I found this great post by Arik C. Hanson, for his blog Communications Conversations which he posted back in September and I wanted to share it with AJGpr blog readers.

Last week, I talked about the obvious trend of “art direction” when it comes to content on Facebook. However, what’s relatively shocking is the few number of brands that have caught on to this huge content shift on the biggest social platform.

I mean, by and large, many of the larger, Fortune 500 brands are on board. Mostly because they have huge agencies assisting or guiding them (not all the credit goes to the agencies, but it surely mitigates the risk that you’d miss a trend like this when you employe a huge, international agency to keep you AHEAD of trends like this). Look just below those larger companies though, and you’ll find an overwhelming amount of companies that are still playing by the 2010 Facebook rules–share links, ask questions, use polls.

Those rules are virtually dead, my friends. Welcome to the visual era of Facebook (and, oh by the way, I really should have welcomed you about 4-5 months ago).

Truth be told, imagery is everything on Facebook right now. So, what can you do to catch up? Here are a few simple ideas (that seemingly all the early adopters are using):

Art direct shots on the fly

I know this has been well documented by now, but you know what I love most about what Starbucks does on Facebook? It’s the ad-hoc shots they share. These are shots that are not taken by a full-blow production team, but instead (most likely–my guess) by one of their PR or social media folks “on the fly.” It’s the way of the new world. Brands that are nimble enough to pull these sorts of visuals off quickly are going to succeed in the new Facebook world.

Use (pieces of) ads as the post

Look what Tiffany’s is doing here. Simply using pieces of ads as the visual and pairing it with an “ad-like” headline is enough to earn a few likes/comments.

Branded photos still work

As much as everyone wants to be Oreo right now (don’t lie, you do), good, old-fashioned branded photography still works in terms of engagement. Remember, most of your fans on Facebook are there because they are EXISTING customers. They’re just looking for reasons to like your posts. Sometimes you just don’t need to overthink it. Give them branded photography–like what Burberry does here.

Celebrate the odd dates–creatively

Oreo solved the problem so many brands have: How do we “celebrate” all these odd dates we want to recognize on Facebook, but do it in a way that inspires engagement? As we all know by now, Oreo has done it brilliantly by using their product in a creative way. I’m not say you need to go follow Oreo’s lead, but how can you use your creative flair to do the same? Visually.

Still use quotes–just make them visuals

You know those quotes you use all the time on Facebook via text? Here’s the thing–they work MUCH better as visuals. Just see what Dove has done here. You’re seeing more brands taking this approach–because it WORKS.

Make regular posts visual

You know those run-of-the-mill text posts that worked so well 4-5 months ago? Fill in the blank posts, for example? Well, why not make those visual, too? Just look what Burt’s Bees has done here. Perfect.