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I’ve spent the past few weeks buried in research for a paper on corporate‑branded Facebook posts—because nothing says “living the dream” like comparing engagement rates on product launches versus cat memes. And let me tell you: the data is about as subtle as a kookaburra stealing your lunch.
Corporate‑branded posts? Slick, polished, expensive… and often about as engaging as a PowerPoint presentation on the history of staplers.
Non‑branded posts? User‑generated chaos, influencer selfies, and the occasional blurry photo of someone’s dog? Absolutely crushing it.
According to Adobe’s guide to social media engagement rates, Facebook audiences reward authenticity, not production value. In other words: people want real, not “corporate trying to be relatable” real. Paid reach can get your branded content seen, but genuine engagement? That’s where the unpolished stuff wins every time. And this is where government agencies start sweating.
The Government’s One‑Way Megaphone Problem
A 2021 article by Atkinson, Kim and Lee points out something we all secretly know: government Facebook pages often communicate like it’s still 1998. Lots of announcements. Lots of “We are informing you of this important thing.” Very little “Hey, what do you think?” or “Tell us your story!” or even “React with a 😡 if you’re mildly annoyed by this.”
It’s basically a one‑way broadcast. A digital town crier. Without the bell.
And unsurprisingly… engagement is tanking.
The “400 Engagements” Story (AKA: The Moment the Room Went Quiet)
A colleague recently told me—glowing with pride—that their latest campaign had achieved 400 engagements. Likes, shares, comments. The whole buffet. Compared to their usual 20‑ish engagements, this was a triumph. A victory. A social media renaissance.
Until we did the math.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Victoria’s population in 2016: 5.8 million Adults aged 18–65: 3.8 million Their Facebook page likes: 50,000 (a mighty 1.45% of their potential audience)
Assuming every engagement came from a unique person (which is generous—some people really love that Like button), their engagement rate with the actual target audience was:
0.005%
That’s not a typo. That’s a rounding error with feelings.
Even among their own followers, engagement was only 0.36%.
Suddenly, 400 didn’t feel quite so… triumphant.
I detect a problem here!
So Does Engagement Actually Matter?
Yes. Absolutely. Unequivocally. Because engagement is the magic key that unlocks reach.
Low engagement tells Facebook’s algorithm, “Hey, don’t worry about this post. No one cares.” And Facebook, being the helpful little gremlin it is, responds by showing your content to fewer and fewer people.
Low engagement → low reach → low visibility → low awareness → low impact → low everything.
If you’re out of sight, you’re out of mind. And if you’re out of mind, your brand awareness strategy is basically a decorative houseplant: nice to look at, but not doing much. The Good News: This Is Fixable (And No, It Doesn’t Require TikTok Dances)
Government social media doesn’t have to be a digital ghost town. There are simple, human, effective ways to turn things around:
- Stop broadcasting. Start talking. Jump into the comments. Answer questions. Be human. Be warm. Be funny—appropriately funny, not “accidentally on the front page of the Herald Sun” funny. - Ask for engagement. End posts with a question. Use reaction polls. Give people a reason to click something. - Dial down the branding. People engage with people, not logos. - Join the conversation instead of trying to dominate it. - Tell stories. Humans are wired for narrative, not bullet points. - Use user‑submitted content. Nothing beats real people doing real things. - Start an employee advocacy program. Seriously. This one is huge. - Leverage partner agencies and networks. Sharing is caring—and algorithmically powerful. - Have the uncomfortable conversation. Stop celebrating underperforming posts as “best practice.” Acknowledge the problem so you can actually fix it.