This guest post is by Dan Zarella of DanZarella.com.
Want to maximize sharing of your content on Facebook? Here are seven tips that are sure to help.
1. Publish on the weekend
Many companies block Facebook access from the office, so sharing of stories on Facebook tends to increase over the weekend. Experiment with publishing your stories on Saturday and Sunday.
2. Dig deeper into the news
Why” and “how” rank among the commonest words in the titles of most-shared blog posts. Facebook users want to get beyond the soundbite headline. They’re also fans of list-based superlatives like “best” and “most.”
3. Include specific digits
Just as Facebookers want to get beyond the headlines, they also like specific numbers. Articles with digits in them do better on Facebook than articles without them.
4. Don’t be a social media dork
Unlike Twitter users, most Facebookers are into social media for social media’s sake, they’re not social media dorks. “Google,” “iPhone,” and “Twitter” rank among the least shareable words.
5. Write simply and plainly
As the complexity of an article increase, the degree to which it gets shared on Facebook decreases. The same holds true for flowery language replete with adjectives and adverbs. Pick up a copy of The Elements of Style to help refine your writing.
6. On Facebook, sex and positivity sell
It may seem obvious, but it’s true: content with a sexual edge does well on Facebook. Of course not every brand can play that game, but there is another useful story in this data. Articles that are positive do better than negative ones.
7. Include video
Because Facebook has features that allow for easier and more engaging video sharing, articles that include videos tend to do very well on Facebook. On Twitter, not so much.
Have you found these tips to be true when you’ve shared content on Facebook? What other advice can you add?
The Facebook Marketing Book was written by Alison Zarrella and her husband Dan.
Very very interesting post. Lots of stats. But I guess one has to just experiment and see what best suits you and your particular needs.
Personal things seem to be shared a lot more on Facebook. Pictures and such also do well.
@ Robert I noticed the trend regarding personal things too…seems the more personal the stuff you share, the higher its share-ability factor.
Thanks Alison and Dan for this post.
It all makes sense to me – other than the posting on a weekend stuff. Even though some workplaces may blog facebook, I think the overall blog traffic on weekends is so much lower that it outweighs any hopes of getting shared.
I actually make a point to tell people that my weekend posts get less traffic and I publish a “Half-A$$ed Weekend” post every week since I have found my posts on Saturdays or Sundays literally get HALF the hits and comments as ones during the week. I tell my readers (in humor) that I am only going to put half the effort into weekend posts due to half the readers seeing them.
Oops.. BLOCK facebook I meant to write. Guess I really have Blogging on my mind.
Great article, I plan on implementing it in two days!!
Thanks man!
Awesome post!
Very interesting results, especially the one that shows difference between facebook and twitter users!
And thanks again for a fab post. Short, to the point, well-researched (I hope) and extremely useful.
Will definitely be picking up my copy of ‘the elements of style’. I’ve been working so hard at becoming more readable, more succinct. It’s good to know the effort is paying off (readability = more sharing).
Very very very interesting post once again. Keep up the good work.
Nice post. If you can use these trix to make ppl share on facebook, you will do it well :-)
Weekend posts are definitely shared more. I noticed that a while back when I was late with my weekly blog. The difference in response was so dramatic that I switched to the weekend, and response has been consistently higher. I’ve also found that even though controversy generates attention, it’s nothing compared to a post that people find positive and supportive.
Thanks for sharing this information. As someone who teaches and mentors organisations on how to integrate Facebook in their marketing and communications plan I also think it is important to remember what the goals is of your Facebook marketing, who are the people that you want to connect and encourage to join your Facebook community and what are they interested in.
I always try to think outside the box an offer my readers something that will make them share..like hey may friend..you got to check this out..I will try the weekend thing also..
“Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”
Posting early in the AM works for me. I’m going to experiment by creating to lists: one for the East Coast and posting it to them at 9:00AM EST and another for the West Coast and posting it to them at 9:00AM PST. But I will test posting on the weekend…thanx!
I have to agree with Simple Dude — any post I write or promote on the weekend gets half the hits of one I post/promote during the week. The rest of the info is fascinating though — great article!
This is so true! Positivity and productivity sell like hot cakes on Facebook for me. And my most popular article on Facebook? Can I get a consensus – Which accent do you think is the sexiest?
I got 50 comments in the first hour.
This post is rad by the way.
x
Oh and I agree with Heather also, weekends are terrible for my blog, through Facebook hits and all other hits too. My readership consists of mainly females from 20 to beyond and I read a statistic that this group is the least likely to use the internet out of office hours and through general observation I have to agree.
Good post, In my experience I have seen my articles with numbers being tweeted and shared more frequently than articles without numbers or digits.
Hey, what about the obvious… Humor. Everyone wants to laugh.
Absolutely loving the stats. Because of Facebook’s nature though, most bloggers starting out only have family and friends as their audience. Would there be a way to effectively gather more professional “friends” on Facebook?
Dan
Do you think the numbers are reflective of the deeper relationships that tend to exist on FB vs Twitter. Due to the nature of the platform we are able to share more but we see where people were previously connected at some other point and are reconnecting. There is more of a trust value that comes with reconnecting as opposed to connecting with someone that you met on Twitter or at a conference. The relationships are deeper. Does this transfer over to brands that we like? It seems like it should as we trust the person who is saying that the like it.
Just curious if you found that in your research.
Fascinating info, love your stuff
I have noticed the weekend sharing boom. I try to target some exclusive content/premieres on Friday because weekend sharing is strong and can actually bring in some traffic to make up for the usual weekend traffic dip.
Maybe weekend vs. weekdays depend on your audience/market? I also found the differences between facebook and twitter users fascinating. And as for The Elements of Style, yes, that book truly changed my style.
Okay, use simple words (at grade 2 level) with lots of style (presumably there is substance) and throw in numbers and popular keywords from a social media networking context. Throw in videos. Add sex appeal. Publish on weekends. Will get 72.38% more shared on Facebook.
I spend a lot of time working for clients on Facebook and some of our blog posts get 50 shares and more time that I spend there the more I see it as a completely different audience to anything else online. We sit here on blogs and Twitter and talk about tech and tweets and sharing etc but people on Facebook couldn’t care less about that sort of stuff as you say. They like stuff or share it because it is good content or funny. Simple as that. Some brands spend 10s of thousands trying to get traction on Facebook and it doesn’t work wheras others do something in an hour that spreads all over the place. Facebook is a different animal to the rest of the web when it comes to sharing
I wonder about the weekday readers who are accessing FB from their smart phone. I’m on FB several times a day, but not from a computer.
This looks like a theory that will have to be tested. So to re-cap. Post Sat or Sun, make a how to or who post, include sex and video. Mmmm see what we can come up with.
Pete
Hi Dan,
Thank you for taking the time to research these stats.
Numbers 5, 6, and 7 were particularly disturbing. They point to the same thing we see everywhere.
The full-bore dumbing down of the culture is, for lack of a better word, Interesting.
Obviously, this must be creatively exploited ;-)
Yes, my negativity breaks number 6. But we’re all adults here; we can take it.
But honestly, I am shocked that I could be wildly popular by keeping things at a 2nd grade reading level in an arena populated by teens and young adults. And older.
As Dilbert so brilliantly intoned, “We’re doomed, aren’t we?”
Rick
Seems as if Twitter users were labeled as “dorks” in #4. That’s always good for readership…
This is a really good post and it comes at a really good time for me. I’m experimenting with facebook and trying to figure out the best way to tap into those 500 million people.
Although Facebook is the first social website now, i couldn’t make good traffic to my blog from it.
can any one tell me why ???
i tried the first tip and use less…… i will be mad man soon.
How interesting. I usually post during the week and am targeting women in 35-50 age range. I will have to pay attention to which posts are shared and when from now on.
My eyes are open.
Much of this makes sense to me and is simple to try. I’ll certainly be refining what small business web design content I share on Facebook vs. Twitter. And how I share it too.
Far fewer video links on Twitter from here on out.
Thanks,
+Ralston
Thanks for sharing this information. As someone who teaches and mentors organisations on how to integrate Facebook in their marketing and communications plan I also think it is important to remember what the goals is of your Facebook marketing, who are the people that you want to connect and encourage to join your Facebook community and what are they interested in.
So it’s important to analyse what works for your community and when it works do more of it!
Very usefull article. I am going to try to post more frequently trough the weekend!
This with the video and the sex words works. I could comfirm it :)
I’ve noticed videos are shared faster on Facebook than Twitter…
Nice work!,
David Edwards
Smart post, and something I’m going to be working in in coming weeks. Thanks to @GemmaWent for sharing on Twitter.
Thanks for the great tips!! Point 1 is very new to us and we will try to follow the same for our site too! Keep Rocking!!
I don’t know that I was really writing posts “To” get shared on FB. I just share my blog posts with my readers as a rule. BUT- then I noticed when I type in my Facebook blog page in the FB search bar – along with the options to choose from it will tell me how many people have shared those particular posts.
I’ve seen some being shared by 12-29 users. That got my interest. And you’re article just shared some nice “strategic” ways to purposely write a post TO get shared. Thank you!
This thing matter a bit……….first thing is content quality…these things comes after…….
I’m guessing this was a really awesome post… when the photos worked! Something glitched here, guys.
My experience with posting success and FB, either posting late Sunday night or early (before noon) Mon-Wed. It starts to drop off Thur and Fri and, as stated above, about half as much on the weekend.
Thanks for the great tips. As a newbie blogger I really need to take advantage of social media and this really helps.
Great tips! I’ve never thought about publishing on the weekend. I always try to publish mid week around 8am Mountain Time and just assume that will get me the most visibility and in turn shared on Facebook. It never really occurred to me that a lot of places of business block Facebook and other social sites and could limit the sharability.
Posting at the weekend is a fantastic idea! I never thought of that before but it makes so much more sense.
Very informative post. Great job. I love reading Problogger articles!!!!
Darren is my blogging hero :)
My experience is that I get almost NO traffic from Friday-Sunday. I try to avoid posting anything I really want to be read on those days. I think the best publishing days probably vary greatly depending on the topic of your blog. Since I have a Christian blog, I know that I will have very few readers on a Sunday. Knowing our audience will help us a lot!
Blessings,
Mel
Please feel free to stop by: Trailing After God
For me, since most of my followers are moms, I get the greatest hits Tuesday – Thursday. I do well on Fridays, but Saturdays and Sundays are always down. I attribute it to the moms being busy with their children during the weekends.
Very interesting post. I always share things on Facebook Mon-Fri but never on the weekend! I need to see what happens if I do!
I have noticed that in the past year, I have been getting quite a bit less traffic from Twitter and quite a bit more from Facebook. It seems that Facebook users are more ‘click happy’ than those on Twitter. I think people are reading the live tweet stream less than before and are becoming increasingly engaged on Facebook. Come to think of it, I clicked on this blog post from Facebook and never would have noticed it on Twitter.
I liked it. Thank you for big information about social media.
And also, I’d like to see more about marketing on Facebook Pages.
Thanks!
Great tips out there but right here in my country, i do get more traffic from Facebook on week days compared to weekends. I guess its because most companies here have not been blocking Facebook and most cyber cafes remain open on week days too compared to weekends…
This post couldn’t have come at a better time! My husband and I have recently been talking about how our informative posts that we share on FB don’t really seem to draw much attention, and we often joke that if we posted something about Snooki or anything Jersey Shore related it would receive much more attention.
But after reading this post, I can see some of the places we have been going wrong, in terms of the day/time that we post something as well as using words such as “how” in the titles.
Thanks for the great tips! I
P.S. I have an Amazon gift card from Christmas that I’ve been holding onto because I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but after this great post I’m thinking that I want to use it to buy “The Facebook Marketing Book”