Buddy Media released “Strategies For Effective Facebook Wall Posts: A Statistical Review” earlier this month, which amounts to a comprehensive analysis of more than 200 of their clients’ Facebook pages over a two week period. The full report (available as a free download after registering) features fifteen pages of information including a detailed breakdown by industry of the best days to post. Overall, for all industries considered, the best days for engagement are Thursday and Friday. The two end of the business week days afford 18% greater engagement than the rest of the week.
So What?
Many churches have started using social media in recent years. Ideally this involvement is guided by both policy and a plan. If your brand (local church or parachurch organization) is using Facebook, then it is worth the time to better understand how you can leverage the activity more effectively. Interestingly this study also found that those brands posting outside of business experienced 20% higher engagement rates and those posts that were shorter than 80 characters had a 27% higher engagement rate than posts over that length.
- Does your local congregation have a social media policy? If so, when was it last updated?
- Does your local congregation have a social media plan? If so, what is the role of Facebook and how well is it doing with regard to achieving the desired outcomes?
- Which of the findings is most likely to impact your posting habits for any congregational accounts? Why?