The document analyzes Facebook posting strategies and provides recommendations. Key findings include: 1) Engagement rates are declining, with an average of 0.79 engagements per thousand. 2) Post frequency of 6-8 posts per week is optimal. 3) Posts with under 11 words performed best. Recommended actions include creating relevant engaging content, setting benchmarks, experimenting with different post types, and focusing on quality over quantity of posts.

1. Creating the Most Effective
Facebook Content Strategies
An in-depth analysis that dispels the myths and informs best
practices in the creation of effective engagement strategies

2. The purpose of this study is to answer the
question…
“How do I create the most engaging content
strategies in my social media plan.”

3. Executive Summary
Key Findings:
– Facebook posting engagement rates are on the
decline, with an average engagement per
thousand of 0.79
– There is no significant impact of time of day or day
of week on posting effectiveness
– As a Fan Base grows, expect engagement rates to
decline
– The optimal post frequency is 6-8 posts per week
– Posts with under 11 words performed the best

4. Executive Summary
Recommended Actions:
– Create an engagement strategy that keeps posts
relevant and engages the user (i.e.: questions, clear
messaging)
– Set benchmarks for posting performance, with an
expected outcome of various types of posts (remember,
not all posts will over perform so a balanced approach
is key)
– Implement tools to help the scheduling and deployment
of posts
– Post when it is relevant to your target audience and
when you have something interesting to say
– Experiment - test, analyze, learn and test again

5. Methodology
This analysis is based on an ongoing study that has amassed over 97,000 wall
posts across 333 Facebook Pages of many Fortune 500 brands. Data
analyzed was collected from August 2010 to June 2011.
About Syncapse
Founded in 2007, Syncapse Corp. has quickly become a global technology
leader in social media management by delivering solutions that empower
brands and agencies to build, manage and measure their digital customer
relationships.
A member of Facebook’s Preferred Developer Consultant program, the
Syncapse Platform has connected brands with millions of consumers globally,
delivered tens of millions of dollars in earned media value and has been
recognized as one of the top social technology providers for brand marketers.

6. Engagement Per Thousand (EPM) = the
response rate to a Facebook post
EPM = (Like + Comments/Fan Base)*1000

7. Engagement is on the decline
Observation:
The global EPM benchmark has steadily declined consistently to 0.79,
normalized to account for seasonal posting schedules
1.4
1.2 1.21
1 1.02
0.87 0.86 0.79
0.8 0.8 0.76
0.67 0.68 0.69
Opportunity:
0.6 0.63 0.62
0.4
Set standard performance
0.2
indicators like EPM to
understand comparative
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performance against the
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©2011 Syncapse
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industry, the category and key
M
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Industry Average (0.79) Post Engagement Rate Per Thousand competitors.

8. Time of day doesn’t matter, timeliness does
Observation:
The only relevant fluctuation in time of day is early morning, +13% above
industry average – time of day only matters if the time will have a significant
impact on the relevance of the content
1 0.89 25,000
0.9 0.81
0.75 0.74 0.76
0.8 20,000
0.7
0.6 15,000
0.5
0.4 10,000
0.3
0.2 5,000
0.1
0 0
Opportunity:
0 - 6 A.M. 6 - 9 A.M. 9 - 11 A.M. 11 A.M. - 2 P.M. A er 2 P.M.
Deliver content that is
Post Engagement Rate Per Thousand Number Of Posts
©2011 Syncapse relevant to the time it is
delivered.

9. The day doesn’t drive engagement, relevance does
Observation:
Day of week of a post did not have a statistically significant impact on
response, but interestingly there is a massive reduction in brand generated
posts on weekends
1 0.91 20,000
0.9 0.82 0.81 18,000
0.77 0.78 0.78
0.8 0.74 16,000
0.7 14,000
0.6 12,000
0.5 10,000
0.4 8,000 Opportunity:
0.3 6,000
0.2 4,000 Create content that is
0.1 2,000 relevant the day it is
0 0 released, and create
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
content for
Post Engagement Rate Per Thousand Number Of Posts
©2011 Syncapse deployment on
weekends.

10. Post frequently, as long as you have something to say
Observation:
The optimal number of posts ranges from 6-8 per week
9
Total Weekly Engagement Rate Per Thousand Fans
8
7
6
5
4
Opportunity:
3
Create a publishing strategy
2
that is geared to engage fans
1
more frequently, constantly
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 experimenting with new
Average Weekly Posts By Pages
©2011 Syncapse
approaches.

11. As the fan base increases, engagement declines
Observation:
Higher engagement occurs as pages go through growth stages, but as the fan
base increases, EPM declines
Opportunity:
Average EPM Versus Fan Quin les
1.2
Establish targets in
Post Engagement Rate Per Thousand
1.01
1
0.94 accordance to the
0.8 0.7 0.68
lifecycle of the page.
0.61
0.6 Begin to mine data
0.4 with mature pages to
0.2 understand who are
0 the active members
0.0 - 0.1 0.1 - 0.3 0.3 - 0.8 0.8 - 2 2.0+
and what content
Fan Size (Millions)
©2011 Syncapse they engage with.

12. Be brief
Observation:
The greatest EPM is achieved with posts that contain less than 11 words, but
interesting, longer posts perform almost as well
1 0.93 21,000
0.9 0.85
0.77 20,500
0.8 0.73
0.7 0.66
20,000
0.6 Opportunity:
0.5 19,500
0.4 Create best practices
19,000
0.3 in the development of
0.2
0.1
18,500 content plans and
0 18,000 exercise creativity in
Less Than 11 11 To 20 Words 20 To 29 Words 29 To 42 Words 42 Plus Words
the development of
Post Engagement Rate Per Thousand Number Of Posts
©2011 Syncapse posts.

13. Dissecting a great post
The post below achieved a 5.37, well above the industry average of
0.79
Key Learning:
• On first glance, this post may not be perceived as being a post that would
produce positive results with Netflix 1.5M plus fan base
• This product announcement has a great conversational tone and offers
multiple linking opportunities to drive the user to the movie section to order
• Multiple movies mentioned provides a broader opportunity
• Although a longer post, the clear call to action of ‘liking’ creates obvious
potential for the post to appear in newsfeeds

14. Conclusions
Keep it simple
Simple concise posts outperform.
Keep it relevant
If the post is relevant to the audience at the time it is posted, that will
create the best engagement. Consider using creative means to
manufacture relevance or the tie to the time/day the post is made.
Benchmark and learn
Create standards around performance management and continue to
experiment and learn from results.

15. Thanks.
Paul Cowan
VP, Measurement & Intelligence
Syncapse
@cowanpkc
syncapse.com