Social media marketing is an incredibly potent tool for business worldwide. Social networks have an incredible reach that allows brands to get their products in front of the eyes of people from all across the globe. It’s no wonder that Facebook, with its 2.5 billion active monthly users, is many marketers’ favorite social media platform. In fact, 85% of them found massive success in advertising on the site. However, if building a social presence on Facebook was so easy, everyone would have a considerable following. All seasoned marketers know that the key to success on Facebook lies in identifying the best performing content and engaging your audience!

But why is that? It’s quite simple — unless you want to forever rely on paid advertising, you will want to grow your Facebook page’s organic reach and fan base. However, Facebook changed its news feed algorithm in 2018, which negatively affected many brands’ visibility. The change increased the visibility of posts with high engagement rates on users’ news feeds while reducing it for branded promotional content. That is why businesses had to adapt and change their content practices to put more emphasis on user engagement to stay relevant on the platform. 

So what is the best performing content on Facebook you can use in your next marketing campaign to dominate the platform? That’s what we’re here to find out!

What Types of Posts Get the Most Engagement on Facebook?

If you want your brand to succeed on Facebook and are looking for some help on what content you should be creating, you’re in the right place! Here are seven best performing Facebook post types that can help you drive a lot of engagement:

• Funny Posts
• Share User-Generated Content
• Current Events
• Giveaways
• Inspirational Quotes and Images
• Native Video
• Live Video

Without further ado, let’s get into it!

Funny Posts

Humor has always been and still is a potent tool for piquing your audience’s interest. And if you’re worried that you might come off as unprofessional, don’t! We live in the 21st century, and the times are changing. People no longer want to have promotions and sales pitches shoved in their faces — they want to be entertained! 

Many wise marketers have adapted their Facebook strategies accordingly and are already seeing success, so you should follow their lead. In fact, Facebook even encourages humor because content like memes performs well.

So why not try to incorporate some in your Facebook content? We’re sure you’ll find success quickly!

Share User-Generated Content

Some of the best performing content on Facebook is undoubtedly user-generated content. As soon as you notice your users are making content for you, ensure you share and promote it! UGC has numerous benefits for your brand:

• It saves you a lot of time on content creation.
• It demonstrates that your brand cares about its consumers.
• UGC, more often than not, has a unique and engaging take on your brand or product, which makes it incredibly shareable.

There is much more to user-generated content, but the above are the essentials. If you’re interested in learning about it in more depth, we suggest you read our article on the advantages and disadvantages of using user-generated content.

Current Events

Current events and news are always popular topics in the social media world, so why not make your brand the messenger at times? Even if your products aren’t related to the topic at hand, being vocal about particular current events is an excellent way to build brand awareness and gain exposure.

Did you know that 64% of consumers want brands to take a firm stance on social issues? That’s right — engaging in dialogue over current events is gradually becoming a necessity for well-established brands. So don’t neglect these types of Facebook posts as they can generate plenty of engagement, help you build trust with your consumers, and even elevate you to the status of a role model in the industry. 

However, do be careful not to overdo it or become overly political. That could cause more harm than good to your brand’s reputation.

Giveaways

Who doesn’t like giveaways? That is precisely why these types of posts generate incredible engagement. Aren’t you just tempted to leave a comment and participate when you see a post like this:

Even if you have no use for a projector, you’d likely leave a comment on the off chance that you do win it. It’s all about that rush, isn’t it? That excitement! That’s right — that is the primary reason giveaways are one of the best performing content types on Facebook. And do you know what the best part is? You can control the type of engagement you want to drive as easy as one, two, three!

You are the one who sets the entry requirements for the giveaway so you can request your users to do anything from liking the post to leaving their email addresses or other personal data. So you can use this versatility that giveaways offer to do much more than just drive social engagement; you can use it to collect case study data, build an email list, and much more. The possibilities are almost endless!

Inspirational Quotes and Images

Two things are undeniable — people love visuals, and inspirational quotes and speeches are all the rage right now! So what happens when you combine the two? You get a winning combo, that’s what! 

Combining the power of images with the bang that inspirational quotes create can be a fantastic and easy way to attract people to your posts. Here’s an example:

As you can see, the quote packs quite a punch, and the background visual is not over the top. That is imperative if you want your post to perform well. If you use a background that contrasts the text too much, it will annoy people more than attract them. So don’t forget to keep it simple and in complementary colors.

Oh, and if you don’t think motivational quotes would represent your brand well, why not take a different approach? Collect quotes from well-known industry experts and use them to demonstrate your brand’s credibility and educate your audience!

Native Video

Did you know that videos are unequivocally the best performing content format on Facebook? That’s right, and there’s a good reason! Research has shown that organic engagement is the highest on posts with a video, sitting at a whopping 13.9%. 

Native videos require extra work to create, but they are undoubtedly the type of content with the best engagement on the platform. Research of top Facebook posts in 2018 showed that 81% of them were videos! So despite having to invest a bit extra in video content creation, getting on board the Facebook video train is the best tactic you could settle for when it comes to generating user engagement.

If you need some help and advice on making social media videos, we suggest you read our article on Facebook video marketing — there, you’ll find everything you need to know to grow your business on Facebook using video!

Live Video

Did this final entry surprise you? Probably not — live streaming has been gaining a lot of prominence in the online world, and Facebook is one of the leading social networks in the live streaming department. But what does that have to do with your business goals?

Plenty! Live streaming can benefit your brand in so many ways:

• Users love to engage with live streamers, which applies to both brands and independent content creators. In fact, they are four times as likely to tune into a live stream than to watch a video!
• Live streaming allows more natural communication with your audience, helping enhance brand trust and credibility.
• Setting up a live stream allows for plenty of flexibility and is cost-effective (it doesn’t entail any post-production expenses).

If the above wasn’t enough to illustrate the power of live streaming on Facebook, perhaps this will — 35% of marketers are already doing it! Also, 76% are planning to incorporate it into their strategy in 2020. If you ask us, not utilizing Facebook Live to its fullest would be a substantial loss for your brand, so why not give it a shot?

If you need help getting started with streaming on Facebook, check our article on social media live streaming for beginners for useful tips when getting started. 

Things to Remember to Get the Most Engagement on Facebook

Now that you know what the best performing content on Facebook is, you’re almost ready to launch your Facebook campaign. However, there are a few additional things to keep in mind to maximize your campaign’s performance. So here are three bonus tips to help you in your endeavors:

Make Content Regularly

The key to marketing success on social media is being active and posting regularly. We cannot emphasize enough how vital that is to maintaining your brand’s social presence. By remaining in the spotlight, you will maximize your brand awareness and allow more users to interact with your brand.

So ensure you post at least multiple times a day. Two to three posts daily would be a decent start. And if you need help with organizing your posting schedule, may we recommend building a social media calendar? That can help you keep tabs on all your social content, posting schedules, and performance tracking.

If you need help creating one, read our article on making a social media calendar for some useful guidelines.

Post at Optimal Times

Another crucial thing to keep in mind is when you post. Depending on your target audience, your users might be more or less active at particular times. That is why adjusting your posting schedule to your target audience’s activity is essential to maximizing your engagement rates.

As a rule of thumb, the best times to post on Facebook are between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. if you’re looking to get the most engagements. However, this data may differ based on your target demographic. That is primarily due to potential differences in time zones. That is why the best indicators of optimal posting times should be your page’s analytics.

In the “Posts” section, you will find a chart illustrating when your fans are online.

That will give you an insight when you can expect to receive the most engagements on your posts.

Respond to Comments

Last but not least, how can we even talk about social engagement if you don’t actively participate in it? That’s right — you can’t expect your audience to do all the work, you have to engage in the conversation too!

Responding to user comments is imperative to demonstrating a dominant social presence. And should we even mention that users are more likely to remember your brand and return to purchase your product if they actively engage in a conversation with you? So don’t neglect this aspect of Facebook marketing if you want to make the most of your social campaign.

Now It’s Your Time to Shine!

As you can see, all of the above content formats are effective at putting your brand in the spotlight. But there is one more crucial element to it all — persistence! Regardless of whether you decide to launch a social media video marketing campaign or decide to go for some of the other types of content, you will have to be patient. Unless you already have a considerable social following, it will take some time to get the ball rolling. So follow the tips above, post regularly, and stay persistent, and your success is next to guaranteed!

Best of luck to you!