Tips for creating a good Facebook post

Intro

Posting on Facebook can be as easy as typing up some content and clicking post. Creating a Facebook post that accomplishes your goals will probably take a little more work... Here are four tips to include in a Facebook post that will get you clicks and keep your audience engaged!

1. Don't write too much

Keep it short! If you feel the need to write an essay to get your point across, include it as a link to the post rather than as the actual content. People get bored; allow your readers to decide if they want to read your content. Boring them defeats the purpose. The ideal post length is between 80-160 characters for longer posts and 40 characters or fewer for a shorter post. If you can't think of short posts, try asking a question, or making a brief statement. Remember, the shorter the better!

2. Have an obvious Call-to-Action (CTA)

Know what you want your post to accomplish. People shouldn't have to guess what you want them to do. Do you want a like, a comment, a share, a link click, or something else? If engagement is your goal, don't be scared to ask for it! Some ways to ask for engagement are by asking a question, ask for a response to a fill-in-the-blank question, ask for a photo caption, or ask people to pick A, B, or C. If you give people something to do, they will be more likely to engage with your content.

3. Provide some value

People are busy, provide them some value. When people scroll rapidly through their feeds they stop at what interests them. Post content that interests your users but is also relevant to your field. Why do people follow you? What interests them? What would they like to know more about? Think about the answers to questions like these when determining how to add value to the people that come across your post. If you can make someone who reads your post exclaim "Wow, I didn't know that!" by providing them some information only you or people who are very experienced in your field know, by all means, do it!

4. Avoid over-promoting

Please please please don't make your page ad central! People download ad blockers for a reason :) Even if people don't block ads on Facebook, they can still unfollow your page. How do you promote your brand without losing followers? The trick is to balance promotional and non-promotional content. A good number to shoot for is a 30-70 mix of promotional content (links to your website) and value-added content (mentioned earlier). You can also use humor, when appropriate. Don't post anything offensive, but people always appreciate something funny.

Conclusion

To sum it all up, the best Facebook posts are short, have a clear CTA, add value, and aren't overly promotional. Hopefully, implementation of these four simple tips brings your Facebook pages great success. Good luck!

About the Author

Nikith Deo is the Digital Marketing intern for Sparrow Marketing. He is a senior marketing student at San Jose State University.