Despite what we read in many blogs, Facebook remains the main social network , both in business and in private life. Sure Instagram (which belongs to the Facebook family), LinkedIn and especially YouTube have won over many users for their specific market niches, but knowing how to write an effective post on Facebook remains a successful solution if you want to conquer your social audience.
In this article I would like to share my methodology of creating “organic” posts to reach an increasingly large number of interested audiences over time. As I always state in all my courses, even in this case there is no magic recipe for posting on Facebook, but there is study and application, method and analysis, experimentation and perseverance.
How to write an effective post on Facebook
A premise must be made immediately: at least if you are not a famous person (for example a footballer, a singer or a Hollywood actor), the creation of successful posts necessarily involves the creation of a publication strategy , or an editorial plan in to enter your epistolary efforts on the calendar. This premise is a must, because you will hardly be able to create viral business posts, if you do not build a relationship of trust with the audience of your page over time .
Creating an editorial plan means first of all understanding the people who follow you , and making your content original and persuasive for them. Facebook has many analysis tools (official guide to Facebook Insights) that allow you to correct the publication strategy to improve the relationship with the page’s followers. To give an example of all: the time of publication . You have surely asked yourself: When should I publish my posts? Obviously there is no perfect time, but there is the time when your most “loyal” audience is particularly active . If you are now wondering how you can discover this time range, the magic word is EXPERIMENTING .
Experimenting is the only real magic word in online marketing, because only with rigorous application and unwavering perseverance can you truly succeed online and in social networks like Facebook.
10 tips for writing a successful post on Facebook
Here we are at the reckoning. Here are 10 very useful tips to write a really effective post to conquer the audience of your business page.
1 – Find your style
The audience wants to follow you, so you need to find a writing style that fits you. Prefer short sentences, use punctuation correctly, say “you” to followers and especially when you write think you have the people you write to.
2 – Short is better, but not always
Generally speaking on the Web, when writing a text, synthesis is always preferred . With this it does not mean writing little, but it means writing a text as long as you need to be clear and exhaustive in the topic you are dealing with. Therefore, do not dilute the text with articulated or useless periods (ie that do not add anything to the article / post).
3 – What is Emoji?
Emoji are a stylistic element that we all know and in fact belong to the 2.0 language , that is the same world that gave rise to the social network phenomenon. They are a precious help to “interrupt” the text and make it more current and dynamic.
4 – Use links, but sparingly
Within your post you can use links to take the user out of Facebook (for example in your blog). However, remember that Facebook users do not like to leave the social network and do so only for a very special reason (example: ” Use the discount code CIPPALIPPA immediately in our shop “).
5 – Always use an image or a video
Don’t post text-only posts , because Facebook rarely rewards posts without media. So always associate your text with a relevant image (graphic or photographic), or a link to a blog article (which automatically generates the preview image) or a video uploaded to Facebook, not YouTube (the videos are l ‘most popular media element in social networks).
6 – Experiment with other publishing systems
Facebook provides you with many publishing elements, such as live broadcasts and polls . For example, the latter are an excellent way to call to action (call to action) your audience and make them actively participate in the life of your business page.
7- Find your publication time
As already mentioned a few lines above, experiment and monitor publication times through Facebook Insights to find the one that best suits the audience that is following you.
8 – Specify your intent
If you want to be successful with your page, you need to build a trusting relationship with your followers . To do this you have to be honest with them, express genuine and not artificial opinions. Make it clear immediately in each post, which goal you want to achieve and how you want to achieve it . Highlight any benefits and / or advantages for the user who reads your post or follows the link you suggest.
9 – Enter the key element
Successful posts are those that offer a useful and / or informative reading key , or that propose the solution to a widespread problem (eg: ” How to write a successful post on Facebook ” 🙂 or provide valuable advice (eg: ” 5 tips to lose weight with carbohydrates “) Propose different solutions and points of view , create a likely scenario in which to “drop” the reader (eg: ” What would you do if you were offered to work in a lighthouse in Australia? “). Call the user to action , invite him to like and / or comment if, for example, he found the post useful.
10 – Don’t give up!
If you don’t get instant success on Facebook, don’t be disheartened, because the opposite would be weird. Social media marketing is a sector for professionals , and to do business you have to work methodically and therefore study a strategy in the medium / long term (for the short term there is Facebook Ads).
In this case the key word is perseverance , because in online marketing “… you don’t have to be perfect, but constant “ .
BONUS TIP – Don’t use unnecessary items
Unfortunately, many Facebook pages are full of really useless elements that are used by those who do not have the faintest idea of what they are for. Here are the most common:
- Use hashtags randomly : the hashtag belongs to Twitter and Instagram and in Facebook are practically useless. You can use them, but to highlight a specific word during the text (for example: “ Today I went to #SMAU for a press conference… “). The hashtag “streaks” at the end of the text are useless even in Instagram, let alone in Facebook.
- Use capital letters as if there were no tomorrow : in Netiquette (or the Etiquette of the Web) writing in capital letters means SCREAMING. Use it, but wisely to emphasize some headlines in the post.
- Compress the text into a “monolith” of words : divide the text into paragraphs, mark the reading times with punctuation and “newlines”.
Extra considerations for creating posts for social networks
In this final section I would like to share with you some of my personal considerations on the subject, but the result of a professional experience that began in 2004.
Creativity and organization
Creating a strategy and using an editorial calendar is important , especially if you manage multiple social channels (and perhaps from different companies). In my opinion, organization always helps work and is absolutely not in contrast with creativity . A phrase that I like to quote related to this topic, was said by James Cameron (the director of Titanic, Aliens, Avatar and Terminator) during an interview when they accused him of having “crumbled” during the production of the colossal film on the Titanic:
Am I crazy?!? Probably. Out of control?!? Never!
I think this quote is a perfect synthesis of creativity and organization . Working with an editorial calendar does not mean pigeonholing the work, because its organization can also be “extroverted” in its temporal development. In every post or article that you have to write, make sure that it genuinely represents what you want to convey to your audience and you will see that over time even the followers will appreciate your interventions .
