Part # 3: The Perfect Facebook Post

 This is the 3^rd and last part of how to create “The perfect Facebook post”

·      A Perfect Facebook Post is Part of a Consistent Sharing Strategy

AgoraPulse.com analyzed over 8,000 facebook posts to identify how brands, companies were affected by a drop in “organic” (vs paid reach).  They came away with some intriguing stats (more than 70 percent of pages had a 30 percent or more decline in organic reach) and some best practices from the handful of pages that are succeeding.

In particular, they focused on four pages that had found success and the four characteristics that each page had in common:

1.    They target an audience with a strong passion
2.    They publish very good content (at least, very good for their target audience)
3.    They publish very consistently (at least once a day, often more)
4.    They get ALOT of shares (thanks to the 3 points above), and shares are what offers the highest level of “viral” visibility for a page’s content.

Let’s assume you have an audience that is passionate about your page (which is why they became fans, right?). Let’s also assume that you are publishing good content.

What’s the key third ingredient?

Consistency

The successful pages in this study posted at least once a day, creating an expectation among its fans of consistent, quality content. There are several ways of staying on schedule with your Facebook posts; set up a content calendar or sign up for a free scheduler like Buffer. Then start filling your queue with quality content.

·      A Perfect Facebook Post Includes a Newsworthy Element (optional)

This last point might not apply to some brands whose content and industry don’t lend itself well to timeliness. Still …If there’s ever a way to slip in a newsworthy angle to your Facebook post, do so.

Facebook’s latest tweaks to its News Feed algorithm give a slight boost to timely, trending topics. We’ve heard feedback that there are some instances where a post from a friend or a Page you are connected to is only interesting at a specific moment, for example when you are both watching the same sports game, or talking about the season premiere of a popular TV show.

Facebook is making this update in two ways:

1.    Factoring in trending topics
2.    Looking at when people like or comment on a post

The first element is related to Facebook’s “trending” section of the site, which identifies topics and conversations that are popular among users.

The second element factors in the rate at which users are liking or commenting on a post. Facebook currently looks at the total number of likes and comments as a factor in whether or not to display a post in the News Feed. With this latest update, another consideration will be when those likes and comments occur.

So what does your perfect Facebook post look like?

Hopefully, these best practices have given you some ideas on what to test with your Facebook marketing strategy.

·       Do you get more engagement when you share an optimized link or a photo?
·       What is your perfect Facebook character count?
·       Can you get more reach by posting at night and on the weekends?

I’d love to hear how these tests go for you and if you’ve found perfect practices for your Facebook page already. Please do share in the comments!