With social media becoming one of the most useful tools in a marketer’s arsenal, it’s an extreme liability to not know how Facebook’s ranking system works, as it determines who will see your content and how they interact with it.
The name of this system is EdgeRank, and knowing how to use it to your advantage can give your company a serious competitive advantage. In Facebook terms, an “edge” is any interaction on the site. This post will teach you how to improve your Facebook EdgeRank for your business.
EdgeRank has been described as “an algorithm used by Facebook to determine where and what posts appear on each individual user’s news feed in order to give users relevant and wanted content.”
Three different factors are considered in the EdgeRank algorithm:
- affinity
- weight
- time decay
Affinity is the amount of engagement a user has with the brand, including likes and shares, and also includes the number of the user’s friends who are also engaged with the brand.
Weight ranks the type of features the post uses, such as video, hyperlinks, images or just text. A video has more weight than text, but the weight of a post is increased with how many shares and likes it has from users.
Decay is determined by how old the post is – the older it is, the less likely it is to show up.
Since 96% of fans do not go back to your brand’s Facebook page once they have liked it, virtually the only way you can interact with these leads is to reach them in their newsfeed. To get into their newsfeed, you need to get, and keep them engaged by posting content that is funny, alarming, surprising or visually arresting.
The Best Content
How do you get onto your fans’ newsfeed regularly? There are a number of ways that you can increase your affinity and weight within the rankings:
- Be concise. Posts under 250 characters get 60% more likes, comments, and shares than those over 250.
- Use video and images. Photo albums get 180% more engagement than text, and photos and videos get 120% and 100% more engagement.
- Ask questions! Asking people to engage works, bringing in 90% more engagement.
- Post often. Daily, if you can, to reach the most people, which will boost your affinity scores.
- Be relevant to, but don’t directly advertise your brand. Alternately, don’t post about things that have no connection with your business.
- Know when your audience is on Facebook and reach them at that time. Posting when they are not on the site will only subject your quality content to decay right off the bat.
When you understand how Facebook works, it suddenly becomes a lot easier to figure out new ways of creating content that will engage your leads. EdgeRank can help you get your messages in front of people who matter most – and to ensure your posts are actually being read and valued.
Timing
Keep in mind that most people are on Facebook between 1 pm and 4 pm on weekdays, so that is the best time to get posting.
As with all marketing materials, make sure your posts are timely, original and relevant to the interests of your fans. Facebook can be an extremely powerful tool for staying connected with your clients and prospects as well as establishing yourself as a valuable provider of fresh ideas in your industry.
