Facebook
can be a great channel for spreading your content to a huge and active audience, but only if your content gets seen. Posting a video or a status update doesn't matter if no one sees it.
Note: this article is based on a presentation I did for Social Fresh Tampa earlier this week. Check out the slides and resources here.
What is "News Feed Optimization"?
The news feed is the #1 most visible real estate on Facebook. It is customized to each user based on their network and their patterns of activity, like which of their friends they interact with the most. The news feed shows the top posts from a user's network, filtering out more than 99% of content. So, the question is, how do you make sure your content makes it into that <1% of content securing real estate in the news feed?
Facebook's Algorithm: EdgeRank
Facebook, unlike the super-secret Google, has shared their algorithm for ranking content on Facebook and filtering what appears in the news feed. The algorithm consists of three components:
1. Affinity - the number of times 2 people (or a person and a page) have interacted
2. Weight - the number of times users have interacted (commented, liked) with the content in question
3. Recency - the time since the content was posted, note that Facebook moves and changes very quickly, and my news feed, for example, never has content more than 24 hours old.
20 Tips to Get Your Content Seen on Facebook
With the understanding of how Facebook ranks and filters content, what can you do to make sure your content makes the cut? Here are 20 ideas.
- Post a variety of content to attract interactions from a higher percentage of your users, raising your affinity score.
- Focus on positive and fun content on Facebook. Sex sells.*
- Talk about Facebook - Facebook is the number one most shareable topic on Facebook.*
- Respond to comments that your fans post on your content to increase the number of interactions per post.
- Respond to comments that your fans post on your wall to increase your affinity score.
- Experiment with targeting posts to get a higher feedback score (percentage of impressions that turn into interactions).
- Post regularly, but not too frequently (more than once a day) to give each post a good chance of gaining traction.*
- Post content outside of main work hours - Facebook users interact more when they're off the clock.*
- Include images on blog posts you publish to create a more eye-catching post.
- Don't forget to write an appealing meta description for any links you post, because Facebook automatically pulls this in for links.
- Use share links on your blog articles and landing pages to encourage users to post your content directly.
- Integrate landing pages within Facebook to get higher conversion rates - Facebookers don't like to leave Facebook.
- Post videos directly instead of links to articles with videos, so users can watch the video within Facebook.
- Include links in video descriptions to drive traffic back to your website.
- To share photos but protect your copyright and get better analytics, use Flickr integrated with your Facebook account.
- To share photos for maximum interactions, post photos directly to Facebook .
- Refrain from using complex language or jargon in your posts for maximum response.*
- Ask questions and specifically ask for feedback from your fans.
- Use Facebook Insights to measure which content performs the best on your specific page.
- Encourage user-generated content , including user-created photos, comments, or links.
*Source: 5 Questions and Answers About Facebook Marketing
For more information about marketing with Facebook, check out our ebook, How to Use Facebook for Business !
Have other ideas to optimize your content posts on Facebook? Share them in the comments below!
Photo Credit:
MailChimp®
Inbound Marketing Blog Feed
Dan Tyre 8:37 AM on February 23, 2011
21. Post pictures of cute puppies or your son's enormous watermellon crop last summer.
Jill Fratianne 8:42 AM on February 23, 2011
Great Post Ellie, I get asked these questions ALOT from folks looking for help from HubSpot. Needless to say, I will be passing this around.
Tina Thelen 8:48 AM on February 23, 2011
Great Article Ellie! I'm always looking for better ways to get more interaction on my Facebook business fan page. Great tips for helping to achieve that! Thanks again.
Khyati 8:55 AM on February 23, 2011
Great post! Is there any difference between having a Facebook page that others can 'like' or a group that others can become 'member' or having a page/community where someone can 'become a fan', in terms of marketing?
Tracy Gold 9:33 AM on February 23, 2011
Great article--I had suspected that Facebook's algorithm was something like that, but hadn't actually seen it published.
One note on number 10--and this is something important that we use all the time--you can edit your titles and metadata when you post a link. If the meta description has typos/is not compelling, I always edit it. I also always make sure the text in the status and the title of the post is different. Maximizing the amount of hooks!
Amber-Lee Dibble 9:51 AM on February 23, 2011
I don't understand. (#15) Copyrite my photos?? How do I do this? My pics are my prize. Can you tell me how to do this? This was another terrific article, you are wonderful, Ellie!
Thanks for all of this.
~Amber-Lee
Ponn Sabra 9:55 AM on February 23, 2011
12-14 definitely got me thinking about Facebookers with different mind-sets. Because I prefer the blog, and getting off FB, but I saw big-trend that they don't. And, because I don't do 12-14 I could potentially losing some good traction. (Always wanted to do #14, but have to learn how). Also, I'll have to look into #19.
theComplex 11:02 AM on February 23, 2011
Great post, I'm still learning what appeals to my page fans most and these tips are very helpful.
David Glynn 2:47 PM on February 23, 2011
Hi
Feel Free to look at our page and see what you think
feedback appreciated
vicki 5:09 PM on February 23, 2011
Could someone explain #6. I am not understanding how the impressions work. I know where they are but not the purpose. Researched FB Help but to no avail. Too much jargon for this self taught small biz owner.
Thanks,
Ann B. Gallops 6:34 PM on February 23, 2011
Super-helpful, thank you. On point #7, you seem to be recommending that I post on my Fan Page just once per day. Is that correct?
edwina drummond boose 7:10 PM on February 23, 2011
Thank you for this wonderful post. I could not make the webinar today and perhaps this will help.
Ellie Mirman 11:41 PM on February 23, 2011
@Khyati - Groups do function in a different way (there's more info here) and for a business you'll want to create a page, not a group.
@Tracy - Note that, while it's possible for you to edit your link titles/descriptions, a lot of your readers/fans who are sharing your content won't do the same - make it super easy for them to share your content in an optimized way.
@Amber - You can setup your photos to have different levels of copyright on Flickr - check out their settings for more info.
@Vicki - An impression is really just someone seeing your post when they view their news feed or visit your page. Because Facebook's algorithm filters what users see, and because not every user logs in frequently, your impressions per post will vary.
@Ann - The optimal number of times to post on your page is about every other day, though of course it may vary for your particular business and audience.
Media Eye Studios 12:08 AM on February 24, 2011
Great ideas. I am trying to figure out how to send message to specific fans (since we are not "friends") I can't seem to figure it out.
Marty DeWitt 9:43 AM on February 24, 2011
Thanks, this is a great list.
I would add Post on weekends! You say post after hours, but don't forget that includes weekends, when your customers are likely to be most active on Facebook.
Bobbi E. 7:50 PM on February 24, 2011
Really helpful post, Ellie, thanks! As a psychotherapist, I'm still trying to figure out how to get my "products" (service) out into the social media sphere and Hubspot has been really helpful.
nicky electric 8:28 PM on February 24, 2011
Fantastic post Ellie. I've shared this with a few people - thanks :)
Calla Gold 10:59 PM on February 24, 2011
Ellie, this was really helpful. Thank you for giving me more understanding about how these things work.
Meredith 10:09 AM on February 25, 2011
This is definitely food for thought! I am going to be more consistent in posting on Facebook to target the newsfeed!
~Meredith
Pune Dracker 12:11 PM on February 25, 2011
So useful--and easy, that's the best part! We offer resources and help to animal shelters who want to promote their animals and engage their communities on Facebook--and they're doing an amazing job, especially with asking questions and posting photos. And yeah, it really helps that their subjects are puppies and kittens!
bconnected - email marketing 4:28 PM on February 25, 2011
What a great post. Thx for sharing these ideas. I just got my FB page setup, so will be trying all of these.
Julie 10:57 AM on March 01, 2011
Why aren't these comments threaded for greater engagement? I'd like to see answers to some of these questions. Hubspot oversight.
Christina 11:49 AM on March 01, 2011
Great post! Very helpful and insightful on a topic we all could stand to learn more about. Thanks again!
Aurelius Tjin 3:23 AM on March 02, 2011
Excellent ideas. It was very helpful. Thanks for posting! :)
Alison 12:25 PM on March 02, 2011
Is there any way to use embed code of a video hosted on another site in your status update? The only way I've seen to "post a video directly" is to upload it from your computer (your own video) or post a youtube link.
Derek 2:54 PM on March 08, 2011
#6 - I want my posts to be in all the fans new feeds, and then in the news feeds of their friends when they post stuff, and I get that they need to be "liked" more to show up more, but do you have any advice on effectively "targeting" the posts to accomplish this? Just use insights to see what works?
Jenny Heath 7:39 AM on March 09, 2011
Great explanation Ellie, thanks. It explained principles, which I really need in order to understand.