We analyzed 2,463 Facebook messages initiated by 10 restaurant chains in the fourth quarter of 2010, 2012, and 2014. We have found status updates experienced a substantial decrease by restaurants while usage of photo updates increased dramatically in the same period. Photo remained to be the most "popular" media type, receiving most "Likes," comments, and shares from consumers. Video was not "popular" at all in 2010 but experienced a slight increase in usage and slowly emerged in 2012 and 2014 as another "popular" media.
Drawing from the research findings, I made the following recommendations to businesses:
- Engage with Facebook users in a consistent manner. We found that companies could win more customers over time by posting about the same amount of messages over the years.
- Post high-quality photos. Because it seems "everyone" knows the power of photos on Facebook, now it may take more than just a regular photo to catch people's attention.
- Use other picture-based social media tools to engage customers, such as Instagram and Pinterest.
- Choose an eye-catching screen shot for a video cover.
If you are interested in reading more of our findings and implications, please email me for a desk copy of the article for personal usage or download the article online on Emerald Insight.
Have you observed any changes among organizations' or people's behavior on Facebook? Would you mind sharing your observations with us?
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