How to Create an Effective Facebook Content Strategy

Are you having a hard time figuring out what to post and how often to post on your Facebook page?

Which posts work best for your audience? ?

How can you optimize these top-performing posts?

Many business owners need help when it comes to creating an effective Facebook content strategy.

This is especially true with Facebook’s organic reach decline.

In January 2018, Mark Zuckerberg announced that they want users to have more meaningful social interactions.

Because of that, people will now be able to see more content from their friends, family, and groups, rather than from brands.

Knowing this, it’s essential to plan a Facebook posting strategy to ensure that…

You create awesome content that resonates with your audience
Your Facebook posts show up at the right time (when your fans are online!)

Most importantly, your strategy should help you achieve your business goals. Such goals could include increasing awareness of your brand and generating more leads and sales.

In today’s guide, we’re going to show you how to create a Facebook content strategy that works! Keep reading.

What Makes a Successful Facebook Post?

There is no perfect post on Facebook.

For example, a business from the same niche could post an image quote while yours is a link to your latest blog content. While you’ve used different formats, both your Facebook posts received high engagement levels!

The reality is, successful Facebook posts share some things in common. We’re about to show you the elements that make any Facebook content stand out.

1. Connects with its target audience

A winning post has the ability to interest potential customers or clients.

With that said, you need to understand your target market. You don’t want to waste time and resources on content that doesn’t address their needs.

Ask questions such as:

What do they care about?
What problems does my business solve?
What keeps them awake at night?
What are my competitors’ top-performing topics?

2. Generates engagement

Do you optimize your posts for better engagement?

Engagement refers to a person’s interaction with your post in the form of reactions, shares, and comments.

Increasing your engagement matters because the more engagement your post has, the higher its organic reach. Here are some post ideas that help boost engagement:

Ask a question. When you ask questions, they should be relevant to your audience’s problem. Below is a good example from Sam Ovens:

Tap into live video. Going live on Facebook boosts engagement since people can interact with you in real-time. You can hold Q&As, tutorials, or do interviews.
Post fill-in-the-blanks. Fill-in-the-blank posts encourage your audience to share their ideas. For example, “My favorite place to hang out is ______”

3. Contains clear and compelling copy

An effective Facebook content strategy should include good writing.

It doesn’t matter what your Facebook post is about. Whether you’re sharing a photo of your team outing or an announcement about a product, keep your writing clear and interesting!

Before you write, know what action you want people to take or how you want them to feel. Should your post motivate them? Excite them? Make them feel like they’re missing out?

Use simple language. Avoid business jargon because it alienates people. Write like you’re talking to a friend. Focus on your audience, not on your business.

4. Is positive or inspirational

When it comes to emotions, you attract more people by taking a positive approach. Meaning, your content is encouraging and makes your audience feel good about themselves!

Here’s an example of a Facebook post by Dave Asprey that generates positive emotions:

Positivity does not only spark interaction, but it also enhances brand perception. But be careful not to go overboard because it can make you appear inauthentic!

5. Maintains your brand voice

Each time you communicate with your audience, you are showing your brand voice.

Brand voice refers to the way you select your words. It reflects your personality and it’s what makes people recognize you as a brand.

Your voice will also allow you to easily engage in casual conversations with your audience! For example, when you respond to their comments on Facebook or post a quick announcement.

When creating your Facebook content strategy, be sure to let your team members know that you should maintain a consistent brand voice. This is especially true if several people write content on your Facebook page.

If you haven’t established your brand voice yet, ask yourself these questions:

1. How would I describe my brand in 3 words?

For example, friendly, honest, and passionate

2. What am I not?

For example, bossy, inappropriate, and fond of using swear words

3. How does my audience communicate?

Pay attention to what your fans sound like when they engage with you or another brand in your niche. Are they formal? Easygoing?

The Best Times to Post Your Facebook Content

Now that you have an idea about the kind of content to share, let’s talk about timing. A lot of businesses still haven’t figured out the best time to post on Facebook.

Keep this in mind:

When you post matters as much as your post (because this helps your Facebook content receive high engagement and improve your overall results?)

If you try to do some research, you’ll find plenty of studies that reveal optimal posting times. For instance, Buffer did a study that revealed that the best time to post is between 1 pm – 3 pm on weekdays and Saturdays.

Meanwhile, Hubspot identifies 9 am as the best time regardless of the industry, since it’s when people go online for the first time. They also identify Thursday to Sunday as the best days.

So, when should you post? Is there really a single best time?

Let’s cut to the chase: The short answer is no, there’s no universal best time.

The data presented above are general guidelines that may help – although they’re not definitive.

But a smart approach you could use is to look at your existing data inside Facebook. Here, we rely on Facebook Insights.

Using Facebook Insights

To get started, click Insights on top of your Facebook page.

In the left-hand column, click Posts. This will show you When Your Fans Are Online. Notice that the chart below breaks down the days of the week and times within a day our audience is active.

Based on the chart, you can see that here at Connectio, more people are online on Wednesdays. Notice that the number of people who go online increases from 3 am – 9 am.

Scheduling your Facebook posts during your “peak hours” allows you to confirm if people engage more with your posts during these hours. After you try it for a couple of times, try posting during off-peak hours. Compare the results.

Important: Always check the time zone when experimenting with different times for your Facebook posts.

How to Know Which Posts Are Working Well

Another way that Facebook Insights helps with your Facebook content strategy is that it tells you which posts got the best results.

Under Post Types, you can see that our link posts have reached more people, but it’s our videos that generated the highest clicks and engagement.

If you scroll down to All Posts Published, you will be able to see the reach and engagement for each post. These details also help you determine what kind of content resonates most with your audience.

So you can make these performing posts your inspiration for creating similar ones in the future.

How to Optimize the Posts That Perform Best

Anyone who creates a Facebook content strategy wants one thing, and that is to help good content gain maximum results.

To do that, many people opt to click the “boost post” button. Boosting a post can be done in All Posts Published, as you can see in the screenshot below.

One would usually boost a post that received high engagement. But while the boost post option improves your reach, it may not be the smartest move.

There are downsides to boosting your post.

One is that you cannot get granular with your targeting. Another is that you’ll have to manually sift through your posts to determine which ones are worth boosting. This process can be time-consuming.

Using ConnectAutomate to Take Your Facebook Content to the Next Level

If you want to go beyond simply clicking boost post and drive more impact from your best content, use ConnectAutomate.

ConnectAutomate makes it extremely easy to promote Facebook content with the highest engagement. It allows you to automatically create Facebook ads out of your best organic Facebook posts.

You can set very specific rules as to which posts to promote, for example:

Posts with a share rate of greater than 10%
Posts that got more than 15 reactions
Posts with an organic reach of more than 50

Best of all, ConnectAutomate helps you optimize your posts for more conversions. It’s a must-have for your Facebook content strategy! ?

Final Thoughts

A successful Facebook content marketing strategy entails knowing the right posts to create, the right time to promote them, and maximizing their exposure.

Ready to put your knowledge into practice? How’s your current strategy on Facebook? Let us know in the comments section below.