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Track Maven just completed a mammoth Facebook survey in which they tracked data from 5,804 Facebook pages and 1,578,006 total posts and finally were able to conclude that brands still don't know how to do Facebook. In fact, the average brand talks to its Facebook followers like they are 10 years old.
According to the study, 67% of the tracked brand posts were written at a fifth-grade reading level or below. This is especially embarrassing given that the average fifth-grader can't even sign up for an account on the site—Facebook users have to be at least 13 years old.
At least those written-for-children Facebook posts aren't working: the report noted that posts with a word count of 10 to 19 words saw the least amount of engagement while posts with 80 to 89 words increased engagement by more than 6%.
A demonstration of appropriate hashtag use, via Gap's Facebook page
Other interesting stats: Lunchtime posts were the most popular, although evening posts saw the most engagement per hour. Only one out of every six posts contained hashtags, although hashtags typically increased post engagement by 60%. Posts containing exclamation points more than doubled engagement, and posts with photos were 37% more effective than posts without pictures.
· Study: Brand Posts on Facebook Are Written at a Fifth-Grade Level or Below [Social Times]
· Woman Alleges Facebook Banned Her Fat-Pants Photo [Racked]
· Pinterest Overtakes Email for Sharing, Closes in on Facebook [Racked]