If your company or small business is looking for ways to improve your current approach to social media or lacks a social media presence entirely, then Facebook would be an ideal place to start.
If you already manage a brand page, you might be aware of some of the recent changes that have taken place in the Facebook marketing landscape. The biggest of these changes came during Facebook’s F8 Developer Conference this past March where it was announced that all Facebook videos are now embeddable across the web.
In order to create effective and engaging posts, page managers must stay on top of these constant updates to Facebook’s algorithm and user experience.
Engagement vs. Reach
Whether you consider yourself a master of Facebook insights or not, in order to understand the science behind composing an engaging post you have to first understand Facebook’s concept of engagement.
- Engagement Rate: The percentage of people who saw a post that liked, shared, clicked or commented on it.
- Reach: The number of unique people who viewed a Page post.
You can use the insights from your post’s engagement rate and reach to learn more about the types of content that your audience cares about and when your audience is interacting with your page.
A Quick Look at Q1 Analytics (2015)
In an analysis of 5,000 Facebook pages of varying sizes throughout March 2015, Locowise found that the best post format for engagement is currently video, followed by photos in a close second, and links/text updates drawing the lowest engagement rates.
These engagement rates can differ slightly based on the size of your page’s audience, so be open to experimenting with a healthy variety of post formats in order to find out what works best for you. Regardless of the size of your page, keep these three basic tips in mind to compose an engaging update for your brand’s next Facebook post.
3 Ways to Create Engaging Facebook Posts
Upload an image or a video to your post
Posts with visual and graphic elements are more popular and engaging than those without. However, avoid using images covered with lots of text or copy that can be easily communicated from your photo’s text caption. You will not be able to promote posts on Facebook when an image contains more than 20% text. Pictures should be self-explanatory and capable of communicating a message on their own that encourages your followers to click through.
Images that are unique to your business or organization are better than stock photos. You might be surprised what you can achieve with a steady hand and a good cell phone camera.
If you are considering using video content on your page, try to keep it short. Shorter videos are easier for users to digest in their news feeds, especially for mobile users. However, with the recent F8 update to its video platform, Facebook users can now embed their videos across the web.
Ultimately this change will drive engagement, encourage more brands to upload and share videos using Facebook’s native video player, and create some worries for marketers who have traditionally relied on third-party video hosting platforms like YouTube and Vimeo.
Write an eye-catching call to action
Incentivize people to click on your link with an honest and enticing offer, i.e. not click-bait. You can quickly grow your audience and list of subscribers by advertising a coupon or piece of free downloadable content that will help solve one of their problems.
Last fall, we increased the popularity of the Corporate Three Design Facebook page with a contest and giveaway. Crowdsourcing content and offering rewards for participation catches the eyes of the most active users and generates more opportunities for sharing.
Stay timely & relevant
Monitoring and responding to the latest trending topics across various social networks is no different than breaking news. If people are searching for it on the web, it is imperative you become part of the social conversation. However, you must set yourself apart by providing a valuable and original take on an increasingly saturated topic.
Consider the resources needed to perform real-time marketing during elections, sports games, entertainment awards, and other major TV events. While certainly challenging, this kind of marketing is made possible today with the help of social media trend monitoring and automation tools.
Looking for new ways to connect with your audience online? Improve your brand’s reach on social media to increase site traffic and grow your business!