Pepsi employed targeted posting tactics in August to increase fan engagement and drive 10% growth in fans. They frequently posted at the same time each day, with their highest response rates coming from Saturday posts. Pepsi also posted the same video multiple times and actively sought user input through questions. Weekends proved effective for both Coke and Pepsi, while directly asking for likes on posts resulted in top engagement. Pepsi's tactics focused on high post volumes with a emphasis on engagement.

1. Know what works on Facebook Industry Report: September 21, 2011 Coke vs Pepsi Pepsi Sprints To Catch Coke on Facebook A look at the posting tactics Pepsi used in gaining 10% fan growth in August www.zuumsocial.com Report Period August 2011 (Except where noted otherwise) Pages Analyzed Coca-Cola, Pepsi

3. Pepsi's behind in fan count, but working hard to catch up Pepsi is employing some highly-unusual posting tactics Their content calendar reflects a very methodical effort to find out what's working.

4. Weekends are working for both brands Few industries are taking advantage of this time-slot ignored by so many brands As social media becomes more integrated into our daily lives (think mobile), look for weekends to be a top spot.

5. Don't be afraid to ask for the 'Like' Both brands have directly solicited 'Likes' in their posts. Both posts ended up in the top 5 in performance. Pepsi is really pushing engagement overall. Notice how many of their posts end with a question mark. Also, note the portion of Status updates leading in engagement. The top ten posts are almost always a richer media format, but Pepsi's really doing a great job of using simple, conversational language to drive engagement.

6. Got great content? Post it more than once. Pepsi posts the same commercial 4 times in 1 month The frequency doesn't hurt their engagement rates. Either people hadn't seen it previously, which is likely given that 'maybe' 5-10% of fans will see a given post, or people liked it so much the first time that they replayed it. You can also see how they posted it at regular intervals throughout the month.

7. Post at the same time each day to create expectations Pepsi posted 37% of their posts during the 8am Pacific time slot Normally I'm not a fan of being too mechanical about posting, but an alternate view could be that you're creating a kind of regularly-scheduled programming. From the engagement-rate chart, you can see that 8am Pacific is their best performing time slot, despite the high volume. (Times are GMT)

8. Know what works on Facebook www.zuumsocial.com That's just a sample of what Zuum can reveal about what works with Facebook marketing Contact Doug Schumacher Co-Founder Product Development and Marketing [email_address] Join any of our social media networks to know what works for marketers on Facebook. Facebook Twitter