Last September, Facebook debuted the ‘Subscribe‘ feature as a way for journalists to allow people to subscribe to their public updates on Facebook. Yesterday Facebook released some data to show how well the new program is working for writers and other media figures.

What’s that’s got to do with you? A lot actually. The takeaways from the study apply to ALL marketers and brands on Facebook, even ones not using the Subscribe feature.

Here’s what boosts engagement, according to Facebook’s own data:

1. Ask questions. In an earlier study, Facebook found that posts that sought a response received 64 percent more engagement (comments, likes, and shares).
2. Share interesting links—and be sure to add your $0.02. When reporters include analysis with the links, those links receive 20 percent more referral clicks on average.
3. Issue a call to action. Posts with a call to action (e.g. “read my link,” “check out my blog post”) receive 37 percent more engagement than an average post.
4. Be funny. Humor in posts can yield a 1.5x increase in likes and almost 5x increase in shares.
5. Show, don’t tell. Posts with photos receive 50 percent more likes than posts without photos.
6. Highlight fans. Facebook reports that reader shout-outs can increase in feedback by as much as 400 percent.

Read more: How Journalists Are Using Facebook Subscribe | Facebook.com

via Neiman Journalism Lab