Tips and Tricks to Become a Ferocious Facebook Fireball
April 10th, 2012 by
The end of February brought another successful and informative Search Marketing Expo West, where yours truly triumphantly (and successfully, if I may brag) returned to present on another mobile panel. The presentation was so nice, I was named twice. Enough about that, as this post isn’t about me (sad, right?). If you want to read a bit about it, check out this blog from Erica Sendros and our best buds at aimClear. We also had a newb in our midst, with Joseph Henson making his SMX debut. This isn’t about him either, but Kathy Long and our other favorite friends at Bruce Clay Inc. wrote this cool post about it.
“So if this isn’t about you, what the hell are you on about?” you might ask. Well, you won’t be taking that tone once you walk (click) away from this blog with some awesome Facebook tips and tricks, thanks to me and only me. Actually, you can thank our feminine friend Tami Dalley (Geez, how many friends do we have? Most importantly, how many times can I alliterate when mentioning mates?) from Buddy Media, for presenting this amazing information at SMX. If you apply this not-so-inside information to your business’s Facebook page, your posts will receive greater likes and comments and you’ll be a ferocious foe (last time, I promise) to your competitors.
The most important thing is to keep it brief. Posts that clocked in at under 80 characters had a 30% higher rate of engagement than those with more. This rule is especially true for photos and videos. Photos should stick to the <80 character rule, while video descriptions should have less than 40. As we say at Search Influence, “Hemingway sentences, not Faulkner.” Another way to put it is, “Brevity is your Bosom Buddy” (I can quit when I want!).
If you only post once or twice a week, be sure to do so on Thursdays and Fridays. On average, fans are 18% more likely to engage on these days than others. Surprisingly, Thursday receives the most, with Friday right behind it. This is not a hard and fast rule, though. You should monitor your own fan engagement and do what works best for you.
When considering what type of content to post, photos are the way to go. They easily receive the most likes and comments, with plain status updates and videos trailing behind. Links and events have the worst rate of interaction. They can have the tendency to peeve your pals (nailed it), so use these sparingly.
Include clear calls to action in your posts, but the language used is important. Words such as “like,” “post,” and “take” are much more likely to receive engagement than “order,” “see,” and “become a fan.” Likewise, ask for the sell, but do it softly. “Event,” “winner,” and “offer” are better received than “save,” “free shipping,” and “sale.”
Lastly, posts that ask questions are a great way to spur comments and interaction on your page. When asking, place the question at the end of your post as opposed to the beginning. Posts framed in this manner are 15% more likely to be answered. The theory is that if you ask at the start, you’ve lost their interest by the time they get to the end. Fans can be a lazy lot (maybe I have a problem). As with the above, the way in which they’re asked matters. Use words such as “where,” “when,” “would,” and “should” and avoid using “why,” “did,” “what,” and “who.” Fill-in-the-blank posts are fan fodder, with a comment rate nine times higher than the average.
The study has even more information than what is provided in this post, and I’m going to make you work for the rest, which can be viewed on the Buddy Media site. You can’t have everything handed to you, my cordial comrades.
For those of keeping count, that was nine.
