It’s one of the never ending struggles that companies building their presence online are faced with, leaving many unsure of their social media strategy. How can you increase user engagement on Facebook? A recent study shares findings that suggest three of the most important factors in nailing this down: day and time, type of content, and the length of each post.
What Time Is It?
When posting content, taking into consideration the day and time it gets published is crucial. Consider the age-old question, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” The same goes for your content; if users are not on Facebook when you post, no one will read it.
The previously mentioned study showed that businesses who published content outside of regular business hours actually received engagement levels 20% higher than average. Not only does your content have a better chance of being seen in users’ newsfeeds, but you also remain ahead of your competition (considering 60% of posts go out between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.). Also consider that engagement levels are typically higher towards the end of the week, so shoot for Thursdays and Fridays when scheduling content.
A Personal Touch
While you may nail down the time and day that you post your content, are you actually hitting on relevance? Just because you post something doesn’t guarantee engagement. Finding out what topics and themes are of interest to your fan base is absolutely necessary.
Consider developing content that entices users to engage with your page can be as easy as asking a question – this is about building an online community. Give users the opportunity to share their responses or provide feedback, providing them with the sense that their opinion is important to your company.
Get To The Point
Make sure you don’t babble in your Facebook posts. This same study shows that the shorter the post, the better. In fact, those that are 80 characters or less receives a 27% higher engagement rate. So our favorite acronym, K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple, Stupid) applies.
Additionally, including specific words in your content can help raise engagement levels. Words that request an action such as “like”, “post”, “take” or “comment” as well as asking a question can positively affect how often users interact with posts on Facebook.
So while it may still take some time to find your “sweet spot” to post content on Facebook, these factors can get you pointed in the right direction. Although there may not be a clear-cut, straight answer to abide by, these are a few things to consider in any social media strategy to receive the engagement levels that are so strongly sought after.
