Tag Archives: Facebook Marketing Tips

July 1, 2016 · 11:49 am

Facebook is Changing its Algorithms. Here’s How Brands Can Adapt.

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In the coming days, Facebook will be making some not-insignificant tweaks to its newsfeed algorithms—prioritizing posts from friends and family members but reducing the visibility of branded posts. In other words, when you sign into your personal Facebook account, the first posts you see will be ones from the people you know and love. Posts from the businesses or public figures you follow will be second-tier.

For the consumer, this is probably welcome news. In fact, Facebook has said the entire impetus for this change is that so many users have complained about being inundated by branded content while missing out on the key updates from their friends and family members. For small business owners, though, this news isn’t welcome. What it means is that branded posts will be less visible on Facebook, and thus, Facebook referral traffic will likely take a dive.

Crafting Posts to Be Shared

So what’s the solution? Given how critical Facebook is to the marketing landscape, it can’t very well be abandoned. The good news is that there’s a way for companies to work around this algorithmic upheaval. Essentially, the way to get branded content into consumer newsfeeds is to have it shared by friends and family members. Engineering this kind of social connection can provide kind of a back door into more and more Facebook feeds.

In other words, we’re back to that timeless Facebook marketing question: What can you do to get your posts shared by as many people as possible? We’ve got a few tips and techniques—some of them tried and true, some a bit off the beaten path, but all Grammar Chic-tested and Facebook-approved.

Keep the narrative brief. Nobody wants to read an entire book just to get to the point of your Facebook post. Aim for text of no more than 80 characters or so, if you can help it.

Select a compelling image. Pictures are what get Facebook shares—period. Colorful, eye-catching images that provoke humor or sentiment are always going to be winners.

Avoid first-person as best you can. Make your post feel like it could come from anyone, to encourage people to share your thoughts. Keep your text to some brief, open-ended questions or short declarations.

Include a call to action where appropriate. Something as simple as “visit our blog for more” can be perfectly compelling.

Share content that’s actionable and advice-oriented. Make sure the blog posts you write and share have headlines that convey immediate, practical value for the reader.

Need some help crafting posts that’ll slide easily into Facebook’s new algorithms? Give Grammar Chic a call. Reach us at 803-831-7444, or www.grammarchic.net.

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January 2, 2015 · 9:44 am

Deconstructing the Perfect Facebook Post

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How would you like to know the secret formula to Facebook marketing success? To ensure that all of your posts are deliberately engineered to obtain the maximum results?

A recent Search Engine Journal piece, authored by Kevan Lee, promises something along those lines. The article is all about explaining “The Anatomy of the Perfect Facebook Post”—and in truth, it’s pretty good. It’s certainly worth reading and absorbing, especially if you’re a small business owner, doing all your own social media marketing.

We’re going to summarize the key points below, highlighting what we think is most essential and offering a couple of points of caveat and clarification. In fact, we’ll begin with this note: While there may indeed be a proper structure to ensure Facebook success, there’s also something to be said for variety. If all your posts follow the exact same recipe, then your account is going to feel a bit robotic and impersonal. The following points are all intended as best practices, then—but there can and should be some exceptions.

The Anatomy of the Perfect Post

Lee suggests that the perfect Facebook post has five basic ingredients:

  • A link.
  • Brevity—ideally 40 characters or less.
  • Publication at non-peak hours.
  • A place on a regular posting schedule.
  • Timeliness/newsworthiness.

Again, the Grammar Chic team is largely in agreement here, but we do have a few comments to offer. We’ll take the five ingredients one at a time:

  1. First, note what Lee really says about the perfect post being a link. What he says is that the perfect post actually uses Facebook’s built-in link tool; posting an image and then including link text in your photo description is not the same thing, and won’t get nearly as many clicks. And this is true enough: If you want to get maximize click-through, you need to focus on the link and on a strong call to action, without distracting attention with other elements. If social sharing and general online engagement is what you’re after, though, then images will be more helpful.
  2. Lee also shares that posts 40 characters or shorter tend to get liked and commented on the most. No big surprise there!
  3. Posting at non-peak hours, meanwhile, helps your post stand out, because the competition is a bit less heated. In particular, Lee recommends posting on weekends and after normal work hours.
  4. Lee says that an effective Facebook post is part of a consistent sharing strategy, encompassing a minimum of one post each day. Of course, we agree completely!
  5. Finally, Lee notes that compelling posts often factor in trending topics and current events, though he admits that this is optional. Certainly, it can be advantageous to leverage the popularity of a trending topic—but it’s not something you want to force.

And that’s that: The structure of the perfect Facebook post. Even with all this in mind, though, you may still be at a loss for developing actual content—and that’s where we come in. Contact Grammar Chic, Inc. today to inquire about our content development and strategy services: www.grammarchic.net, or 803-831-7444.

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