Facebook provides a huge platform for brands to interact and engage with their users. We have seen various changes in the Facebook design over the past couple of months. The improved News Feed and the launch of clickable hashtags make it easier for brands to reach out to their users.
A new Simply Measured report analyzes activity from the Top 100 Brands in the world, with some fascinating data.
The study shows that 98% of the Interbrand Top 100 brands have a well established Facebook fan page. Facebook acts the “hub of social marketing efforts” for most brands.
Here are some findings from the report:
Facebook statuses over 250 characters average less engagement than shorter updates.
Automotive brands earn double the average Facebook engagement rate compared to other Interbrand companies
Average of Interbrand Top 100 Brands:
- On an average, a brand posts 1.5 times a day but some brands post much more frequently and are able to maintain strong engagement rates with their users. For example, Ferrari averages 8 posts per day but still has an engagement rate of 43% – 3 times the Interbrand average.
Hashtags Not Helpful:
Brands containing hashtags, are so far not driving additional engagement, which means people are not yet discovering brands by tags and have not accustomed to hashtags on Facebook.
Engagement by Content Type:
- Photos posted by top brands averaged more than 9,400 engagements per post, making them by far the most engaging type of content as compared to video content and status updates.
- Videos are the second most engaging type of content as it is easier for users to form relations with the brand. (See tips and statistics for video content here)
- Although, status updates trail photos and videos, they rank third in terms of post engagement
Brands that don’t allow user posts receive less total engagement but more comments:
Facebook is a network that is constantly evolving, therefore it is important for brands to monitor the trends of user engagement. A brand can get the most out of their Facebook page by keeping a tab on the kind of content that the users are most comfortable with.