So ideally all companies - no matter if B2C, B2B, B2G etc should have a clear social media strategy and implementation plan, which would help their digital marketing specialists stay focused, disciplined and engaged with their social media goals - which would translate into accountable business benefits. Ideally ... 

But this is the real word, and so many companies still experiment with social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc) hoping to get better at it in time and digital marketing projects are in fact carried out by marketing, sales or business owners themselves, in the case of SMEs. Luckily, the volume of online resources which help with "getting better at it" is huge, so today I am bringing my contribution to this by providing you this short guide on how to make your (company's) posts on Facebook stand out - most of them without involving a big content design team. These Facebook formatting tips are valid for organic reach and promoted posts (ads), so they will work even if you don't have a social media budget (yet).  

For the purpose of this blog article, I will focus on our field of expertise here at Clipatize - B2B content marketing - and look at three different sectors: healthcare, financial services and engineering companies. 

1. How to use images in Facebook posts. 

So this is a basic (and therefore universally valid) rule: don't post your company's updates as text-only. The minimum (creative) effort you should put in is to create an attractive post image, which supports the messaging and engages your Facebook fans who are restlessly scrolling their newsfeed. What can make the image more appealing?

• beautiful typography (full text or headlines on image)
• positive colour schemes and overlays (e.g. gradients)
• high quality photo albums or slideshows (Facebook can automatically create a slideshow of up to 10 images)

Image Post on Facebook / Maersk 

2. Video posts are seen by a bigger number of people.  

That's right, Facebook will organically show your post to more people if it is a video post. Good news, right? Attention everyone: a video post is not a link post which includes a hyperlink to a Youtube video, but Facebook native video content, so you will have to upload the full video file to Facebook - this may take several minutes depending on the video size. For your followers who have the Autoplay option ON, the video will start playing automatically when they scroll over it (in mute). Here are some tips to make sure your video post stands out: 

• chose your thumbnail smartly: make it the best scene of your video, and don't be afraid to add a custom thumbnail - a new image that you have created especially to catch the attention of your followers. 
• remember the video autoplays on mute: which means adding footnotes (that's right, the return of the footnotes!), or typography to your video will definitely engage your customers more. 
• think mobile: video optimised for Facebook has a square format (as opposed to wide format). 

Social Video on Facebook / Citi Group

3. Include links to your posts to generate traffic to your website.

Most probably the piece of news, case study, offer or promotion you are communicating on Facebook is a teaser / snapshot of a bigger picture - content which is actually hosted on your website. Use Facebook to get more people to visit your website (where you can showcase your expertise, team, offer and contact details) in their full scope. So add links to your Facebook posts. There are obviously tricks to make people want to click on those links, here are only a few:

• shorten your URL with link shorteners (like bit.ly, goo.gl) and be smart: now you know exactly how many people have clicked on your link
• chose a great link custom image (which is usually not the one automatically generated by Facebook)
• create a photo carrousel - chose more than one image and attract your customers with original, useful, catchy link descriptions which are fully editable on Facebook

LinkAd on Facebook /Novartis 

Caroussel Ad on Facebook  /.comdirect

4. Create a unique mobile experience with Facebook Canvas. 

Let's start with this: Canvases are probably the most design-intensive type of formatting provided by Facebook (to date), but they're worth the while, they are simply beautiful. Facebook Canvas is a mobile-only content format which allows brands to tell stories on Facebook. Canvas is an immersive experience - once you click on a Canvas post, you will leave the Facebook context and dive into a visual story, where you swipe self, right, up and down to discover what brands want you to know. A smart canvas has a clear goal (e.g. lead generation, boost brand awareness, directly generate sales etc), so the design must help achieve this goal. Here are some smart tips: 

• talk to a content strategist or designer before getting to work, to avoid mistakes and wasting a lot of your time getting .. nowhere
• where possible, use existing content (e.g. images and videos from your brand's portfolio) 
• chose an excellent thumbnail: all the work that's been put into building a canvas can be in vain, if your audience doesn't make the first move and clicks on the post's creative, which can be either an image or a video. 

Facebook Canvas Example / Adespresso.com

5. Go full 360 on Facebook. 

Your company has an immense advantage: your future clients really want to know what happens behind the scenes, so they can trust you. Whether it's your production plant, customer service points or a development team's office, this is your unique value proposition, and now Facebook lets your brand invite followers to discover it through another immersive format: 360 photo or video, which you can create yourself, even with your smartphone. Let's see how to make this type of content really stand out in the newsfeed: 

• give it a sleek behind-the-scenes feel 
• provide rare insights into "restricted access" places 
• share unique experiences, e.g. events which are relevant for your audience

360 video on Facebook / Mark Zuckerberg

Hope you've enjoyed this short guide on how to make your company's Facebook posts more attractive. What's worth mentioning is that Facebook formatting is just one piece of the whole big puzzle called Facebook Strategy for B2B companies. In order to reach your KPIs (page likes, post reach, engagement etc - there's really a lot of KPIs to look into), you need a real strategic approach, which means taking decisions (on a periodic basis) about:

• Goals
• Custom audiences (segmenting, targeting) 
• Messaging strategy 
• Content formats 
• Media budget (Facebook campaigns)
• Publishing calendar 
• Social media interaction (brand engagement) protocol 
• Social media engagement team (including but not limited to publishing roles)
• Monitoring and reporting  
• Strategy update / adaptation. 

Send us a shout out if you want to find out more about how your B2B company can use Facebook formatting trends to stand out in social media. Happy to help! 

Note: Establishing a Facebook page only makes sense if your company is truly committed to a continuous and consistent activity, otherwise it may harm your brand, more than contribute to its growth.