review strategies-for-effective-facebook-wall-posts retail

DATA REPORT

A STATISTICAL REVIEW FOR THE RETAIL INDUSTRY:

STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE FACEBOOK WALL POSTS

© 2011 Buddy Media Inc. Proprietary and Confidentialwww.buddymedia.com [email protected]

Table of Contents

I Introduction and Methodology…Page 3

II Best Time to Post for Retail Industry: Post When Customers are Listening…Page 4

III Best Day to Post for Retail Industry: Post When Customers are Engaged…Page 5

IV Retailer Daily Post Frequency: Limit Posts to Two a Day…Page 6

V Retailer Weekly Post Frequency: Don’t Exceed Four Posts a Week…Page 7

VI Retailer Ideal Post Length: Keep Posts Concise…Page 8

VII Retail Post Content: Ask Questions to Get Customers Talking…Page 9

VIII Retail Post Structure: Use Fill in the Blank Posts…Page 10

IX Consumer Offer-Related Keywords: Offer “$ Off” and Coupons to Increase

Fan Engagement…Page 11

X Coupon Offers: Don’t Make Customers Do the Math…Page 12

XI Retail Post Attachments: Keep Posts Simple…Page 13

XII Conclusion…Page 14

XII Appendix: Study Parameters…Page 14

© 2011 Buddy Media Inc. Proprietary and Confidentialwww.buddymedia.com [email protected] 3

Introduction

This statistical review, powered by Buddy Media, is designed specifically to help retail brands lead, maximize and leverage their Facebook presences to connect with consumers. This study tracks the key variables that influence the performance of retail brand Posts. In particular, we focus on the two variables of most concern to retail brands:

WHEN retailers should post, and

WHAT content to post.

The findings highlight key strategies retail brands can implement when posting to their Walls in order to stay on the top of the Facebook News Feed, such as when to post, how frequently to post and how best to incorporate attachments.

The data and Post strategies in this statistical review are specific to the retail industry.

Methodology

Buddy Media analyzed user engagement of Facebook Wall Posts from nearly 100 of the world’s largest and most prestigous retail brands during a six month period from January 1 through June 30, 2011. Three primary success metrics were reviewed in relation to retail brand Wall Posts.

Success Metrics:

‘Like’ Rate: number of ‘likes’ as a percentage of fan base

Comment Rate: number of Comments as a percentage of fan base

Engagement Rate: a combination of the above factoring in fan base size


An overwhelming majority of retail brand Posts (89%) are published at times when users are traditionally the most “busy” – between 8 AM and 7 PM (ET). During “non-busy” hours though, Facebook fans likely have more time to focus on brands’ status updates, which may be why the data shows fans are 20% more likely to engage with retail brand Posts made between 8 PM and 7 AM.

To generate increased ‘likes’ and Comments, retail brands should post when fans are listening most, during “non-busy” hours. Use a publisher tool to schedule retail brand Posts to automatically post outside of work hours, between 8 PM and 7 AM.

Best Time to Post for Retail Industry:Post When Customers are Listening

Posts made between 8 PM and 7 AM receive 20 more user engagement.

INBOX

INBOX

INBOX

Non-Busy Hours (8 PM - 7 AM)Busy Hours (8 AM - 7 PM)


Our data reveals that Facebook user engagement varies over the course of a week – and that the retail industry is not keeping pace with their fans’ Facebook preferences. While retail brands tend to post on Facebook evenly throughout the work week and less frequently on the weekend, user engagement with Posts spikes on Wednesdays and Sundays.

The data reveals that, overall, Wednesday is the best day for retail brands to post on Facebook, while Friday is the worst day. On “hump day,” fans engage with Facebook Post content 8% above average. In addition, retail fans tend to engage more with Posts made outside of traditional workdays. While posting on weekends may be challenging for brands not using a publisher tool, brands can leverage weekend Posts to connect with fans when their competition is not.

Best Day to Post for Retail Industry: Post When Customers are Engaged

On Wednesdays, fan engagement is 8 above average.0%

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Engagement Rate Variance % of Brand Posts


It’s quality, not quantity, that counts when it comes to retail brand Wall Posts. Data indicates that Facebook user engagement decreases as the frequency of retail brand Posts increases during a given day.

Overall, engagement rates are 40% higher when there are less than three Posts a day from a given brand. One or two retail brand Posts receive 32% higher ‘like’ rates and 73% higher Comment rates. Users tend to engage with one or two Posts a day – so make less frequent, but higher quality Posts.

Retail brands should only consider posting frequently during a given day if the Posts contain exclusive content – for example, highlighting a sale that changes throughout the day.

Retailer Daily Post Frequency:Limit Posts to Two a Day

Posting one to two times per day produces 40 higher user engagement.

WEDWED WEDWED

1-2 Posts/Day3+ Posts/Day


Retailer Weekly Post Frequency:Don’t Exceed Four Posts a Week

SUN

WED

SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT SAT

Again, it’s quality, not quantity, that counts when it comes to retail brand Posts. The data indicates that Facebook user engagement decreases drastically as the frequency of retail brand Posts increases during a given week.

Achieve maximum user engagement by not overcrowding users’ News Feeds with too many Posts during the week. Posting one to four times produces 71% higher user engagement than five or more Posts in a given week for retail brands.

Posting one to four times per week produces 71 higher user engagement.

1-4 Posts/Week5+ Posts/Week


Retailer Ideal Post Length:Keep Posts Concise

Our research shows that there is a strong negative correlation between Post length and engagement for the retail industry – the longer the Post length, the less engaging fans find it. When posting, don’t overwrite – concise copy increases readablity and consumption.

Retail brand Wall Posts less than 80 characters in length receive 66% higher engagement than longer Posts. Very concise Posts – those between one and 40 characters – generate highest engagement. Only 5% of all retail brand Wall Posts are less than 40 characters in length, even though these receive 86% higher fan engagement.

S.S. SHORT POST

S.S.

LO

NG P

OST

S.S.

LO

NG P

OST

VOYAGE ONTHE SEA OF ENGAGEMENT

Posts with 80 characters or less receive 66 higher engagement.

1-80 Characters81+ Characters


Retail Post Content:Ask Questions to Get Customers Talking

To begin a dialogue with fans, ask questions. Although retail brand Wall Posts containing questions receive slightly lower overall user engagement (‘likes’ and Comments), this type of Post generates more than double the amount of Comments as “non-question” Posts. Retail brands looking to get fans talking (i.e., increase their Post Comment rates) should use “question” Posts.

To drive Comments, ask a direct question and ask for the response. Ask fans to “post,” “comment” or “tell” you something – fans will listen and respond by commenting.

Ask questions to spark dialogue –

“question” Posts generate Comment rates double that of “non-question” Posts.

“Non-Question” Post “Question” Post


Retail Post Structure:Use Fill in the Blank Posts

Non Fill in the Blank Post Fill in the Blank Post

One of the most underutilized Post techniques is one of the most engaging. Data shows that retail brand Posts employing the fill in the blank strategy generate Comment rates nine times higher than other Post strategies. The data supports that this is a proven strategy unique to the retail industry, yet less than 1% of retail brands are utilizing this tactic.

MOVIESCOUPONS

REBATES

MONEY

SALES

GAMES

COMPUTERS

SUVs

I LIKE _______.

RECIPES

Fill in the blank Posts receive 9 times more Comments than other Posts.


Consumer Offer-Related Keywords:Offer “$ OFF” and Coupons to Increase Fan Engagement

When it comes to deals, fans look for a straightforward offer. The top ten sales keywords were analyzed to determine which receive the most user engagement. The data indicates that retail brand Posts containing the sales keywords “$ off” and “coupon” receive the highest fan engagement.

Retail brand Posts containing “$ off” receive a 55% higher user engagement rate, followed by Posts containing the word “coupon,” which is 39% above the average. Popular sales keywords, such as “sale” and “% off,” receive the lowest fan engagement.

$ OFF

COUPON

DISCOUNT

OFFER

CLEARANCE

BARGAIN

SAVE

DEAL

% OFF

SALE

ENGAGEMENT

PEAK

Offer fans

“$ off” and coupons.Posts containing these offer-related

keywords receive the

highest engagement.

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Coupon Offers:Don’t Make Customers Do the Math

As previously mentioned, fans engage well with coupons. When offering coupons, don’t make fans do the math. Our data indicates that “$ off” offers generate twice the engagement of “% off” offers for the retail industry. Even small “$ off” discounts – less than $10 – receive 17% higher engagement than “% off” promotions, showing that fans prefer tangible cash discounts, even if the actual dollar discount is small.

$ OFFOFFER

% OFFOFFER

“$ OFF” offers receive

twice the engagementof “ OFF” offers.

$ OFFOFFER

% OFFOFFER

% off $ off

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Retail Post Attachments:Keep Posts Simple

While interesting content can be added to Wall Posts in the form of links, photos and videos, our data indicates that simple Posts achieve the most engagement for the retail industry. The two most effective types of retail brand Posts contain a single photo attachment or use only words. Status-only Posts – Posts only containing words – receive 94% higher engagement than average. Avoid more complicated Posts, such as those with attached links and thumbnail photos.

RECIPESSINGLE PHOTO

STATUS ONLY

ALBUM

LINK ONLY

PHOTO W/ LINK

VIDEO

LINK W/ THUMBNAIL

STATUS W/ LINK

POST TYPE ENGAGEMENT

Avoid complicated Wall Posts.

Status-only Posts receive 94 higher than average engagement.


Conclusion

Facebook is the leading platform for brands to connect to consumers. It is important for brands to share effective Facebook Wall Posts to maximize their marketing efforts and increase fan engagement.

We hope this data is helpful for retail brands looking to lead, maximize and leverage their Facebook presence.

Have questions?

Contact us at [email protected], or follow us on:

facebook.com/buddymedia

twitter.com/buddymedia

buddymedia.com

Appendix: Study Parameters

For purposes of the study, the retail industry included clothing, fashion and general retail clients.

For benchmarking, the following industries were analyzed: Automotive, Business, Consumer Packaged Goods, Entertainment, Finance, Food & Beverage, Health & Beauty, Media, Non-Profit, Sports, Technology, Telecommunications and Travel & Leisure.

Posts on Pages with less than 100 fans were not included in the survey.

All Posts containing geo-targeting data or Posts not viewable in Facebook were removed. Time-of-day and day-of-week analyses were based on when a Post was published, not when ‘likes’ and Comments accrued.

For the Post-length analysis, URLs were not included in Post character counts.