Not all social media efforts are created equally. Whether you represent a small business or a multi-national brand on Facebook, the rules for engagement are fairly similar when dealing with an audience: inspire, motivate, persuade and inform. Using social media to get the message out about your brand is perhaps the most powerful and quickest way in which to do so in today’s world, but only when done properly. Facebook users are inundated with tons of content every time they open their status feeds, so getting it right can make the difference between zero meaningful exposure and virality. Below, we’ll talk about what Facebook users are currently enjoying in terms of brand posts so that you can shape your efforts accordingly.

Facebook Videos

Perhaps the most successful way in which brands are driving traffic to their pages and sites is through the use of Facebook video, also referred to as native video. This video is embedded in Facebook directly by being uploaded to the site. Whenever native videos appear in status feeds, they automatically begin to play as an individual scrolls by them. This “preview” of sorts is one great way to start pinging users with content in a way that they will feel motivated to continue watching. Video currently is the most successful form of multimedia for content creation, and the same applies on Facebook. Just be sure to keep your video short (less than three minutes) for it to have the maximum intended effect.

Photo Quotes

Another heavily-trending and popular form of content in posts on Facebook is the photo quote. In short, a photo quote is a picture of a quote that can be important, historical, controversial or inspirational – depending on your audience – and generates select emotion in the individual. As such, the people who see it are much more likely to comment, share and like the post in question. This generates all of the desired social signals brands wish to generate, making it possible to extend reach in a consistent way. Photo quotes can vary in success depending on the audience and their receptiveness to multimedia, however, so be sure to test this style conservatively until more data can be collected about your particular audience.

Customization

Facebook posts should strive to as customized as possible for various elements of an audience. This may seem impossible without publishing tons of variations and bombarding everyone with all ads, but Facebook page features allow for a customized approach. Through the use of Facebook’s Power Editor, you can segment individual posts to be seen only by select audiences, ensuring that each post is pinging users who find it most relevant. This can allow for competing or conflicting messaging strategies to be used side by side, and the use of this will also prevent any and all of them from appearing on your Facebook page’s wall. In short, customization of posts based on location or interests is now easily done via Facebook, and with users practically demanding a custom-tailored approach when being marketed to these days, it is essential.