For me, using social media is all about experimentation.

Try something. If it works, try it again. Didn’t work so well? Tweak it a little and try again.

Recently, I have been experimenting with Facebook Questions.

I have tried a few that worked really well. I’ve seen others flop.

So I wonder. Did I ask an uninteresting question? Did I ask it at the wrong time? Did I, perhaps, not ask the right people? Have I bugged my friends with asking too many questions in a short amount of time?

It’s really difficult to filter through all those variables. Really, the only way to find out is to wait awhile, tweak my method, and try again. Or to invite others to try and see what type of results they get.

Here are a few observations about Facebook Questions:

  1. You can tell a question is really “working,” if a lot of people you don’t know answer it. Once people answer a Facebook question, the fact that they answered it (and their answer) shows up in their newsfeed. If the question is intriguing enough, people will answer it, even if they don’t know the person who asked the question.
  2.  The weekend seems to be a good time to ask questions. (Holiday weekends, not so much.)
  3. A question is effective when it engages people enough that they add their own answers or add comments.
  4. Creating a question and asking a few friends doesn’t take much time at all. It’s a great way to invite engagement on your Facebook fan page. EXCEPT… you can’t ask your fans. For some reason, you can only ask your friends.
  5. I had hoped that using questions on a fan page would net the page more fans. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen that happen much, even when I have added a comment asking folks to like the page. People typically answer the question, comment (or not), and move on.

What have you learned from experimenting with Facebook questions? I’d love to know! Want to see an example of a question that did well? Check out this one — Do you check email while on vacation?. Want an example of a question that flopped — Do you feel guilt about the time you spend on social media channels? Take a look at this one.

Note: All of my posts on this site will be 12 minute blog posts. Here are the rules for a 12 minute post. I set my timer and start writing. When it runs out, I’m done. Once I am done, I can spend a few more minutes to read over for minor edits, to add links or upload an image. Want to hear more about how to write a 12 minute blog post? Read this post… or this one.