Marketers who are worth their salt have known it for years. If you want your audience to take a specific action, you actually have to ask them to do it -- in email, in display ads, on landing pages, blog articles -- you name it. But for whatever reason, it seems like once we started using social media for marketing, we collectively forgot all about calls-to-action (CTAs).
Let's end that now. I've long been a proponent of using calls-to-action in social media. In fact, my research actually proves that tweets that include the call-to-action phrase "please retweet" get more retweets -- 4X more, in fact. But what about the impact of CTAs within other social networks ... like Facebook?
To gauge the success of different types of CTA phrases on Facebook, I turned my attention to more than 1.2 million posts from the top 10,000 most Liked Facebook Pages. I specifically looked at Facebook posts that included the words "like," "comment," or "share," and found that they tend to garner more of the specific action they referenced compared to posts that didn't include those words. Check it out ...
Remember -- Facebook's EdgeRank algorithm rewards "engagement" on your Facebook posts. In other words, posts that attract a lot of engagement in terms of actions such as Likes, shares, and comments will be rewarded with greater visibility in users' News Feeds. And isn't that what all marketers want?
So if you're trying to increase the reach of your content on Facebook, consider experimenting with social CTAs in your Facebook posts. Phrases like "leave a comment/Like this post/share this post if ..." may do wonders to spark engagement among your Facebook Page fans and visitors.
Have you experimented with social calls-to-action in your social media marketing? Have you noticed increased engagement and visibility?
Inbound Marketing Blog Feed
Steven Owens 9:07 AM on November 20, 2012
It amazes me how many brands still don't get this. Whether you have a small community or large, CTA's still have the required effect and. I think many brands see it as "selling out" but with platforms like Facebook continually decreasing reach it's vital to make sure you let your audience know what you want them to do!
Steve Owens
Community Manager
Coup Media
Ben Timberley 9:17 AM on November 20, 2012
It appears that many brands are forgetting one of the basic principles of marketing - AIDCA.
Attention, interest, desire, conviction, ACTION.
Why bother trying to convince anyone to do anything if you don't sell it to them, and then 'ASK them for the sale'?
Too many brands get caught up in the science, and forget about the sale - community managers beware!
Stephen Roulac 9:25 AM on November 20, 2012
Thank you for this valuable study.Very illuminating findings.
Can you pls provide reference/minitutorial re how to datamine these sites to explore related questions? Interested to know how much time and related logistics considersations to do this.
Michael 9:32 AM on November 20, 2012
Thanks for the infographic and the "reminder." Quick and to the point.
Note: The infographic has a typo in it... it says "10,00" instead of "10,000." (I thought you might want to fix that.) :)
Cheers!
Pamela Vaughan 9:45 AM on November 20, 2012
Thanks for catching that, Michael. All fixed! :)
John Haydon 9:48 AM on November 20, 2012
Your infographic has a typo. I corrected it.
Patrick Bagshaw 10:12 AM on November 20, 2012
Let us not forget one major factor - many posts involving "like" or "comment" also give rewards for doing so. Whether it be contests or to receive a coupon, if a person must "like" it to enter, the number of people who will skyrockets. Not all Facebook posts are intended to be CTA's, so analyzing data as if they are is very misinformed.
yoed 10:51 AM on November 20, 2012
Do you mean clicking the LIKE button or using the word LIKE
Ravi Shukle 3:18 PM on November 20, 2012
Makes sense for users scrolling down the endless newsfeed to be more likely to comment and interact with posts that direct them to a call to action. Combining this with great images also helps increase engagement and shares.
Stephen and Jennifer 4:26 PM on November 20, 2012
I like and agree with this article and am also amazed at how many people simply place spamy affiliate links on Facebook without any real information making me believe most of them have never purchased or tried what they expect others to?
Promotional posts and affiliate links should always be made on Like Pages as therse usually are then also shown on your news feed and seen by all or at least many of your friends?
Thank you for sharing this with us. Very good information.
Brooke McMillan 8:01 PM on November 20, 2012
Kind of makes me sad. We encourage authentic communication and hope that the discussions on Facebook with our constituents earn the likes and comments without having to ask. Can you think of another way of asking someone to "like" or "comment" that would work just as well? I'd also like to see this data sans contests. I think the person above is correct. That might things a different ballgame if the contests are taken out.
Leanne 9:32 PM on November 20, 2012
Thank You, I think many business owners forget to ask... It is a vital part of our marketing strategies..
Balazs 2:09 AM on November 21, 2012
In sponsored posts its forbidden to use CTA phrases? Am I correct, anybody some experience on that?
Jason 6:38 AM on November 21, 2012
Does anyone have any data on multiple Redundant CTA?
Jason 6:53 AM on November 21, 2012
Does anyone have any data on redundant/multiple CTA's with in say a very short blog post, if so is the practice productive. Thanks for your time in advance.
Nikki R 7:41 AM on November 21, 2012
In almost every webinar, training course, lecture, presentation, etc. involving online marketing, thought leaders tell us how important it is to include CTAs on web pages.
I don't know why it isn't common sense to marketers using social media. A different venue doesn't mean different principles - especially for marketing.
And I'm sure we all learned to use "please" (as in "please RT") in childhood. It was one of our "magic words." It still has its magic.
Nikki Robinson
Social Media Manager
Billy's Billing accounting software
Cluey copywriter 5:46 PM on November 21, 2012
I'm with your previous comment about sponsored links and promos. You need to be very careful about asking for Links, Shares and Comments to stay within Facebook promotional rules. Even if you aren't giving anything away.
John Chamberlin 7:07 AM on November 25, 2012
I couldn't agree with this more. Readers are looking thru the copy so fast that they need a quick reminder, No different than direct mail. Some content is soooooo good that sharing is inherent. But not that many amazing content creators in social media yetm
John Chamberlin 7:08 AM on November 25, 2012
I couldn't agree with this more. Readers are looking thru the copy so fast that they need a quick reminder, No different than direct mail. Some content is soooooo good that sharing is inherent. But not that many amazing content creators in social media yetm