Leverage Social Media, Build Your Practice

Like most marketing techniques, leveraging social media is largely a numbers game, and Buffer recently cited several social media studies containing number-based tips to help build your practice.

Make it short and sweet
Short, concise posts perform better than longer ones, according to a BlitzLocal study of 120 billion Facebook impressions. Researchers found that the ideal length of posts is just over 100 characters.

“Longer posts tend to perform poorly. The ideal interaction being driven by posts is between 100 to 119 characters.”

Question everything
That same study found that questions tend to drive interaction up by 10 to 20 percent, and this AMEX OPEN Forum graphic shows how length of posts and use of questions affect performance:

blitzlocal-chart-2

Pick your post time
As for the best hours of day, results were all over the lot, but afternoons seem to get the highest votes. Studies on the best days to post also vary widely. [Tweet "Buffer’s own research indicates that 86 percent of posting is done between Monday and Thursday, but the highest engagement rates were on Thursdays and Fridays, followed by Sundays."]

Since it’s engagement and interaction you’re after, it’s more important that more than 70 percent of the interaction will happen during the first hour you post. The takeaway? Post often and monitor immediately afterward—which means, don’t post on social media just before leaving work or going to sleep, as interaction is unlikely.

Emoticons say more
Emoticons are not for teens anymore: As shown on this infographic from AMEX OPEN Forum, posting with them can drive your social media “like” rate 57 percent higher than without.

Screen-Shot

You click, they click
Finally, click that shutter! Most studies agree that photo posts get more likes and overall engagement. In fact, one HubSpot study noted that comments more than doubled when photos were used.

"Not only do photo posts get more engagement than links, videos or text-based updates, they actually account for 93% of the most engaging posts on Facebook."

About the Author

Dr. Molly is passionate about using technology to improve the lives of patients and healthcare providers. She graduated from the University of Illinois College of...

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