Facebook has become one of the most effective digital marketing tools for brands both big and small.
But most entrepreneurs just scratch the surface of what Facebook can offer them. Buddy Media have published an awesome guide to using Facebook correctly.
Here are their top ten tips for making sure your brand gets seen in people’s newsfeeds:
1. Ask questions
This is one of the easiest ways of engaging with people on Facebook: ask questions. People love to talk about themselves and offer their thoughts and the more comments and “Likes” you get, the better your post will do.
Keywords such as “where”, “when”, “would and “should” see the highest number of engagement on Facebook. “Would”, in particular, drives spikes in “Likes” due to fans using “Like” as a way of voting “yes” on a question.
2. Post games and trivia
Incorporating games and trivia on Facebook also drives engagement. Facebook users like to show off their knowledge, and trivia is a great way to encourage engagement with your brand.
If you start posting trivia or games on a recurring schedule, your fans will know when to check their news feeds or your wall for the content they want to see.
3. Interact and engage
When people write comments on your posts or wall, you should contribute to the discussion to maintain user engagement. The longer a thread is, the higher it will rank in your fans’ Facebook news feeds.
But beware of engaging with so-called trolls?” do you want to put out the fire, or fan the flames” People love to see how brands interact with consumers, so regardless of whether or not the content posted to the news feed is positive, basic curiosity will draw users to your posts.
4. Incorporate wall sapplets
Instead of just posting items with text, vary the material and incorporate interactive components (known as sapplets).
This could include polls or coupons, which will prompt your fans to engage with your status updates directly in the news feed, beyond standard “Likes” and comments.
5. Incorporate relevant photos
Rather than just telling your fans about your products and services, why not show them
Relevant photos will attract people to your posts people aren’t generally interested in reading through long text updates, but they love immediate content such as photos. Facebook has assigned a higher weight value to photos than to other types of content, so photos will keep you in people’s news feeds.
Why not post images to introduce fans to your company’s employees, or show them how things work behind the scenes” Photos are also a great way to get people excited about new products.
6. Relate to current events
We’re not suggesting you do a Kenneth ColeAnd offend your fans, but as a brand, it’s really important for you to relate your content to current events.
You can post questions or state your stance on pertinent issues (but again, be careful!), as this could encourage fans to engage with you and get a discussion going. Ask people what they think about breaking news, celebrity gossip, sports or other topics this could lead to more traffic.
Research by Buddy Media shows that engagement rates peak for holiday posts, such as Valentine’s Day an St Patrick’s Day so why not wish your fans well during the holidays?
7. Incorporate videos
Everyone loves interactive content and video is one of the best strategies a brand can use to draw attention. Videos can be played within the news feed, so users aren’t redirected away when they start playing a clip.
Be sure to keep your videos short (to keep people’s attention) and set expectations within the text to tell your fans what the clip is all about.
For example, you could use videos to show people how to best use your products/services why not offer them a tutorial?
8. Post content for time-sensitive campaigns
“Deal ends today!”, “Sale on now!”, “Don’t miss out!”.
Facebook is a great platform for publishing time-sensitive content. Timing and relevancy are important to get right if you want to drive traffic.
If you’re working on a long campaign, why not build anticipation for the promo in advance, counting down the days to go” This will encourage people to express their excitement within the news feed and every time someone “Likes” or comments on a piece of content, it will boost your ranking on Facebook’s news feed.
9. Include links within posts
As a tool for sharing and spreading information, Facebook is an obvious place for you to post links.
Encourage people to interact with your brand by posting links that users will find valuable or interesting. This will encourage people to share the link with their friends, spreading your brand and driving engagement.
10. Be explicit in your posts
Not explicit as in XXX content or swearing, explicit by telling people exactly what you want them to do. In many cases, publishing content that you think might generate traffic isn’t always enough to get the results you want. Instead, be explicit and explain to your users exactly what action you want them to take.
For example: “Click here and use our special tool to post to your wall”.
