How To Increase Facebook Reach & Engagement – Tips from SMX Day 1

We hit the ground running today, our first day at the SMX Social Media Marketing conference, with an information-packed session on Facebook marketing. Speakers Tami Dalley and Annalise Kaylor shared some valuable tips and statistics to improve Facebook marketing campaigns, and we’re happy to pass them along to you! In essence, effective Facebook marketing requires close attention to data and analytics, but also a diligent focus on reaching fans through authentic, relevant content of value. 

 1. Statistical takeaways from Tami Dalley, Sr. Director of Analytics and Insight for the Salesforce Marketing Cloud

• Be active on the weekend. Interaction rates peak on Saturday and Sunday – the same time when posts from brands are less frequent. If you don’t want to work on the weekend, use one of the available tools to preschedule posts.

• Time content for when fans are more likely to see it. Higher interaction rates occur from 8pm to 7am, not during the work day.  Note: Be aware, however, that the best day and time interaction rates can differ by industry.

• Posting 1-2 times a day (not more) creates a 19% higher interaction rate. But posting more than 7 times a week creates a 25% decrease in interaction rate. So what should you do? Identify the days of the week where you get the highest interaction and focus on those days.

• Be concise! Posts with 80 characters or less have a 23% higher interaction rate. 

• Use clear calls to action. For example: “share this” or “like this”. Posts with clear calls to action have a 48% higher interaction rate.

• Visual content increases interaction rates. Surprisingly photos receive higher interaction rates than videos.

• Tweak the words on your post according to your goals.

• Inquire! Questions can drive a 92% higher comment rate. Also use “caption this” and “fill in the blank” posts do drive commenting.

• Use short - but real - URLs (like bingads.com/advertise) to ensure greater click-though. They drive higher interaction than shortened bit.ly URLs that don’t reveal context.

• Emoticons attract.  Research shows emoticons drive a 52% higher interaction rate- as long as you don’t over do it. There’s even data about which emoticon is most effective (see photo below).

 2. Content promotion and management tips from Annalise Kaylor, Director of Social Media at Intrapromote

• Don’t compare yourself to others (too much). The activities of your competitors isn’t always relevant to you in the social media universe.  For example, most of us aren’t directly competing with other companies on Facebook as much as with the varied content in your fans’ friend feed. Comparing your engagement to that of other brands is overrated.

• Provide value!  Ask yourself how your customer wants to interact with you and what they are interested in knowing now. Tell a relevant story and don’t try to game the Facebook algorithm. If you provide value to your fans, the algorithm will “like” you.

• Twitter is public, Facebook is personal.  Aggressively selling will turn views away, who don’t hesitate to “unlike” you or (at best), hide your updates. Facebook is a personal space you don’t want to intrude upon. Remember, “if you want to sit between my grandma and my best friend then provide value to me.”

Facebook marketing is both an art and a science, depending on data and tactics, as well as content and strategy.  Would you expect any different?  Let us know!  And stay tuned for more insight from the 2012 SMX Social Media Marketing Conference in Las Vegas by following @BingAds and @SMX on Twitter, and join us on Facebook!

Happy social media marketing,

David