How to maximise interaction using Facebook timeline: Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Since Facebook transitioned all pages to its new Timeline format, brands have almost universally adopted its marketing in some form.

The report, “Strategies for Effective Wall Posts: A Timeline Analysis”, is based on analysis of user engagement from more than 1,800 Facebook Pages from the world’s largest brands. Data was collected for two months in April and May this year after all brands were moved to timeline. It includes 12 Facebook posting guidelines for marketers to boost overall fan interaction.

1. Post on days that are best for your industry (see the complete guide at the end of the article). The interaction rate for posts on weekends is 14.5 per cent higher compared to weekday posts.
2. Brand posts published between 8 pm and 7 am, which are defined as “non-busy hours” receive 14 per cent higher interaction than those that post between 8 am and 7 pm, which are defined as “busy hours”.
3. Post one or two times per day, but space posts out to avoid exceeding seven posts per week.
4. Keep it short. Posts with 80 characters or fewer receive 23 per cent higher interaction than longer posts.
5. Use photo attachments or text-only status updates to increase interaction.
6. Show users a long URL on posts including a link, but track link clicks internally with a shortened URL.
7. Use questions to drive dialogue in the form of fan comments.
8. Place your questions at the end of posts for higher comment rates.
9. Use “caption this” and “fill in the blank” strategies to drive more comments.
10. Use emoticons to non-verbally communicate with your fans and humanise your brand. Posts that contain emoticons receive 52 per cent higher interaction rates.
11. Use calls to action to explicitly tell fans how you want them to interact with your posts. The most effective calls to action on Facebook include like, caption this, share, yes or no and thumbs up.
12. Use “softer sell” keywords, which resonate better with users. The top five promotional keywords that result in high interaction are winner, win, giveaway, entry and new. On the other hand, the keywords including sweepstakes, coupon, % off, $ off and clearance result in the lowest interaction rates.

The complete guide to ‘best day to post by industry’ is as follows:

• Advertising and consulting Pages have a big opportunity to leverage the weekend to receive high interaction rates.
• Automotive posts on the weekends receive interaction rates 15 per cent higher than weekdays.
• In the Clothing and fashion industry, post interaction steadily increases as the week progresses, reaching its peak on Thursdays and Saturdays.
• Consumer packaged goods should use the Weekends and Wednesdays when fans are most likely to shop for everyday household goods.
• Entertainment Pages receive 20 per cent higher interaction on the weekends.
• Finance posts receive 29 per cent higher interaction on Sundays, as it is a great time to catch up on financial news before the workweek starts.
• Facebook users may have more time to enjoy food and beverages or dine-out on the weekends, so brands should take the opportunity for interaction.
• Mondays experience the highest interaction rates in the general retail industry, which are 19 per cent above average.
• Sunday and Monday see the highest interaction rates in the health and beauty industry at 11 per cent and 12 per cent above average, respectively.
• The non-profit industry is another industry that has a lot of opportunity to post on weekends, while interaction is 14 per cent higher on Saturdays and Sundays than the rest of the week.
• Sundays provide a great opportunity for Facebook fans to catch up on the news of the week, so interaction rates in the publishing sector are 5% higher than average on these days. Mondays, however see interaction rates 7 per cent below average.
• As major sporting events are often held on weekends, so Saturdays and Sundays see the highest interaction rates for sports Pages.
• Technology Pages, on the opposite, do not see high interaction rates on weekends, but see interaction rates on Mondays are 30% higher than average.
• In the telecommunications industry, Fridays, Sundays and Mondays receive the highest interaction.
• Interaction rates start climbing for travel and leisure Pages on Thursdays and peak on Sundays, when interaction is 19 per cent higher than average.