Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 2.9 billion monthly active users as of the third quarter of 2022. For marketers and business owners, Facebook can be an incredibly powerful platform for reaching target audiences, building engagement, and driving sales. However, creating content that actually connects with users and gets results on Facebook requires strategy and knowledge of best practices. Some key questions around Facebook content include:
- What types of content perform best on Facebook?
- How should you tailor content to the Facebook audience and platform?
- What should you avoid when creating Facebook content?
- How can you optimize content for Facebook algorithms?
In this article, we’ll explore the answers to these questions and provide tips and guidelines for creating high-performing Facebook content across different formats. Mastering great content will allow you to get the most out of Facebook for your business.
Types of Content That Perform Well on Facebook
Not all content is created equal when it comes to success on Facebook. Certain types of posts tend to spark more engagement and reach than others. Here are some of the top-performing content formats to focus on:
Visual Content
Posts with images and video tend to get much higher engagement on Facebook than plain text updates. Visual content makes posts stand out in the news feed and grabs people’s attention. For photos, try using high-quality, eye-catching images. For video, short clips under two minutes tend to perform best.
Listicles
Posts formatted as lists or “listicles” also tend to do well on Facebook. This includes things like “10 Tips for…” or “7 Reasons To…” Listicles are an easy format for scanning information and sharing.
Live Video
Facebook Live video allows you to stream real-time footage to your Page followers. Live video has high watch rates on Facebook, and also helps boost overall post reach and engagement. Use live video to share behind-the-scenes footage, make announcements, or stream events.
Stories
Facebook Stories are similar to the Stories format popularized on Snapchat and Instagram. These are short photo or video clips that disappear after 24 hours. Posting Facebook Stories makes your content more casual and “of the moment.”
Short-Form Video
Short, entertaining video clips are hugely popular on Facebook. This includes fun videos under 60 seconds, funny memes, cute animal videos, and more. While this lighter content may not directly promote your brand, it can help increase overall engagement.
User-Generated Content
User-generated content like comments, reviews, user photos and videos help add social proof and authenticity. Repurpose this UGC into your Facebook posts whenever possible. You can also encourage UGC by running contests or campaigns where users submit images around a theme.
Tailoring Content to Facebook
To maximize results on Facebook, you need to tailor content to the unique audience and platform. Here are some tips:
- Use a conversational tone – Facebook users engage with posts that feel more casual and natural vs. overly salesy or formal.
- Leverage video – Video receives much higher reach on Facebook than static images or text.
- Make content easily shareable – Facebook is built around sharing. Create posts with interesting facts, quotes, stats, and tips that users will be keen to share with friends.
- Personalize for the local audience – Since Facebook has hyper-targeted advertising, you can localize content for specific cities or regions when running ads.
- Optimize with power words – Use power words like “free” “new” “announcing” that will stand out in the news feed.
- Use emojis and tags – Emojis and tags help add context and get people’s attention.
Always keep in mind that people use Facebook to connect with friends, get entertaining content, and stay up to date on brands/topics they care about. Tailor content accordingly.
What to Avoid with Facebook Content
While there are certainly best practices for Facebook, there are also some content tactics that tend to fail or even backfire. Things to avoid include:
- Sales pitches or overly promotional content – People dislike hard sells on Facebook.
- Using too many stock photos – Generic stock photos can make a brand feel impersonal.
- Fake engagement tactics – Things like buying fake followers or using engagement pods will often get you penalized by Facebook.
- Controversial or insensitive content – Facebook has strong policies around hate speech, nudity, violence and other issues. Don’t risk a ban.
- Constant posts about the same topics – Mix up your content to avoid being repetitive.
- Long blocks of text – Big walls of text are unlikely to be read on Facebook.
Keep your Facebook content friendly, authentic, and varied for the best reception. Avoid tactics that look overly promotional or that go against Facebook’s terms of service.
Optimizing for Facebook’s Algorithm
Facebook uses a complex proprietary algorithm to determine what content appears highest in each user’s news feed. While the algorithm is constantly evolving, here are some best practices for optimizing content to improve reach and engagement:
- Publish when your audience is most active – Look at your Page Insights to determine when your fans tend to be online and engage with posts.
- Respond to comments and messages – Being active in the comments section helps signal relevancy to the algorithm.
- Encourage engagements with questions or calls to action – Asking questions or prompting fans to like, comment or share helps boost engagement metrics.
- Analyze competitor content performance – See what types of posts do well for industry leaders and test similar approaches.
- Favor native video – Video published directly to Facebook tends to perform best.
- Re-share your most engaging posts – Don’t be afraid to recycle your most popular content periodically.
Continuously experiment and analyze your metrics using Facebook Insights to refine what works. This will help you unlock even greater organic reach over time.
Top-Performing Content Formats
Based on the best practices outlined, here are some of the top-performing types of content to focus on for Facebook:
Quick Tip Lists
Share lists of quick tips related to your industry. For example, social media tips, productivity tips, or health and wellness tips. Lists are easily scannable and shareable.
Buzzworthy Headlines
Posts with exciting or controversial headlines will get attention in the news feed. But make sure to deliver on the headline promise with great content.
Funny Memes
Humorous memes, especially related to pop culture or current events, tend to go viral on Facebook. Just ensure memes align with your brand identity.
Behind-the-Scenes Video
Candid video that shows what goes on behind the scenes humanizes your brand and satisfies people’s curiosity.
User-Generated Content
Leverage photos, videos, reviews, and stories generated by customers. UGC makes great social proof.
Live Q&As
Hosting a live question and answer session is an easy way to create real-time engagement with your audience.
Scraped Blog Content
Repurposing snackable versions of long-form blog content can help maximize value.
Opinion Polls
Pose interesting questions to followers in poll posts to quickly generate comments and shares.
Photos w/Engaging Captions
Post eye-catching visuals coupled with captions using power words, emojis, or questions to spark interest.
Industry News Links
Share and comment on trending news and content related to your niche to position yourself as an authority.
Optimizing Different Content Formats
To maximize results with different content types, keep these format-specific optimization tips in mind:
Text-Based Posts
– Use lists, emojis, power words, and questions
– Break into short paragraphs for easy scanning
– Include links to drive traffic to your site
Photos
– High-quality, well-composed images
– Minimal text overlay (under 40% overlay)
– Creative editing using filters, text, etc.
– Tag any brands/products featured
Video
– Square 1:1 aspect ratio
– Strong, attention-grabbing opening
– Mobile optimization (vertical filming)
– Closed captioning for accessibility
– Call-to-actions in caption and video itself
Live Video
– Promote event ahead of time to build buzz
– Pin post to top of Page while live
– Have team member moderate comments in real time
– Share replays of full video after broadcast
Stories
– Quick cuts, max 15 seconds per slide
– Use interactive elements like polls and questions
– Leverage stickers, text, drawings to enhance
– Add location tags and hashtags
Creating a Content Promotion Process
To help ensure your Facebook content gets in front of the right audience, it’s important to have a streamlined promotion process in place. Here are some best practices:
- Schedule social media content using tools like Hootsuite to plan efficient posting.
- Take advantage of optimal posting times based on insights into your audience’s activity.
- Insert strategic calls-to-action in posts to get engagement and drive traffic.
- Promote top-performing posts periodically by re-sharing them.
- Run paid promotions like boosting or ads to expand reach for important posts.
- Tag relevant pages and influencers to expand distribution through shares.
- Analyze performance data to refine posting schedule and strategies.
Having a consistent process makes it easier to keep content flowing and gives you the insight to continually improve performance.
Driving Leads and Sales with Facebook Content
One of the most important goals for Facebook content is ultimately driving measurable business results like generating leads or sales. Here are some tips:
- Include strong calls-to-action in posts leading to landing pages or purchase opportunities.
- Run lead generation campaigns using forms to collect contact info from respondents.
- Retarget engaged users across devices with ads leading them back to your site.
- Promote product launches, discounts, giveaways, and other offers to boost conversions.
- Create video content addressing questions in the buyer’s journey to build trust.
- Use special Facebook ad formats like carousel ads to showcase products.
Closely track which of your Facebook posts and campaigns drive the most conversions. Then double down on what works to turn content engagement into business ROI.
Managing and Monitoring Content
To keep Facebook content production running smoothly, it’s essential to have strong management processes in place:
- Use social media management tools to schedule and publish content efficiently.
- Implement approval workflows if multiple team members collaborate on content.
- Establish publishing guidelines to unify brand voice and tone.
- Monitor comments and respond promptly to build relationships with followers.
- Review Instagram Insights regularly to assess content performance.
- Manage your Facebook presence across desktop and mobile to ensure consistency.
By staying organized with your content process, you’ll avoid scrambling and keep your Facebook presence professional.
Measuring Content Performance
To refine your Facebook content strategy, you need to actively measure performance and outcomes. Some key metrics to track include:
- Reach and impressions
- Engagement rate
- Clicks, reactions, comments, shares
- Video views
- Conversions and sales
- Follower growth
- Traffic to website
Continuously optimize to improve these metrics over time. For example, experiment with different post lengths, formats, captions, visuals, calls-to-action, and topics to see what resonates best with your audience.
Here is an example chart to visualize some key Facebook content metrics:
| Post Type | Engagement Rate | Clicks | Conversions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behind-the-Scenes Video | 7.5% | 1,200 | 18 |
| Listicle | 5.1% | 950 | 22 |
| Contest Promotion | 4.2% | 730 | 11 |
Tracking metrics in this way makes it easy to spot what content strategies are most effective.
Content Creation Tools and Tips
Having the right tools and resources can greatly simplify creating amazing content for Facebook:
- Use Canva to easily create social graphics and designs.
- Try a stock photo site like Unsplash for free high-quality photos.
- Use Adobe Spark to make professional social videos.
- Try Biteable for simple drag-and-drop video creation.
- Search social listening tools like Buzzsumo to find trending topics and viral content ideas.
- Use free tools like Snappa for resizing images for social media.
- Try using an AI writing assistant like Rytr for generating draft content.
- Repurpose existing blog, ebook or video content for social snippets.
- Study competitor content for inspiration on what performs well.
Spend time upfront finding resources and tools that make consistently creating content easier. This will pay off dramatically in saving time and improving results.
Putting It All Together
Creating standout content for Facebook requires an understanding of the platform and audience, a consistent process, the right tools, and lots of testing. To summarize:
- Leverage visual formats like video, images, Stories, and live streaming.
- Use power words, emojis, polls, and other tactics to boost engagement.
- Tailor content to Facebook’s informal, community vibe.
- Avoid hard sells in favor of entertaining and informing followers.
- Promote actively through ads, relevant tagging, optimal timing, etc.
- Analyze metrics and continuously experiment to refine what works.
- Focus on driving business results like conversions in addition to engagement.
Mastering Facebook content takes work, but the payoff in reaching a massive audience makes it incredibly worthwhile. Use these tips to improve your Facebook content strategy and achieve real business growth.
Conclusion
Facebook’s vast audience presents an enormous opportunity for brands and publishers to reach customers and drive real results. But simply posting on Facebook won’t guarantee success. By understanding the types of content that perform best, optimizing and promoting posts effectively, analyzing performance, and constantly refining your strategy, you can connect with audiences to meet marketing goals. Use the guidelines in this article as a roadmap to creating world-class content tailored for the Facebook platform and audience. With smart content and promotion tactics, you’ll be well on your way to Facebook success.