In today’s world most of us have a basic understanding of social media but understanding this invaluable tool at a deeper level gives marketers the opportunity to reach their target audience and build a strong brand in an incredibly saturated market. In this blog series we give you a breakdown of how social media can help and even transform your business in 2016 and tips on how to make the most of the platforms you’re using. Remember social media takes time and commitment, it’s part of your entire business plan and with dedicated strategy and implementation your brand will reap the rewards. Our first topic of this series highlights Facebook.
FACEBOOK
Over 1.5 billion people use Facebook regularly, its given size is a pretty good reason to have your business on there to start with. As sproutsocial notes “No other social site drives even close to as much referral traffic as Facebook. It’s a unique platform because users are more than willing to click on links to visit content on outside websites”.
However, with such an active global audience it’s imperative to understand when and what to post on your page to maximize engagement with your key audience – the best time to post may not be when you think it is. The organic reach of your posts is determined by different factors, the amount of engagement you get on your posts and how much competition there is from other posts are at the top of the list.
Below is a graph by BuzzSumo that analysed engagement on Facebook and posts made – they tested this in both the U.S and France. The findings of this pattern clearly show that posts get the most engagement when the total amount of posts is at its lowest. During the day competition is at its peak because most of us are on Facebook which results in lower engagement with your posts. The data concludes the best time to post is between 9 and 11pm in the timeline that most of your followers live in.
Over 1.5 billion people use Facebook regularly, its given size is a pretty good reason to have your business on there to start with. As sproutsocial notes “No other social site drives even close to as much referral traffic as Facebook. It’s a unique platform because users are more than willing to click on links to visit content on outside websites”.
However, with such an active global audience it’s imperative to understand when and what to post on your page to maximize engagement with your key audience – the best time to post may not be when you think it is. The organic reach of your posts is determined by different factors, the amount of engagement you get on your posts and how much competition there is from other posts are at the top of the list.
Below is a graph by BuzzSumo that analysed engagement on Facebook and posts made – they tested this in both the U.S and France. The findings of this pattern clearly show that posts get the most engagement when the total amount of posts is at its lowest. During the day competition is at its peak because most of us are on Facebook which results in lower engagement with your posts. The data concludes the best time to post is between 9 and 11pm in the timeline that most of your followers live in.
Investment is a key factor for social media in 2016. With the continuous growth and competition on Facebook you should be prepared to invest some money in paid advertising to reach a much further audience than an otherwise organic reach. Also be prepared to outsource your social media to an expert if you don’t have the time to do it. At Platform we offer a range of social media packages for your business.
Furthermore, BuzzSumo analysed what types of posts received the most engagement – this includes total numbers of likes, shares and comments. Questions and images were at the top of the list with giveaways and coupons/discounts the less engaged posts by an audience.
Integrating your social media together will also maximize engagement with your followers, i.e Linking your Facebook and Instagram posts together.