How To Get More Likes on Facebook with Strategic Posting

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Kristen Scott | September 3, 2014

The one thing to understand about our social media followers is that, no matter how many studies we do, web users are going to be unpredictable. Knowing this fact, experts say that this should be a reason for our Facebook copy to be even more precise, clear and persuasive. Check out these tips that will get you more likes by turning your willy-nilly posting into strategic publishing.

Try the PAS formula

The Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS) formula is a proven method to create Facebook copy that is precise, clear and persuasive. It will also help to produce faster posts, since we know that Social Media Managers usually have their hands in more things than one in the business.

The formula works like this:

Identify the problem
Agitate that problem
Solve that problem

For example:

Feeling physically unfit? You don’t want to be left behind watching everyone else around you become their best selves for the new year. Luckily, our new book, [insert name here], includes everything you need to get on track to your best body ever, including workout schedules, healthy recipes and more. Check it out here [link].

The question at the beginning immediately identifies your target customer by highlighting their problem. Once you’ve caught their attention, the next sentence agitates the problem by making them feel bad for ignoring it. This is where you come in to solve the problem that you presented in the first place. This will get more of your quality people listening, and not to mention, question posts get 100% more comments.

Note: This won’t be as effective if you don’t know the persona you are targeting.

Make Photos Self-Explanatory

One of the biggest mistakes on Facebook is posting photos without text or that have nothing to do with the post itself. We’ve already explained in the past the importance of images where photographic posts get 53% more likes, 104% more comments and 84% more click throughs on links. To take this further, according to a study done by www.fastcompany.com, the picture posts that performed the best, were the ones where the pictures were self-explanatory.

For example, in an attempt to advertise an infographic called “Novelty and the Brain: Why New Things Make Us Feel So Good”, the researchers found that the post showing a snapshot of the infographic itself had 70% more interaction than one with a simple photo of an illustrated man and a brain. So make sure to be clear about your reason for the post.

Note: Always think about copyright for your images.

Use Self-Referencing Words

Don’t underestimate the importance of “you” in your Facebook strategy. Dan Zarella, a Social Media Scientist at HubSpot, found that self-referential words such as “I” and “me” can be very powerful on Facebook and tend to get more likes. Perhaps this is difficult for a professional business to do, but continuing to remind your followers that there are real people operating the page gives your fans a great morale boost. If this is a bit too personal, the next time you write a post, try adding in “we think” or “tell us” instead and observe the difference for yourself.

Write Less to Get More Engagement

The people working hard over at KISSmetrics have found that posts with 80 characters or less get 66% more engagement —meaning likes and comments — then posts with 81 characters or more. The next time that you are posting and you are tempted to add in a quote or write a novel — stop and do a quick word count before publishing.

Schedule Posts Strategically

One main point runs through this entire post: it’s important to know who you’re targeting before publishing. This will help you to schedule your posts strategically. For example, if you are advertising a new blog post for professionals, to start, we know that on weekdays, Monday morning around 11am is usually the highest traffic hour.

Let’s take this further and hone in on our target. If you’re looking for a specific gender, know that men tend to read their ritual blogs at night, while most women read them in the morning. Overall, you will see the most comments coming in on Saturdays. You can find more stats to help with your targeting here.

The PAS formula, self-explanatory photos, self-referential words, writing less, and strategically scheduling posts are just 5 ways to get more likes on Facebook. The next time you decide to post, stop to assess your work against this strategy before hitting the publish button. Stop posting willy-nilly and enjoy watching the likes roll in.

http://blog.bufferapp.com/7-facebook-stats-you-should-know-for-a-more-engaging-page

Category: Development

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