??Have you ever wondered why your business Facebook page is sitting stale with not as many likes and comments you had wished for? Well, it could be your fans have not even seen the post you have made due to Facebook’s EdgeRank system.

Facebook EdgeRank

What is EdgeRank you may ask? Well this is the unique algorithm that is used by Facebook which decides which posts should appear in the ‘Top News’ stream on your default page when you log into Facebook. Facebook have a ‘top secret’ formula that enables a post to be positioned at the top of the ‘Top news’ results and this is something nobody outside of Facebook is privy to. However, from what we can tell this seems to be largely based on three main factors:

• Affinity
• Weight
• Timing

These are the factors that when combined give you the power to push content to the news feed’s ‘Top News’ page.

Tip #1 – Audience engagement is important, so try to encourage as much as you can

The way EdgeRank works is weighted so activities that require higher levels of user engagement get a higher score that those activities that don’t.  Rather than just focus on getting ‘Likes’, brands need to get people to comment on their content and share it too. If it is fan participation you are looking for then the weapon here is give the fans something they can engage with.  Social media is different to other marketing techniques as you are in an arena where you have to fight for the attention of people and you have to be the one that is giving them something other brands are not, in other words is the content you are offering worth the time of your audience. Remember social media is about having a relevant conversation. Don’t just post content, ask questions to get people to respond If brands want increased fan participation they need to provide something that people want to engage with. With social media you are fighting for people’s hard earned attention – brands must offer content that is worth their audience’s time.  As with all social media, it is about having relevant conversations – this is really improtant. You must ask questions and not just push out content and hope that people will respond. It has been proven that posts which include a clear and simple call to action achieve higher engagement levels. So what do I need to do? The answer is simple. Make sure you post fun posts which encourage the engagement of your fans. This can be through product feedback or participation in a competition. It might just surprise you how interested your fans are in your page.

Tip #2 – Personalise your brand on Facebook

It’s important to remember that, when it comes to EdgeRank, manual posts have more weight than posts automated through apps.  More than this, your Facebook Page needs to be human and personalised. You must develop a relationship with your audience: be ready to thank them for their replies and for sharing their opinions with you. Each social platform demands a bespoke tone of voice and content strategy – this is vital when it comes to engaging with your fans on Facebook. They can tell which posts are automated or those that have been written for Twitter (e.g. featuring hashtags) and which have been personalized – and for this reason auto posts do not produce as much engagement. While efficiency is important in the social sphere if it comes at the cost of a decrease in engagement, it simply isn’t worth it.  Show your fans you care enough to personalise each post and respond to their queries and opinions.

Tip #3 – Stand out from the crowd with rich media

Facebook is a home of many social brands which means your brand message can get lost in a big sea of content. One way to ensure your content stands out from the crowd is to use videos and photos. This form of rich media content performs well on Facebook and is preferred by people too. Depending on the brand, it can sometimes be difficult to just post text updates as these may not be engaging enough to push your post into the ‘Top News’ feed. Videos and photos are more likely to grab people’s attention and they also seem to be a favoured by the News Feed algorithm, carrying a high weight score that will influence EdgeRank. Use these videos to increase engagement. Don’t just push out this content, ask people what they think of the content and post it with a question. Getting people to comment will then add a highly weighted interaction score and build affinity with new users. Following these three steps will ensure you maximise your Facebook EdgeRank.

Getting support with Facebook and Social Media Marketing

It is important to remember that the Facebook community is dynamic and growing all the time. Using a social media consultant to devise a creative and powerful Facebook campaign can be extremely rewarding for your business. When getting started, using Facebook can seem very daunting and it’s likely that you will need the support of a local Web Design and social media marketing company. Specialists in this area will be able to help you with your Facebook marketing requirements. Don’t forget to use blogs and forums where possible as there will be lots of people who are happy to provide further support and talk about their own experiences and successes carrying out different internet marketing strategies.

Image credit – Maria Elena