As the owner of an mHealth communications and marketing firm, I am frequently asked what kinds of Facebook posts are most effective for businesses. According to a recent study from Facebook, the way brands post has a definite effect on customer engagement. The study results are pretty clear: posting about topics that are not directly related to your brand creates very little engagement with your customers.
Matt Wilson’s article details some interesting results from one of Facebook’s own studies on what kinds of posts are the most effective. I’ve condensed the highlights of the article here:
Study Basics
A recent Facebook study of hundreds of posts among more than 20 brands found that fans tend not to respond to posts that aren’t about the brand. For the study, Facebook’s research team divided brand posts into three buckets: posts strictly about products and services, posts related to the brand but not about specific products, and those completely unrelated to the brand.
Results
“The bottom-line result is that posts related to the brand and the posts related to a product or service are the ones that are significant predictors of actions,” says Elisabeth Diana, corporate communications manager at Facebook. “The third, unrelated post is not a significantly predictive page post.”
“The topicality of page posts impacts all types of engagement,” says Diana. “Speaking in the voice of the brand, talking directly about your product or service, or a topic related to the brand, is the best way to engage with fans of your page.”
What It Means for Brands
As for the findings so far, Christine Campbell of Resolute Digital says they fit with her experience on Facebook. Most people are there to hang out with friends, she says. If they follow brands, they’re probably looking for deals. “It makes perfect sense that Levi’s posts mentioning Levi’s—new styles, discounts, etc.—would have a better engagement statistics than some obscure post only peripherally relating to Levi’s,” Campbell posits.
Shel Holtz of Holtz Communication + Technology points out that people “like” brands on Facebook because they’re interested in the brand, not because they want to chat about their local sports team with them (unless the brand is related to that team).
Other Findings
- The data show that people are most likely to share posts that include photos, photo albums or videos
- To get “likes,” ask for them
- If it’s comments you want, ask a question. (But Diana warns those posts are less likely to net likes or shares)
It’s great that Facebook is conducting research about the whys and whats and how oftens surrounding Facebook postings. I know I’m curious to hear what the research finds. I’d like to hear from you … what types of posts worked best for your brand? What were the least successful? It won’t be scientific, but it would be interesting to hear your stories.
Brian Mack says:
Dear Sam,
Great post. It’s VERY timely for me as I assist our mHealth start-up in moving toward an integrated SM marketing approach.
In my experience, the perceived burden of developing a constant supply of original content is the greatest obstacle to gaining organizational buy-in.
Here’s an approach that I have used for overcoming this obstacle with internal stakeholders:
1. Consider the audience & ask “Why would they care”
2. Write what you know/are passionate about
3. Connect the dots – How does it relate to the company and audience?
4. KISS – Keep It Short & Simple
It’s still too early to accurately gauge the impact in my latest venture, but I have seen positive audience engagement in previous roles.
Our mHealth application is focused on driving engaged lifestyle changes for the chronically ill. I’m banking on our audience making the connection between health and quality of life, and therefore sharing interests with our content creators that extend beyond their illness. (ie: A post about mountain biking that provides inspiration for someone managing chronic asthma).
Thoughts?
Brian Mack
Account Manager
Ideomed
Sam Stern says:
Brian – Thanks for sharing your SM marketing strategy. I think you are right on target and especially like point one: ” WHY would they care.” Answering the WHY is key to unlocking the story of your mHealth app and can guide you in building out engaging content that will drive all your social channels.
Here’s a blog you may enjoy on “WHY”: https://blog.modallic.com/telling-mhealth-stories-hard/ Please let me know what you think and keep me posted your progress.