How to Write Great Facebook Content - Social Media & Coffee

One of the biggest tricks to market your brand and product well through social media, is the art of “blending in.”

Think about it. Why are people on social media?

Ultimately, they are there to build relationships. However, they’ve also chosen the certain social media platform to be on because they enjoy it.

Each social media platform has its own look, language and culture. Some support lots of text; some require compelling photos. This is called NATIVE CONTENT.

What is native on Facebook, is not necessarily native on Instagram. They are a little bit different, and your audience expects to see content that blends in.

Today we are going to talk about Facebook specifically, and what kind of posts are NATIVE there.

Now, I’m going to start out with a bit of a letdown. There is no “exact formula” for what is native on Facebook. But, I guarantee you that you can see when content is and is not native in your NewsFeed. There are some similarities that we can consider.

Ultimately, you are on Facebook to sell your product, whatever it may be. However, your audience is not. They are there to be entertained, get information, read an interesting story, or connect with a friend.

Generally, it’s pleasurable for them to be scrolling through their NewsFeed, taking it all in.

Your posts must fit in.

If your posts “fit in” to the experience people are looking for by coming to Facebook, they will consume your content, see it, and read it. If your posts do not fit in, it kind of jars your audience out of the experience they were looking for and they are repelled by it.

Kind of like those annoying pop up ads when you are looking at a website. I can guarantee you that you are NOT generally happy that they popped up and interrupted your reading of an article. It jarred you out of the experience you were looking for, and you were annoyed.

We don’t want to have that same affect on our audience on Facebook!

#1: Post compelling visuals.

People scroll quickly through their NewsFeed. Catching their eye is mandatory. Whether you are posting a photo, a graphic that you have created, or a video – make it as great as you can!

I would challenge you to even make your Facebook Live videos look great! I recently scrolled through my feed and saw a certain site that regularly does Facebook Live. I paused for a minute simply because I was shocked at how BAD it looked! It was a stuffy setting at a desk, with headphones on, in an unattractive/ messy office and the people were just blathering.

Even in Live video – give some thought to what your video looks like. Are you filming in an attractive and clean setting? Did you comb your hair?? (tough love, here.)

Don’t get bogged down and obsessed with the details on this point, but know that GREAT visuals matter on Facebook. Catch people’s attention – in a good way!

#2. Speak conversationally, not sales-y.

Nobody likes for a conversation to start with a sales pitch. Back down, my friends.

I’ve talked before about a rhythm of “gives” and “asks” on your page. And you should, in general, ask something of your audience (or sell your product) only every 4th post or so.

But even in your “ask” posts, be conversational! Remember, people are scrolling through – reading funny comments from their friends, looking at vacation photos from an acquaintance – fit in by being conversational.

#3. Let your photos be photos.

If you have coupons for your products, do not put a printable coupon as your photo. Yuck.

I have seen this often, and this is a perfect example of a post that does not seamlessly blend into my NewsFeed!

If you want to have coupons, great! But don’t put content in your Facebook photo that you expect people to print out. Better to provide a link in your text to where people can receive your printable or download your coupon.

(Better yet, ask something of them in order to receive it! Have them subscribe to your email list in order to download a coupon.)

#4. Limit your text length.

Though Facebook is not Twitter, where you are limited in number of characters, you still need to keep your text short and to the point.

As we said, people are scrolling quickly. They will not read a novel.

Tip: If you have that much to say, consider breaking that one post up into a series of posts on the topic. See if you can create 3-4 posts out of that same information, keeping each one succinct.

#5. Finally, ask yourself these questions when creating Facebook posts.

Is the photo attractive and high quality?
Is there too much text in the posts?
Is this post actually interesting?
Are we asking our customers to do too much?
Have we made it easy for them to participate in the conversation?

You can have great content for your business, but you have to keep in mind the nuances of the social media platform you are using. Once you are posting content that blends in, you can start to easily build relationships with people that see your posts, participate in them, and are excited about your brand!