With over 1 billion users, Facebook has the potential to significantly increase brand awareness and deliver targeted traffic to your website.

If you’ve done Facebook marketing for any length of time then you know there’s a big difference between a regular post… and an irresistible post that attracts tons of likes, shares, and comments.

That explains why one company can post on Facebook and fail to achieve anything, while another company can experience more success than it ever has posting on Facebook.

If your Facebook posts have fallen flat then you’re not alone.

When it comes to using Facebook for business, many people wonder what the secret for success is.

While there is no absolute way of creating a perfect post, there are some guidelines you can follow to make your posts more successful:

Have a Clearly Defined Goal For Your Post

It will be much more effective if your post has a specific objective. Before you create your next Facebook post, ask yourself, “What am I looking to accomplish with this post?”

• Do you want Facebook users to visit your website?
• Do you want them to spread the word and share your content?
• Do you want to encourage comments that build community?

By having a clearly defined goal it will help you create Facebook posts that have purpose, rather than just posting random things and hoping for the best.

Be Engaging and Interactive

A successful Facebook post engages your audience and motivates them to interact with you. There are several ways you can engage Facebook users and here are the most common ones:

• Asking Questions
• Using Photos
• Using Videos
• Sharing Compelling Links
• Irresistible Giveaways
• Offering Coupons/Discounts

Simply asking a question can elicit engagement towards your post. But there’s a way to be more effective. By combining engagement tactics its possible to increase the amount of engagement your receive. For example, you can post a question combined with a relevant photo and link.

Keep in mind the goal of engagement on Facebook is to build a community and create an interactive outlet of trust and sharing.

Image Credit: Wishpond

Post Interesting Photos, Videos and Links

Posts with photos, videos, or links are far superior and more successful than just text–only posts. In fact, photos and videos drive the most engagement in terms of likes, shares, and comments. Here are some tips to keep in mind when using photos, videos and links in your posts:

• Photos with a relevant link perform better than just a photo alone, so try to add a link when possible. If your goal is to drive traffic by getting people to click on your link, then use a link only post. Facebook will automatically place the link’s meta information such as title, description, and photo (if there’s one associated with the linked content) in the post.

• If you’re going to post a video, don’t post a YouTube video. It’s more effective to directly upload a video to Facebook. Most people would think that shouldn’t matter but studies show that videos from YouTube receive a fraction of likes, shares, and comments that a direct upload receives.

• If you plan on just posting a photo and you have an Instagram account, then post your photo on Facebook through Instagram. Facebook integrates nicely with Instagram, and studies revealed that photos posted on Facebook through Instagram receive 23% more likes, shares, and comments than photos uploaded directly to Facebook.

Keep it Concise and Use Compelling Text

The more concise your post text, the more effective it will be. Posts with fewer characters (ranging from 40-70 characters) have been proven to get more likes, shares, and comments. In fact, the amount of engagement you receive goes down as the number of characters in a post increases.

This also means your text needs to be compelling enough to elicit engagement, since you’re keeping the message short. A compelling message is one that will likely catch your audience’s attention and influence them to read further.

The bottom line is to make your post text as short and compelling as possible. Leave any detailed explanations in the content that you link to instead.

Image Credit: Hubspot

Every Post Shouldn’t Be Promotional

Even though you’re using Facebook to grow your business, it will be a turn off to Facebook users if you’re only posting advertisements. You need to have a good balance between posting promotional content and offering value–added content.

Value–added content is relevant information that your target audience would find useful or interesting and help develop your community. People appreciate it when you share what you know, especially without asking for anything in return. Occasional humor is fine as long as it’s appropriate for your target audience.

Your posting strategy should be a 70/30 mix of value-added content and promotional content. When you have a good balance Facebook users will appreciate the value you bring to their lives and be more interested in your promotional content.

Image Credit: Unbounce

Know the Best Day and Time to Post

The amount of likes, shares and comments you receive vary depending on the day and time you post. The thing to think about is competition, not just from other businesses, but also from a Facebook user’s friends, family, groups, and other entities they’re following. Facebook can only show so many posts in a user’s feed. If lots of people and businesses are posting at the same time, your post is less likely to be seen.

Most people would think that posting during the day (peak times) would get the best results. After analyzing 1 billion (yes, that’s right, a billion) Facebook posts, BuzzSumo found that posting between 7PM and 11PM gets the most engagement from Facebook users.  Less posts are being made during this time, giving your post more exposure and opportunity for people to like, share, and comment.

BuzzSumo also found that posting on the weekend receives a significantly higher amount of engagement compared to posting on the weekdays. Sunday has the most engagement followed by Saturday. If you have a very important post (for example, links to your website or product announcements), be sure to post on the weekends so as many people as possible can see it.

With that being said, every business is different because of target audience preferences. The best way to discover the optimal time to post for your business is to test with different days and times. By tracking the metrics you can see which day and time attracts the most engagement for your posts.

Stir Things Up Being Provocative or Inspirational

Posts that stir up emotions or touch on strong viewpoints can generate a good response. However, be careful not to alienate your Facebook audience. Make sure you have a great understanding of your target audience before posting something that could be too controversial. The goal of using this tactic is to elicit a strong emotional response that motivates people to like, share, and comment.

Inspirational memes and quotes that your Facebook audience can identify with help create a strong connection for your brand. Photos with inspirational thoughts typed into the image (aka memes) are very effective way of getting shares.

Image Credit: BufferApp

Conclusion

Keep in mind there is no absolute way of creating a perfect post, but by following these guidelines you’ll be well on your way to creating winning Facebook posts. Remember to test, analyze, and optimize your post so you can drive more engagement and make a bigger impact for your Facebook marketing.

When you’re ready, you can come back here and share your Facebook marketing experience. 🙂

Do you know any other Facebook strategies? Or do you have a question about Facebook posts? If so, share comments and questions below.

Does your business need help with social media marketing? We can help. Contact Belo Media Group to get started today.