Do you want to stand out in the crowded Facebook newsfeed?

Could your engagement use a bit of a boost?

Are you just ready for something different in your content calendar?

This blog will help you satisfy all of those goals!

You’re going to learn how to ask simple, engaging questions that are irresistible for your audience to answer. We’ve even compiled a list of 52 questions for you to use – one for every week of the year – so you can “set it and forget it” with a guaranteed post every week that will earn comments, inspire nostalgia, and connect your community.

You might be wondering why it matters to get engagement (likes, comments, and shares) on Facebook. Well, the algorithm favors content that engages users. The more your posts inspire people to like, comment, and share, the more likely Facebook will be to show that post – and your other posts – to your followers and their friends.

Every single like, comment, and share matters. Check out this blog for more information about how you can make the Facebook algorithm work for you and your school.

What does it look like to have high engagement? Well, check out this great post from one of the schools that we manage! A simple question caused a big boom in responses. As a result, this page reached over 22,000 people with one post.

Of course, we can’t guarantee this kind of result for your school! But we can definitely help get you more comments. Before we get into the list, it’s important to know HOW you’re going to pose these questions on Facebook.

Here’s what you’re NOT going to do:

• Create branded graphics.
• Write long captions.
• Overthink this strategy.

Instead, you’re going to:

• Identify the questions that would work best for your community.
• Keep your questions to 130 characters or less.
• Schedule these as “text-only” posts, using Facebook’s preset colored backgrounds.
• Let the comments roll in!

Facebook prioritizes these “text-only” posts – with their own colored backgrounds – in the newsfeed. You have 130 characters or less to work with, so brevity is key!

Important notes:

• We’ve tested this with branded backgrounds vs. the Facebook-colored backgrounds and discovered that the latter reaches more people.
• Consider how personal you get with your questions. We’ve seen schools receive pushback on questions like “what was your first car” and “what is the name of your first pet” because those are sometimes password security questions. You’re not forcing anyone to participate and you’re not mining their data for nefarious purposes – so people can just be smart about what they post online!

Here’s how to schedule these easy posts:

Are you ready for the list? Here are 52 engagement questions to use on your school Facebook page!

You’ll see some of the questions are similar in nature, but they are going to earn different responses. When you space these out each week, they won’t seem repetitive!

As you scan through these, note how irresistible they are to answer. You’re probably itching to type out your own answers and memories, aren’t you…

1. My favorite teacher ever was ________________.
2. Who was your kindergarten teacher?
3. Who was your first-grade teacher?
4. Can you name your second-grade teacher?
5. Who was your third-grade teacher?
6. Who was your fourth-grade teacher?
7. Can you name your fifth-grade teacher?
8. Who was your driver’s ed teacher?
9. Can you name your favorite coach?
10. Name your elementary music teacher!
11. Who was your phy ed teacher in elementary school?
12. Name your world language teacher. What did they teach?
13. Who was your favorite high school teacher?
14. Were you a band or choir kid?
15. Who was your bus driver?
16. What was your favorite school lunch?
17. What book was your favorite in middle school?
18. Who was your best friend in first grade?
19. What was the first organized sport/activity that you joined? How old were you when you started?
20. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
21. It’s recess time in elementary school. What are you doing?
22. What was the coolest thing that your school did that others didn’t?
23. What was your favorite field trip?
24. What sports/extracurricular activities were you involved in?
25. What friends are you still in touch with today from high school?
26. What is your favorite season?
27. What instrument did you play in high school?
28. What was your favorite song in middle school?
29. What was your most memorable at-home project for school?
30. What volunteer opportunities have you been involved in?
31. Share your school colors using emojis!
32. You know you are from (Insert town) if…
33. What was cool when you were young, but isn’t cool now?
34. Who made a difference in your life when you were a kid?
35. What would you like to tell your 5th-grade self?
36. What was your favorite game in PE?
37. What was your favorite subject?
38. What was your favorite school club?
39. Did you walk to school or ride the bus?
40. What was your favorite class in high school?
41. What was your favorite birthday treat?
42. What was the favorite thing you learned in high school?
43. What was your favorite homecoming activity?
44. Did you have a trapper keeper back in school?
45. If we looked into your high school locker, what would we see?
46. Drinking fountain or bubbler?
47. What do you call it – Pop or soda?
48. What chores did you help with as a kid?
49. What was your favorite after-school snack?
50. What piece of advice would you like to give to your high school self?
51. What advice would you give to our graduates?
52. Did your school have a senior prank? 

Grab a handy PDF version of this list, right here.

Try posing these questions on your Facebook page and let us know how it goes. We can’t wait to see your engagement soar!