Facebook Research: Brand-Related Posts Drive Most Engagement

May 18, 2012 | Author Shelly Kramer

You’re probably aware that the content you post on your business or brand’s Facebook page is a critical part of your Facebook marketing strategy. But if you’re curious as to the type of content that drives the most engagement, wonder no more. New research released by Facebook this week shows that brand-related content results in the most engagement—both organically and through promotions like Facebook ads and sponsored stories.

The internal study examined four weeks’ worth of page posts from 23 brands across six industries. Facebook researchers divided the posts into three categories: posts about products or services, brand-related posts and posts unrelated to the brand.

After amassing and studying the data, results revealed that brand-related posts are the most effective types of content when it comes to driving engagement. And that engagement can be any sort of interaction with the post or page—a like, a share, a comment, a click, a view, an RSVP, etc.

If you thought those insights were valuable, just wait. As part of the study, Facebook also offered some content posting guidelines that brands should follow based on their Facebook marketing goals.

For example, if your page’s goal is to generate shares, Facebook’s recommendation is that you post about topics related to your brand and supplement that content with photos, photo albums and video.

If you want to generate likes, Facebook recommends posting about your brand while including a call-to-action such as “Like this post if you’re excited to see our new summer menu.”

And if one of your primary goals is to generate comments, include a call-to-action, such as a question, at the end of your brand-related content.

Although this research is undoubtedly helpful, you’ll also want to take these insights and recommendations a step further by carefully studying your Facebook page’s analytics and understanding not only what type of content your audience wants, but also what they’ll respond to. Encouraging the sharing of information, as well as conversation and dialogue, are two of the primary goals of Facebook marketing, regardless of your business or industry. And by tailoring your content to fit your Facebook audience, much as you would as part of a larger content marketing strategy, you’ll likely create a more engaged population that helps keep your Facebook page thriving.

Does this latest research from Facebook change the way you’ll approach your Facebook marketing strategy?

Image by Ksayer1 via Creative Commons

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Posted in Shelly Kramer | Tags: achieve facebook marketing goals, facebook content research, facebook content tips, facebook marketing, facebook marketing resources, facebook research, how to get more facebook page engagement, successful facebook marketing, what drives facebook page engagement, what to post for facebook engagement, what to post on facebook

http://www.m2sys.com/ John Trader

Thanks for the post Shelly. Working in the tech industry, we try to spur community conversations with our Facebook page, especially considering the often controversial nature of our products. I need to start adding more calls to action that involve questions that encourage community responses, so this post was a good reminder.
http://www.brickmarketing.com/ Nick Stamoulis

Every business has different Facebook marketing goals. It’s important to post content that your target audience will appreciate. Don’t post anything just because the other guys are doing it. Coupons and promotions might work for some businesses, but if it doesn’t align with your brand don’t bother.
http://www.atlanticwebworks.com/ Kristen Daukas

I would disagree and certainly will not change how I post or my strategy. For instance, one of my clients is multi-unit franchise and the posts & updates that are ABOUT the company will receive little to no response or engagement. The days that we post random, fun things are the days that generate a TON of engagement. Guess which one we do the most? I’ve seen the same pattern with other clients.

The end-user doesn’t care about strategy. They’re there to have fun. It’s just the marketers that are there to work.
Anonymous

I agree Kristen that talking about yourself on Facebook all day every day isn’t the key to success. But that’s not what this post or the research is necessarily advocating. And, like you, when we work with clients and manage brand pages and communities, our goals are always to not only be informative, but provide resources and an occasional laugh for the members of our FB community. And sometimes people are using FB for fun – but not always.

Keep in mind this post is based on research done by Facebook, not our own research, so you have to take that with a grain of salt, all things considered.

Excerpted from the post above “Encouraging the sharing of information, as well as conversation and dialogue, are two of the primary goals of Facebook marketing, regardless of your business or industry” and the points discussed are specifically related to generating likes and generating shares.

I think the right answer – at least in terms of what works for us (regardless of what Facebook says) is a nice mix of brand-related content and calls to action along with fun and quirky content. And if you really want engagement, throw in a picture of a cat.

In any event, I appreciate your comments – it’s always nice to hear what others experience and/or are thinking )
Read more: Facebook Research: Brand-Related Posts Drive Most Engagement | PRBreakfastClub http://prbreakfastclub.com/2012/05/18/facebook-research-brand-related-posts-drive-most-engagement/#ixzz1vczSSqtO
Anonymous

Absolutely true! It always goes back to your specific goals. Well said Nick.
Anonymous

Good. Glad you enjoyed it, John. Let me know how it goes as you experiment with that more – I’d love to know. Or read about it in a post (heh).
http://anitaloomba.com/ Anita Loomba

I would take Facebook’s research with a grain of salt. While I definitely think brand related posts are good, a business should also examine and learn from their own audience. What may work for one brand, may not work for another. You should be targeting your message for your audience, so they will come back for more.
http://www.atlanticwebworks.com/ Kristen Daukas

2 notes… 1) I wasn’t disagreeing with you but rather the “findings” and 2) When cats fail, I find singing hamsters do a great job, too. Thanks for always giving me/us great stuff!
Anonymous

Singing hamsters. I am so going to have to try that. Cats .. it’s freaking incredible!!!! And for the record, disagreement is always welcomed .. life would be boring if we all agreed!

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http://danaisageek.com/2012/05/24/thursday-roundup/ Thursday Roundup | Dana is a Geek

[...] Facebook Research: Brand-Related Posts Drive Most Engagement, PRBreakfast Club [...]
http://www.v3im.com/2012/05/understanding-edgerank-to-improve-facebook-visibility/ Understanding EdgeRank To Improve Facebook Visibility | V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

[...] for brand-related content rather than introducing unrelated [...]

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Facebook Research: Brand-Related Posts Drive Most Engagement