Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms to date. It is a free, members-only service with millions of members and is an extremely targeted marketing tool. To connect with these individuals you need to ensure your posts are engaging and relevant to your audience. The following tips will help you to create effective Facebook posts:
Tip 1: Include a Call to Action
Ask yourself: What do I want people to do after they have read my post?
The answer could be a variety of things! Do you want them to click the link to your website? Like the post? Tag a friend in the comments? Go to your blog? Attend a conference? No matter what the step is that you want your audience to take, just say it! Facebook users see hundreds of posts and advertisements a day, so don’t leave them wondering what you want them to do. If you aren’t clear, they will keep scrolling!
At the end of every post, try to include a sentence that inspires your audience to act. For example, if you are promoting a new product that you now offer, you could end your post with something like this:
“Check out our brand new ‘insert product’ by clicking the link below.”
Tip 2: Pin Important Posts
If you have shared an important post that is time sensitive, be sure to pin it to the top of your profile. You can do this by clicking on the three dots that appear in the top right-hand corner of your post (see photo below). By pinning the post to the top of your company page, you ensure that more people will see it, and prevent users from having to scroll through your content to find your most important post.
Pinning a post is a great idea if you have a special offer, event or an initiative that you want people to partake in.
Tip 3: Schedule Posts for the Weekend
Sometimes, assigning someone to post to your business page outside of regular work hours isn’t realistic. But did you know that you can schedule posts on Facebook and have them automatically post when you need them to? This is a great feature for businesses that want to keep their audience engaged outside of regular hours. Especially since Saturdays and Sundays between noon and 3pm are high-traffic times for Facebook.
Once you have created your post and added any visual elements (photo, video, etc.) that you want to include, click the arrow next to “Publish” and choose “Schedule.” Then simply choose the date and time that you would like the post to be published.
And voila! Your post will now be shared to your company business page at the time you have selected!
Tip 4: Use Custom Hashtags
Hashtags were created to organize the massive amount of content that is posted to Facebook every day. When you use a hashtag, users are able to easily click on that hashtag and be taken to a newsfeed of content that relates to that particular topic. For example, if you want to talk about the Edmonton Oilers and you want other Facebook users who are interested in (or talking about) the Edmonton Oilers to see your post, you would include the hashtag #EdmontonOilers. Keep hashtags minimal on Facebook, 1-2 per post to maximize engagement.
Tip 5: Aim for the 70-20-10 Rule
The 70-20-10 rule is a common guide that many Social Media Marketers use to determine what kinds of content business pages should be sharing.
What does it mean? Essentially, it states that:
- 70% of your Facebook page content should be original, custom content unique to your business:
- Meet the team
- Products/services you offer
- Events you are attending
- Blog posts
- Special offers, promotions
- 20% of your Facebook page content should be content you share from other respected, trustworthy sources in your field.
- 10% of your Facebook page content should be non-industry specific
- Memes/Jokes
- Cute Photos of Animals
- Local News/Announcements
By adhering to the 70-20-10 rule, you ensure that your page viewers don’t become bombarded by “sales-y” content or lose interest because you aren’t sharing content they can’t find somewhere else.
Of course, your page may not follow the 70-20-10 rule every single week. Sometimes there are important initiatives that you want to promote. But if your page aims to follow the 70-20-10 rule overall, you will see better engagement and more retained followers on your page.
