Today I’m going to show you just how important creative graphics are within Facebook. Two weeks ago Facebook made an announcement to the community by stating the following:
“Page admins can expect a decrease in the distribution of their text status updates, but they may see some increases in engagement and distribution for other story types.” http://newsroom.fb.com/News/787/News-Feed-FYI-What-Happens-When-You-See-More-Updates-from-Friends
The summary of the article for fan pages was that text based statuses won’t be getting the exposure they use to. They want us to power pack every status with something of extreme value, statuses we’d be willing to advertise with. So what are the other options?
We can use Links, Videos, and Pictures in our statuses to bring engagement. In Facebook’s article they use links as an alternative to regular text based statuses.
Why links are better than regular text:
Facebook rewards helpful resource. When someone likes, comments, or shares your article obviously it’s bringing value to those who see it. Facebook wants that kind of content and therefore will reward you with more exposure. What brings that link more engagement is a picture from within that article that Facebook embeds into your status. The Facebook article mentions this as well within their last algorithm update.
“The best way to share a link after this update will be to use a link-share, so it looks like the one below. We’ve found that, as compared to sharing links by embedding in status updates, these posts get more engagement (more likes, comments, shares and clicks) and they provide a more visual and compelling experience for people seeing them in their feeds.”
Facebook understands that visual works so much better than plain text from a fan-page. It’s why they’re rewarding more exposure to those who use enriching graphics to express their message.
Ian Cleary of Razor Social agrees with this in an interview we had by stating the following:
“The highest engagement we get on posts is when we include really good imagery within the post. Our focus is social media tools and technology so we create graphical based tips on this using a tool called Canva. These tips do very well on Facebook but are also shared to other social platforms such as Pinterest. It’s really important to have a visual strategy for social media and there are some great tools that can help with this.”
Why Graphics Are Better than Normal Text Statuses:
Oreo is a great example of why graphics are better than normal text statuses. The last time they used a text based status was on May 31, 2012 and it read this:
The very next status was picture based and here were the results:
The results were mind blowing, and ever since then they have not used a text based status. I don’t blame them. Sharpie is another good example of an high engaging community. The last text based status was created on Jan 1st, 2013 and it read:
The status after that:
Let’s get a closer look at those results:
You see what I’m saying? These fan pages have taken their product and have made it a show piece and something creatively brandable. Facebook knows it’s users love this and they want to fill our news feed with statuses like this:
Not this:
Sharpie has a fan base of 4 million compared to Walmart who has a fan base of 34 million, but Sharpie is getting way better results than Walmart. Is it money you think? I’m afraid not. Walmart is a humongous company with a way larger advertising budget, but Sharpie is getting the engagement. Why is Sharpie, Oreo, and these smaller companies getting all this engagement? They use way more graphics in a creative manner.
Here’s an example of text, video, and simple:
Text Based Status:
Video Based Status:
Picture Based Status:
These statuses were published in the order you see them here, and once again the picture wins.
So what’s THE best status to use?
This depends on the product/service that you sell, but I would definitely focus on your product/service more than your status type. What’s the most effective? I think the real question is what can you afford? 5 great graphics may equal the cost of one video, and their reach may be better as well. A visual is a must, and the more thought behind will show in your engagement. Hiring a design artist or becoming one is a must.
If you can ever make your product a display piece like the companies we have mentioned here you will do good and grow your page amazingly.
I understand that not every business will reach as many as others, but they can improve. You can always be more creative and you must if you want to stay on the Facebook bandwagon. I hope you the best on your business venture and remember engagement wins every time with great visual imagery.
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