ArticleAugust 14, 2012

Words Including ‘Look’ and ‘Watch’ Don’t Engage Facebook Fans [Social Media Marketing]

Since digital marketers are always searching for ways to get the most out of their social media marketing initiatives, a recent report by Sotrender offered some fascinating findings on what really captures the attention and inspires action from Facebook fans. It revealed that commonly used words such as ‘like’ and ‘watch’ no longer generate a strong fan response or contribute to engagement levels. Ragan.com reported on the results of the report that explained why those repetitive phrases are no longer effective in social media marketing, as well as which types of posts really click with Facebook fans.

The study analyzed 111 Facebook brand pages and almost 3,000 posts within four industries in the United Kingdom. The industries studied were the food, automotive, clothing, and cosmetics and hygiene categories. While the study did not extend to the United States, Sotrender is confident that the results would be similar and plans to conduct the study on U.S. brands in the future.

“Using catchy words in posts doesn’t seem to increase engagement,” said Jan Zając, CEO and cofounder of Sotrender. “What will grab them, however, are images and graphics.”

Images appeared to have the greatest impact on Facebook fans, whether posted by brands or by friends. Posts with photos, pictures and graphics repeatedly ranked as much more engaging than posts with links or overused phrases.

Still, there were certain words that held surprising influence and continued to generate clicks. These words included ‘chocolate,’ ‘cream,’ ‘daily’, ‘most’ and ‘shop.’ In contrast to traditional marketing wisdom, calls-to-action were not always effective on Facebook.

There were also notable differences within the four industries analyzed. The word ‘win’ only increased fan interaction in the cosmetics and hygiene industry, yet made no impact on the other three categories. Clothing brand fans responded to trend-centric words such as ‘style’ and ‘fashion,’ while fans of food-related Facebook pages favored the words ‘love,’ ‘favorite,’ ‘happy’ and ‘good.’ Also, posts that asked questions continued to be a popular way to spark comments, but the inclusion of a photo usually increased fan engagement.

Overall, the report clearly showed that using images in a company’s social media marketing was the most effective and engaging way to generate fan interaction on Facebook.

“If everybody’s yelling, ‘Watch, like, click, look,’ and so on, it’s not catchy anymore,” added Ms. Zając, “So usually, those with pictures are much more engaging.”

To learn more about incorporating Facebook into your social media marketing strategy, contact MDG Advertising today at 561-338-7797 or visit mdgadvertising.com.

MDG Advertising, a full-service Florida advertising firm with offices in Boca Raton and New York, NY, specializes in developing targeted Internet marketing solutions, exceptional creative executions and solid branding and media buying strategies that give clients a competitive advantage. Our core capabilities include branding, logo design, creative, digital marketing, print advertising, media planning and buying, TV and radio, public relations, Web design and development, email marketing, social media marketing and SEO.