New research from Buddy Media determines that while 60% of brand posts on Facebook are published between 10am and 4pm, Facebook users are 20% more likely to engage with posts outside of normal business hours. Engagement was measured by analyzing comments and ‘likes’, and factored in fanbase size for each brand.
Some other great findings:
- Posts between 1 and 80 characters had a 27% higher engagement rate (on average) than posts with over 80 characters; however, they accounted for only 19% of all posts
- Engagement rates are 3x higher for posts that use a full-length URL, as opposed to a URL shortener
- Engagement rates are 18% higher on Thursday and Friday than the other days of the week
- Posts that end with a question have a 15% higher engagement rate
Lessons for brands from this data:
Post your content when consumers are using Facebook. Many Facebook users prefer to log on before or after work, and their engagement with company posts is higher during those times. Get to the top of consumer News Feeds while they are on the site. See the full report to determine the best days for your industry to post updates.
Choose the right content. The study found that certain words increase engagement, particularly simple instructions such as “like,” “post,” “take” and “comment,” as reported by eMarketer.
Ask a question, the right way. Posts that ended with a question also received high levels of engagement – give consumers something to respond to, and make it personal whenever possible. Words such as “where” “when” “would” and “should” drive the highest engagement rates, while questions with “why” had the lowest ‘like’ and ‘comment’ rates.
Download the full research from Buddy Media here: “Strategies For Effective Facebook Wall Posts: A Statistical Review.” The report analyzed the Facebook posts and engagement rates for more than 200 clients from January 30-February 12, 2011.
