By Noelle Graf
Content may be king, but when it comes to Facebook, engagement rules.
Engagement with your brand’s Facebook posts not only reflects your brand’s ability to capture attention but it also plays a large role in Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm, which determines how many people actually see your posts.
As the largest social network, with 2.5 billion users worldwide, Facebook is a social network designed for engagement. When users engage with reactions, comments and shares, their actions are visible in their timeline. This signals awareness to their friends that your brand may worth checking out.
There are three main types of Facebook engagement:
Likes and other reactions indicate how well your content resonates with people.
Comments provide an opportunity for people to express how they feel about your content, products or overall brand.
Shares amplify your reach and allow others who may not follow your page to see your Facebook page content.
How do you get people to engage with your Facebook posts? It’s a question worth finding an answer. According to BroadbandSearch, Facebook reaches approximately 97% of people between the ages of 18 and 34. And each of those people spend more than 1,000 minutes per month. Perhaps more striking, 74% of people in the U.S. used Facebook on a daily basis in 2019.
Creating engaging Facebook content is clearly important to reach a big percentage of consumers and drive brand awareness and sales.
But solving the Facebook engagement mystery has been a struggle for many brands, as the social media channel’s algorithm becomes better refined and more and more content is competing for attention. For most brands, posting five times a week on average is ideal—with the right mix of content.
BuzzSumo recently analyzed more than 800 million posts, and shared these tips for creating highly likeable and shareable content to help achieve better Facebook engagement:
Questions, images and video are more engaging than all other post types.
Videos are the content most likely to be shared on Facebook.
Short posts (less than 50 characters) are more engaging than long posts (especially true when accompanied by visual content).
People will engage with links to content outside of Facebook if the link is to a longer (more informative) article.
Post during off-peak times. Post engagement is higher when there is a lower volume of public posts in the news feed. (Less content to weed through means more time for engagement with your brand).
Sunday is the best day of the week for engagement. (Other sources indicate that engagement is 18% higher on Thursdays and Fridays than other weekdays.)
Native photos and video posted directly to Facebook (rather than linked via Instagram or YouTube) receive higher engagement.
Key to any Facebook marketing strategy is to offer value by creating content that is useful, informative, entertaining and relevant to your brand. When necessary, include calls to action to help direct your audience to take the next step toward your goal. Most importantly, be sure your Facebook strategy is fully integrated to your overall marketing plan.
With Facebook still dominating the social media sphere, it makes sense for brands to maintain an active and engaging presence. Give us a call to find out how FORTHGEAR can help.
