Lately I’ve noticed a lot of small businesses and organizations on Facebook posting essentially the same update, admonishing Facebook for recent changes that have resulted in fewer fans seeing their updates, and imploring those alleged 10% who do receive their updates to add their page to their interest lists.
While it’s somewhat ironic that businesses would reach out to fans who are already receiving their regular updates, this sort of desperation underlies a deeper flaw in their social media marketing efforts.
Understand Your EdgeRank
The appearance of your posts in users’ news feeds is controlled by your page’s EdgeRank, a proprietary Facebook algorithm. It is controlled by three factors:
- Affinity Score
- Edge Weight
- Time Decay
Your EdgeRank rises and falls based on who interacts with your posts, what those interactions are (likes vs. comments vs. shares) and the age of the post. To learn more about EdgeRank, visit http://edgerank.net. To check your page’s EdgeRank, visit https://www.edgerankchecker.com.
Reward the Fans Who Do See Your Updates
Regardless of what your EdgeRank is, you should first focus on the “10%” of users who do see yours posts regularly. These are your most engaged fans. Reward them. Offer them special discounts and insider information, rather than trying to artificially increase your news feed penetration.
Despite the fact that the “90%” won’t even see the update imploring them to change their settings, you risk alienating your most engaged 10%. Those 90% aren’t the ones that frequently engage with you any way. While it’s true that there may be some who truly want to see your updates, but don’t because of the algorithm, it’s not worth throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
As your initial, engaged fan-base interacts with your posts more often, your EdgeRank will rise naturally and you may begin to reach some of those in the “90%.”
Post Often
Don’t be afraid to post more than once a day. Your fans can only interact with as many posts as you send out, so give them that opportunity. Use tools like https://crowdbooster.com to identify prime posting times based on previous engagement. Increased frequency may result in some hides or dislikes. This, however, will bring your most loyal fans into the foreground.
Don’t Put All Your Eggs in Facebook’s Basket
For those who aren’t engaging with you on Facebook: ask yourself if they are more active on other networks. Could you interact with them on Twitter, or Instagram? Research other network usage among your target demographic and personas, and then custom-tailor content for them on those networks. Don’t just replicate the same messaging across three or four networks.
The bottom line is that engagement will be as good as your content. Don’t let an algorithm victimize you. Concentrate on quality content for your most engaged users and Facebook won’t have any choice but to place you in the news feed.
Steven Shattuck
@stevenshattuck
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