How to write engaging social media posts?

Margaret Marton, Social Media & Community Specialist

Let’s assume that you maintain a business account. You’re probably wondering how to write a post on FB so that it’s interesting to your audience and your fans not only read your posts, but also like, comment and share the content you create. Why is this important? That’s because Facebook’s algorithm promotes interesting messages. How does it catch them? Paying attention to how many likes (reactions), comments or shares posts have. In addition, it also captures the quality of discussion under posts. So it’s worth creating content that encourages discussion, preferably multi-threaded.

Remember, however, that there is no single golden rule for running a profile and how to write the most engaging posts on FB. You just have to get to know your fans and see what they like best. The simplest and most expensive solution to ensure high reach and engagement is to promote posts. However, it requires having a budget and knowing how to do it most effectively. Besides, even promoted content, if interesting, will reach even more fans. There are a few universal rules of thumb that should work for most profiles and are worth testing for yourself.

Also consider that your content needs to stand out among many others. So play around with different formats, colors, graphics or content.This increases the chance that fans are more likely to follow your profile. Interesting posts are also more engaging, and engaged fans are potential customers. But which formats and content considered most effective?

Engaging posts on FB – formats

As you already know, there are many formats to choose from and it’s best to bet on variety and see what “clicks” best on your profile. The format is primarily meant to make users curious about your post among the many pieces of content on the feed. Bet first and foremost on movies. Facebook created Facebook Watch some time ago and promotes content in the form of video. The idea is to keep users on the platform as long as possible. In addition, the videos are attractive because they are… moving. And movement attracts the eye. As we scroll through the feed, there is a greater likelihood that among the variety of content, it is the video that will catch our attention, watch it to the end, and maybe even like, comment or share it. It’s also worth thinking about animations and boomerangs that will stand out in the feed.

Another interesting post in terms of the format is the so-called “The Post”. long post Facebook. It’s a post with a custom, elongated format that you have to click on to read the content in its entirety. So you can encourage fans to click on it to learn more or see the whole picture, such as a hidden product discount. It all depends on your creativity and what you want to show. Such a post is sure to prove interesting and engage the audience, and the algorithm will catch it as “clickable” and show it to more people. Another interesting format that encourages engagement is the carousel. It involves inserting a number of tiles with photos and short content and a call to action (e.g., “Click here”) on each one. Tiles can be easily scrolled through. The easiest way to do this is to create a product carousel, where each photo will show a product from your offer. You can also describe the rules of the promotion in this way. Another, more creative idea, is to create a visual or textual story to encourage you to look at each tile.

Don’t skip the seemingly “uninteresting” formats! Although it is believed that text alone without a picture is of little interest, sometimes going against the grain pays off. A good example is Netflix, which often makes text posts that engage audiences. Another example is the photo gallery. These posts often have few likes. However, quite a few people click on each of the photos. Even if they don’t leave a like or comment under any of them, Facebook’s algorithm will capture every click and rate the post as engaging and therefore worth displaying to more people. In addition, the galleries can be arranged in an interesting way, for example, so that each photo of a detail forms a whole, or some information can be included in each photo in the gallery, which will encourage you to look through all the photos just like in a carousel.

And which formats to use less frequently? Typically, posts with links to, for example, blog articles or YouTube are less popular. Deliberately reducing the reach of posts with links is a myth (except for links to YouTube, because Facebook wants to compete with that platform and cares about people watching videos on Facebook), as it is the fans themselves who are not too interested in such posts.

The reason? Getting to the full content requires more effort and switching to another platform. People are also reluctant to read long texts. Hence, there is less interest in such content. What else is worth keeping in mind in terms of visual posts? They need to stand out, so any fun not only with the format, but also with colors or fonts is advisable. And how do you make your posts engaging in terms of content?

Engaging posts – content

Start with simple ways. First of all, it’s a good idea to ask questions in the content of your posts. When advertising different shades of lipstick, you can ask at the end which color your audience likes best. Or you can describe some more complex phenomenon and encourage your audience to discuss it. It is important to remember that such a question should be genuinely interesting and not forced. Then the chance grows that the recipients will decide to share their opinion in the comments.

It’s also a good idea to play with words both in the content of posts and in graphics. This is another way to attract the attention of Facebook users inundated with content. In addition, it is worth separating parts of the text with emoticons – then it is easier to read the text. Remember, however, not to overdo it 😉

An effective way to engage your audience is all kinds of games, rebus or puzzles. This can be, for example, a crossword puzzle that involves finding the names of your products among random letters, or a crossword puzzle. One option is to ask fans to complete a sentence or ask them which of the two versions/options shown in the graphic they would choose.There are many ideas, and such posts are usually very popular. If you ask a riddle or publish a rebus or a crossword puzzle, don’t forget to encourage your audience to write the correct answer in the comments!

If you’re up to date with what’s happening on the “internets,” try using memes to communicate. It’s easy to create them yourself. Inspiration can come from images already circulating on the web or just… life. We like to laugh at ourselves, so memes that you can identify with are especially popular. Such content is often liked, commented on and shared.

If you’re up to date with current events, take advantage of this in your communications. All kinds of high-profile and well-known events can inspire a post. Remember that RTM (Real Time Marketing) posts can be planned in advance. This applies to posts that refer to annual events, such as sports. Such posts do not have to be particularly creative. It’s enough, for example, to make wishes for Cat Day or Pizza Day. Keep in mind, however, that it is worthwhile for the post to relate to your brand.

As you can see, the ways to engage your fans are many. We hope that our ideas for engaging posts will inspire you to experiment with form and content, which will bring you many loyal fans. If you need support in managing your company’s social media account, our specialists will be happy to help you 😊 Contact us!