Facebook Posts
Crafting a Killer Facebook post
It’s no secret that including an image in your Facebook post is one of the most important things your can do to stand out in a users newsfeed. Just ask Guy Kawasaki – former chief brand evangelist at Apple. And, don’t just use any image.
1. Curious images
Images in your Facebook poses should peak user’s curiosity — what is that image? what does it mean? why is ____ doing ____? And images of people only work if users know them. Otherwise use images without people or cartoons.
2. CTA – Call to Action
What do you want users to do when they see your post – visit your website, sign up for your newsletter, write their congressperson, come into your store. Don’t just assume users KNOW what they should do — TELL them!
3. Keep your copy short
Users don’t use Facebook to read War and Peace (a very LONG novel). They just wanna be entertained and informed in short bursts. So, a killer Facebook post keeps it short and simple — 90 characters should do it.
4. Engage
Encourage users to engage with you — Like, Comment, Share. Engagement happens when you give users something of value and when you’ve worked to build a community for your target market. Know your target market and give them value. Asking questions or giving special discounts are particularly good ways to spark engagement.
When users engage with your Facebook post, keep the conversation going. And focus your Facebook posts on your target audience — not your brand.
5. Recognize the uniqueness of a Facebook Post
Craft specific content for your Facebook post. Don’t just re-share the content created for other social media platforms. Yes, I know there’s an easy app that automatically shares your Tweets as Facebook posts. BUT, DON’T DO IT!
6. Post to Facebook when your target market is there
A Facebook post has a limited lifespan — basically the time it takes to travel to the bottom of a users newsfeed. Thus, crafting a Facebook post to coincide with when your target audience is on Facebook is a must. Of course, you extend that lifespan when you engage your target audience, so these tactics work together.
7. Measure, measure, measure
No one has a crystal ball telling them what types of posts work best. Pay careful attention to what’s working by using Facebook Insights. Which Facebook posts drive the most engagement? Does a particular image do best in your Facebook posts? How well are your Facebook posts converting users? Which CTA work best with your target market?
Also, look at how a Facebook post affects your website or email subscriber list to adequately assess it’s impact on your ROI.
8. SEO
Remember that social media is increasing influential in determining where or if you turn up in a user’s search. Using link shorteners, as recommended by our pals at Salesforce, doesn’t actually provide much SEO benefit to your website. Better to use the original URL. And, using services such as Hootsuite and Buffer also provide little SEO value.
9. Promote you posts
While I’m not a big fan of Facebook advertising, promoting your Facebook post is really effective both in terms of reach and cost. I spend $20 to promote a post and increased by reach by about 1000%. Not a bad ROI.
