Last week, we presented our readers with some interesting data about the impact of social CTAs on Facebook engagement. But we got to wondering -- what about posing questions in your Facebook posts? How would that impact engagement metrics such as Likes, shares, and comments?
If you're an active Facebook marketer, you've probably seen countless brands using questions as a fan engagement tactic. By asking questions, the social media managers behind those pages are hoping to generate responses, thereby increasing engagement rates. In fact, the power of questions on Facebook has been accepted conventional wisdom for some time now.
Digging into a large data set of more than 1.2 million posts from the 10,000 most Liked Facebook Pages, I was able to not only verify that anecdotal evidence, but also figure out specifically which types of questions work best. Let's take a look at what I uncovered ...
Marketing Takeaway
As you can see in the infographic, I found that while posts with questions tend to generate more comments, they also tend to garner fewer Likes and shares than non-question posts. In other words, the data shows that periodically using questions to encourage commenting does work, but they are not an all-encompassing engagement panacea. Posing questions can be a great way to elicit feedback from your Facebook fans and page visitors, but it's not the most effective way to drive overall Facebook engagement.
In addition, we can also see that question words that yield "yes" or "no" responses such as "should" and "would" -- as well as multiple choice questions like "which" -- tend to generate more comments than nebulous, open-ended questions like "why" and "how." The takeaway here is, if you're using questions to generate more comments on your Facebook Page, post questions that are quick and easy to answer.
How are you using questions on your Facebook Page timeline? Have you experienced similar results?
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Dan 9:09 AM on November 26, 2012
Great info graphic and informational post!
I have been testing out using questions in my posts lately and have seen a better response...
Good to know what the reason for that was.
Karen Moran 9:20 AM on November 26, 2012
Very interesting as I've been testing the waters with my clients. It's been great to see so many folks comment on a post - but then disheartening when those almighty "Likes" or better still "Shares" fall by the waste side. As a general rule of thumb I try to ask 1 question every week or so with the rest of the time relying heavily on big pretty branded pictures with quotes or something along the lines that I think people will share. Our most successful tactic has been the Share in generating more interest in a client's page and subsequently awareness for client product.
Pankaj Sharma 1:51 PM on November 26, 2012
Vary helpful post , i just started my facebook page and i think this will help me a lot .
Thanks for sharing such a valuable data linke:- data about the impact of social CTAs on Facebook engagement and Guide
Rachel Globus 1:53 PM on November 26, 2012
I question Dan's conclusion that questions aren't the most effective way to drive overall engagement because in Facebook's eyes, all engagement is not equal. The real question is, what combination of engagement techniques will maintain and increase my EdgeRank. It's important to keep asking questions, because a comment is a stronger signal to EdgeRank of affinity for your page than a Like. And of course, better EdgeRank means a larger audience for each subsequent post.
My rule is to always ask a question if there's a smart question to be asked, but I'd rather post a smart comment than a stupid question, which would ultimately hurt my EdgeRank.
Christine Morrow 2:12 PM on November 26, 2012
Awesome info! Very interesting. Thanks :)
Amit Misra 3:33 PM on November 26, 2012
Its not about only Questions,its about "Engagement". By asking a question, you are making Fb users to react on that out of their excitement and with an opportunity to express their views. However, Liking and Sharing its just an act.
One must understand Facebook users' reaction, demographic and their habits which this site satisfies in length.
Talk Social 11:33 AM on November 27, 2012
I totally agree that 'closed' questions are more popular, presumably because Facebook makes it so easy for your audience to 'cast their vote' in a single click.
Answers to open questions are so much more valuable in terms of content though, I'd happily take 1 x descriptive answer over 10 x voting poll responses!