It’s so easy as a business owner to jump on the newest trends on social media. But, are they effective for YOUR ideal audience? That is a question many business owners could be asking and based on results – I am guessing they are not. It is very simple to test – and this blog post will give you some ideas for how to do just that.

Here are a few options you might not be considering…

1.      To automate or not to automate. Automation tools can make it easier to get your message out to many platforms. Most of the research shows them to be less effective, but you have to look at your insights to discover for yourself.

1b. To hashtag or not to hashtag – This is similar to the automation – in fact, so similar, I don’t need to explain any more. Do your posts with hashtags or without hashtags drive more engagement? Post accordingly.

How to test:

Use your automation tool to post as usual. But, sprinkle in some native Facebook posts – even if you schedule those directly on the platform. Do this for a couple weeks and look at the results. What is the reach of the posts from the scheduler compared to the native posts? Then, adjust accordingly if needed.

2.      What time of day is best to post? Ask the internet and you will get dozens of different opinions about the answer to that question. The answer lies in YOUR audience and not the experts! Also, be aware of your audience and the weather and world events. For example, in the Seattle area, it’s nearly a waste of time to post on Sunday afternoons during football season – unless you are talking about the Seahawks.

How to test:

Vary the times of day you post and check the reach. It’s also important to share that every time I’ve ever found a pattern, the random 9 p.m. post could also get engagement. It does start to feel random, but this is a tip that can help you a ton.

3.      How often should you be posting on your page? Again, the “experts” are all over the place on this.

How to test:

Take a screen shot of your insights and then test. Post once a day, twice a day, three times a week – it doesn’t really matter what frequency you choose but be consistent. That’s MOST important. Then, watch your page reach. Does increasing your number of posts help your reach? That will be a good indicator.

4.      What kind of content is the most effective? Facebook likes variety – so posting different kinds of posts is important. What does that mean? Photos, text only, links, videos. They could and likely should be part of your content strategy.

How to test:

This is the hardest one of all! I hear people say all the time, “I post and no one ever comments.” Sometimes, I look and see they aren’t commenting because you aren’t asking a question. Facebook’s algorithm likes content that gets comments! (and shares!) But, they aren’t as focused on what gets likes. This one may take the longest to test – but experiment with different things. Also important to note that even if no one comments, it is making a difference. There are a lot of people who lurk on Facebook – so even if they never acknowledge you, they are there and likely listening. Also, Facebook posts help your google search results.

5.      Are people visiting your website or event listings as a result of what you post? This one isn’t as much a test as a report you can check. Look at your google analytics. Are people visiting your website from Facebook? I would be willing to bet that if you adjust the first three items in this post, you will see better results in your analytics.

I know this is a lot to pay attention to. Slight shifts can make the world of difference!

As a side note, if this is something you struggle with or would like some additional help with – creating content that creates community and improves engagement is one of my superpowers!