback.

Try these on your facebook fan page:

• Yes or no, are you looking forward to the weekend?
• Yes or no, are you following the presidential race?
• Yes or no, are we sharing the right kind of content with you?
• Yes or no, have you been to our store before?
• Yes or no, do you have your own website?

2. Get greedy – if you want something, well darn it, ask for it!

Give these a go on your page:

• Click “Like” if you wish you were reading right now
• “Like” this if you read the morning Newspaper
• Click “Like” if remember your sweet 16
• Click “Like” if you are looking for [insert niche] consulting help
• “Like” this if you’ve checked out our new products

3. Play trivia with your fans.

Respond to comments and you will be shocked at what you find out about them. Make ’em dig for answers. Think up some questions not even your employees could answer and make the answers available somewhere on the Facebook Fan Page or website to drive traffic.

Try to customize trivia for your fan page topic. Here are some which should work on any page:

• How well do you know us? What year did we start doing business?
• TRIVIA: How many fortune 500 companies have we worked with?
• How much time do you think it took us to build our fan page?

4.  Fill in the blank updates always blows insights off the charts.

Add these to your arsenal to become armed with every Fan’s unique opinions.

• If I could be anywhere right now, I would go to ________
• I enjoy [company name] because _________
• I need ________ cups of coffee to function in the morning
• My favorite song is _________ by _________
• Our company has _______ employees

5.  Pictures are worth 1,000 words. And Facebook  interactions.

6.  Anyone else hate multiple choice tests?

7.  Links are the most shared content on Facebook.

8.  Have fun and relax!

You may find that some of these updates are just small talk. They are. That’s how you start every relationship though (even in the non-virtual world), with a cheesy pick up line that sparks the conversation.

As an admin, you get to guide that conversation, so all you really need is a launching pad!

The underlying theme is to just get people talking and facilitate conversation via your open-ended responses. Respond to every comment and ask questions to find out more about your Fans.

The most important element of engagement is the human factor. Don’t be afraid to add your own flavor to spice up your content a little more!

Stay positive, be honest and the rest will come naturally.

Your turn

What kind of updates work best to get more comments?  Let us know in a comment below.

Meet Jim Risner