Facebook for Business: Content Management

Hey folks!

For those of you who have just stumbled upon our blog, please note that this is Part III from our Facebook for Business series – a brief and practical pocket guide on how to get the most out of your Facebook Page, expand your business, followers community and brand recognition. To get a full picture, read also Part I – Why Consider Facebook for Business? and Part II – How to get started?

So, we’re all creatives here, and know that images and videos get a lot more attention from users than simple text posts. In fact, statistics show that the human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text. It also retains 80% of what it sees, compared to only 20% of what it reads. While this is a significant kick start for your social media planning, posting random images just for the sake of visual content is not good enough. There are tons of research done on this topic, to determine the ideal colors, fonts, key wording and other factors, backed up by psychology and general design rules. Of course, most of you have developed by now a specific photography style, or have put much thought into your brand identity (colors, fonts, etc) – but keeping in mind some of the facts described below will help you consolidate your overall brand message and achieve a stronger engagement.

So, there are five key components that make a social media image likable and shareable:

Emotions

People share what they can relate to. Each image or video that you post, has to be epic and add value to your follower’s life. It can be a depiction of a once in a lifetime moment, an honest and raw expression of a feeling, some breaking news, statistics or infographics. Just remember to keep it simple and clean. Less is more. Minimalism is so popular, since it allows users to breath and focus only on the important details. The more negative space, the more freedom to find your own meaning in the image.

Relevance

Know your audience and keep consistent with the style of your content. If most of your followers are on your page due to your worldwide adventures, don’t expect them to engage a lot with the product photoshoot that you did for a local jewelry store. This does not mean that you can’t do that photoshoot, just don’t post it, unless you are planning to enter this niche market. Instead of asking yourself if this makes sense to share, ask “will this make sense for your audience to share with their communities?” If the answer is yes, do it.

Colors

Did you know that 85% of our buying decisions depend on colors? Colors are powerful. A study, made by Georgia Tech, in which they examined over one million Pinterest images for three consecutive years, has shown that images which include Red, Pink and Purple are shared considerably more, than images that have the Green, Yellow, Blue and Black colors. However, this does not mean that you have to force these colors into your content, as it may damage your overall image. Keep them in mind, and use seldom, when trying to highlight certain details or pieces of information.
And if we speak directly about photography, with the growing popularity of VSCO and Instagram, users do respond better to certain presets. Take the time, analyze your community’s preferences, what they like and follow. Make a list of tones and colors they choose most often. See if you can incorporate that into your content without deviating from your brand’s identity.

Typography

Fonts are very important. They can influence the tone of your message, show your attitude towards certain ideas and concepts, even dictate how much time a user will spend on your blog post. When you feel lost, follow these 3 rules:
– decide on the emotion you want to express through your message (see image example bellow).
– find three fonts that fit that message. Make 3 designs: same message, different font. Compare them. If needed, ask for a second opinion.
– make sure the font is readable. Pretty fonts aren’t always practical fonts.

Also check out our post on Font Combinations.

Text

Ideally, your image already caught your audience’s attention and they paused to read more about it. All you have to do is create that further curiosity, emotional connection or maybe even controversy, to make people want to interact with your post. Time to write that inspirational, powerful story. If you don’t have one, here’s a trick – use a motivational quote. Never fails.

Two more things to keep in mind when creating your Facebook strategy. Firstly, think about timing. Depending on your audience’s location, age and occupation, figure out the best time frame to post your content, so your followers are online and up for interaction. For more insights, check our blog post on Best times to post on social media.

The second one is your brand’s voice. Adopting a human voice for your brand is our strong recommendation. Don’t speak from the third person, as a distant mysterious figure. Show your followers who stands behind the brand, don’t be afraid to share BTS photos from time to time, speak to them directly, show that you’re human, that you care and understand their needs and feelings.

Stay tuned, in our next blog post we will be discussing about advertising on Facebook, types of ads and which to pick for better results and ROI.

Good luck and have fun testing out what you’ve read so far!

Flothemes
Empowering You.