Facebook fan pages (now just called “pages”) are incredibly powerful marketing tools to reach your blog readers and keep them coming back to your site. But if you don’t actually engage your Facebook fans on a regular basis, you won’t get near the marketing “bang for your buck”. In this blog post, I’ll share some tips to increase engagement and help you understand how Facebook’s algorithm really works.
Facebook uses an “engagement” algorithm to decide what users see on their news feed when they go to the Facebook.com home page. Users see updates from friends, apps (like Farmville), and pages they have “fanned” or “liked”. But they don’t see everything by default. Facebook tries to only show the most relevant and interesting updates. So your job is to make sure your updates are making it on to your fans news feed. Here are some things that affect whether or not an update shows up in someones feed:
- Visits - When you visit someones profile or a page it tells Facebook you are interested in that person/page. Your job as a page owner is to make sure people visit your page every once in a while so that Facebook knows they are still interested in you.
- “Likes” – Probably the most powerful indicator Facebook uses is the “Like” feature. When you “Like” something, you’re telling Facebook you want to see more from that person/page. When other people like something, it tells Facebook that it’s interesting and relevant. So when you can get people to like things on your page, it has a higher chance of appearing in their news feed.
- Friends - You may have noticed when people leave comments, or like something, Facebook will show something like “[Your Friend], [Your Other Friend], and 5 other people like this”. Facebook uses your friends as an indicator of what you may also like. If you have a friend that also shares 5 other friends in common with you, Facebook can discern that from your friends and will display their updates more than someone who doesn’t share any other friends in common with you.
- Interaction - The new engagement algorithm no longer displays things chronologically. There is a tipping point of sorts that will “promote” an update to your news feed that might have been posted yesterday. This is because some updates for people or pages you don’t frequent or haven’t liked much/any won’t normally show up, but if all of a sudden there are a lot of comments, or “likes” from a couple of your friends, then Facebook will promote it to your feed.
- Ratios - If you have 10,000 fans, but only 25 people regularly like, comment, or interact with your page, your post quality will be lower than if you have 100 fans and have 25 that regularly participate. You want as many people participating as possible, not just a few of the “regulars”.
As a page admin, you’ll notice on the left side of your page is an “Insights” box. This displays “Post Quality” and “Interactions This week”. The “Post Quality” is part of the engagement algorithm and uses all the things I mentioned above. I’ve seen qualities from 1.0 all the way up in to the 50′s. The higher the post quality, the higher the chance of getting your update on someones news feed. Now here are some tips on how to actually improve engagement and that “post quality”:
- Ask A Question - As an affiliate manager, I often visit my affiliate’s sites and fan pages and see many of the updates are auto-posted using some sort of bot/script. This is a sure way to destroy engagement and lower your post quality. Ask people open ended questions that use the words “you” or “your”. For example “What’s the most you’ve ever saved at the grocery?!”
- Comment Yourself – Your comments are important to post quality. If people comment on your posts, thank them, and answer any questions they have quickly in the comments. Each of your comments adds to the quality of the post and improves it’s chances of showing up in people’s feeds.
- Links & Updates – Don’t just post links. If you post a combination of open ended status updates along with links to offers/blog entries, you’ll notice the post quality will improve and you’ll start receiving more traffic from your Facebook page.
- Show Some Love – The people on your Facebook page have “fanned” you or “liked” you. Thank them from time to time and you’ll be surprised how many “likes” you get.
- Be Quick About It – Remember one of the factors is “interaction”. If you post an update and then take 2 days to reply to any comments, it won’t show up on peoples feeds because it’s not “fresh” anymore. You want people to “like” and comment on your posts within 24 hours or it may not ever get promoted. Sometimes asking a couple friends to comment on your entries right after you post them doesn’t hurt.
- Be Consistent – This is probably rule #1. If you post a few updates, then go back to your normal ways for a couple weeks, you’re going to lose that “quality” score which is a sliding week. I would suggest at least 1 post every other day, if not every day that has an open ended question that you think will get people to “like” it or comment on it. Then you can post 1 or 2 links in between those updates. But whatever you do, keep doing it on a regular basis.
Chris Kenworthy is an affiliate manager with the Escalate Media Affiliate Network. He works hand in hand with some of the top Mommy bloggers and women’s related web sites to help them earn more from their sites. The Escalate Network is a leading affiliate network that partners with publishers in the women’s niche. They are proud to provide affiliates with brand name offers, high payouts, responsive affiliate managers, and Net 15 payments. Signup today at http://www.escalatenetwork.net/signup/
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
One thing I am now doing is paying attention to facebook pages I enjoy. I am learning a lot that way.
If I may add, don’t beg for facebook followers. Especially on facebook! It is very annoying to those who already follow you on facebook
Thanks again for the great tips!
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Carrie Isaac Reply:
June 24th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
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Joyce Diaz Reply:
June 25th, 2010 at 6:52 am
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Also, I found that the more controversial or relevant a status update / question is the more people will become invoved. While it may mean some less than positive comments – it will sure get the comment ball rolling and your supporters will start to come out of hiding when they see the number of comments and add their own 2 cents!
I am fairly new at this too but I like that facebook is a little longer lasting with your audience than tweeting a new post and can be a great tool!
I am at http://www.facebook.com/mommywords
Like I said – Share the love! Come visit me and I will visit you right back!
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In my experience I’ve seen that growing community on social networks starts with being genuine and connecting with your people on a real level.
The online world is not this weird place full of overweight perverts passing themselves off as stay at home mom’s.
Your online community is made up of real people who will ditch you in a heart beat if they even get a whiff that you are only in it for the numbers.
One of the big draws on my facebook page is the fact that when I start a conversation on my facebook page, it shows up in my twitter feed. This generates conversation on both networks with just one question.
Another great post from the Savvyblogging team. Keep up the good work.
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behind the scenes and the way facebook works in confusing, but the pointers are perfect. i am already doing a lot of them but the more you know the more you grow!
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Since there hasn’t been a ton of interaction, when I do post it will most likely not show on a lot of people’s status updates when they log in, so am I destined to always stay low?
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Another good way to get interaction and increase your “likes” is to @ other bloggers and sites in your status updates. For example, I may share a link I found via another blogger so I would post “Thanks to @bloggerwhoever for the great find!”. That way, your post also ends up on their fan page and their followers may come over to explore yours. I’ve had a lot of success doing this and the other blogger/site almost always thanks you or “likes” the post too, helping your interactions.
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My virtual assistant created some pages for me, for both of my blogs.
http://www.facebook.com/hoosierhomemade
Now I need to start searching around and “liking” everyone!
Thanks so much!
~Liz
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