Optimizing Newsfeed Posts for Brand Pages

Confidential to IT Agility LLC

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90%+ of Facebook fans do not revisit fan pages which makes fan page posts critical to driving impressions.

1. The average Facebook person “likes” a multitude of pages and interests.

2. Over 90% of fans do not revisit the fan page.

3. Most fan page posts are consumed via the broadcast out to fan newsfeeds.

4. 99% of comments and likes come from fan interaction via their newsfeed.

5. Newsfeed impressions measure how many fans see your fan page posts.

6. Many fans “like” the Facebook ad without visiting the brand page.

It is critical for brands to make high quality fan page posts and optimize impressions via newsfeeds.

Source: IT Agility experience across our 11 managed pages with over 2.5 Million fans and Buddy Media Study

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Companies should adopt several leading practices for their Facebook brand pages.

1. Understand the Facebook EdgeRank algorithm and how to maximize impressions.

2. Make high quality fan page posts.• Write compelling and optimal fan page posts

using photo or video types of posts.• Be responsive to fan posts/comments.• Monitor and understand Fan Page engagement

rates. (time to post, post characteristics, etc.)

3. Optimize your page configuration relevant to your industry and situation.• Select the best page category relevant to your

brand page.• Make page settings relevant to your brand. • Make a compelling landing page as a custom tab

for Facebook ads to maximize fan conversion rates.

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• The EdgeRank Algorithm has 3 components:1. u - Edge rank is an affinity score between the viewing user and the item’s creator (if a person

engages with your brands newsfeed posts then you will have a higher edge score with this person and your brand page)

2. w - There’s a weight given to each type of Edge (a comment has more importance than a Like). Each brand page posts earns an edge score based on how engaging each post is. When a user likes, comments, shares, or interacts with a post the W score is improved.

3. d -Time is a factor….the older an Edge is, the less important it becomes. Most posts have a 2-3 hour life on Facebook before the time decay factor renders the post obsolete.

• Multiply these factors for each Edge then add the Edge scores up and you have an Object’s EdgeRank. The higher the edge rank is, the more likely your Object is to appear in the user’s feed.

• The act of creating an Object is also considered an Edge, which is what allows objects to show up in your friends’ feeds before anyone has interacted with them.

Facebook’s EdgeRank Algorithm

Understanding the Facebook EdgeRank Algorithm is critical for brands to maximize newsfeed impressions.

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Our content tab provides a proprietary “social rank” score identifying the most engaging content for each subject area.

Wisdom of crowds identifies the best content for each subject area.

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The “social rank” score identifies which content is getting the most engagement across social media platforms.

SocialRank considers content engagement across major social media platforms.

SocialRank Score

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Mobile Devices

• Increase likes, comments, and shares per post

• Improve fan affinity with your brand

• Gain more impressions

• Increase fan conversion rates

• Increase retweets

• Gain more followers

• Increase engagement with followers

• Attract more members to your group

• Improve engagement per post

• Increase content shares attached to your brand

• Increase open rates

• Improve click thru rates

• Grow viral sharing of newsletter across colleagues, family, and friends

Trending Content

Brand

Engaging content generates buzz and improves brand impressions across destinations.

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Posting engaging content generates “social clicks” and attracts viral fans by reaching friends of fans.

Six of his top friends also comment or like the article creating a new wave of viral sharing to their friends.

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20% of Joe’s close friends (28 people) discover the article via his newsfeed post. “Joe user” clicks on a photo

post and link to an article shared via a brand page post.

Joe user likes the brand post sharing the article.

The post that Joe likes the article broadcasts to the News Feeds of his 139 friends*.

*139 is the average size of Facebook users’ networks (Source: Facebook’s S-1)

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The trending view of content helps page managers identify the most engaging content for brand page posts.

Engaging Content Increases Brand impressions

1) Article hits trending content view with a 112 social rank

Facebook’s EdgeRank Algorithm

2) CelebBistro posts the trending item to our wall

3) As expected, post receives high levels of fan engagement: 3,585 likes, 472 shares, 206 comments

4) High engagement optimizes post impressions and reach via Facebook’s EdgeRank Algorithm

103,472 people reached

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1. Fan that engage with your content creates a higher affinity score between fans and your brand page (u score)

2. High volume of likes, shares, and comments drives a higher EdgeRank as engaging posts are shown to more newsfeeds (w score)

3. Time - the older an Edge is, the less Facebook shows the post (d score). An average brand page newsfeed post stops gaining impressions within ~3 hours.

Facebook EdgeRank Brand Page Optimization

Facebook’s EdgeRank Algorithm

Picking engaging content is a key factor for driving impressions via Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm.

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1) Always include a visual element (picture or video). If you want to share a link, do a photo post and include the link in the comment text.

2) Don’t be afraid to cue fans into action, use words such as: watch, check out, look at, like, etc.

3) Keep posts short and sweet, stick to 3 sentences or less.

4) Tack on a question at the end of a post to encourage a response. Remember that comments increase the W score in EdgeRank.

5) Keep an eye on your Facebook wall and insights. Learn when your audience is the most active and post during times of high activity.

6) Respond quickly to fan questions and comments. If it’s a large issue, give the person relevant company contact info and help move the conversation off of the wall.

Successful Posting 101

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1) Start with a photo post.

2) Upload the full size photo image.

3) You can always share an article link in the text with the photo post.

A photo post is the top performing type of post and should always be utilized versus sharing a link.

Large and engagingphotos.

Link included in text.

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Avoid Link Type posts! When you share a link, Facebook auto sizes a small photo image which is much less engaging in fan newsfeeds.

The link type post image is way less attention-grabbing versus a photo post

Link posts achieve way less fan interaction than normal. Facebook EdgeRank deems this post as less engaging and the post is given way less space in a fan’s newsfeed.

Note: A link post is created when you paste a link into the “Status” posting window on your wall.

No link posts!

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Utilizing Facebook insights will show you that photo posts outperform other types of posts.

Facebook Insights for CelebBistro Fan Page:

Click the “Virality” column to sort on the most engaging posts.

Filter by Type of Post to easily discover which post types perform the best.

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Uploading 3-5 photos to your page photo album generates an engaging post to fan Newsfeeds.

Photo Album Upload featuring Adele

Visit Page Insights often to identify which posts generated the most engagement, then post more of this type of content.

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• Facebook engagement has three engagement peaks: early morning (7 a.m. EST), after work (5 p.m. EST) and late at night (11 p.m. EST).

• Non-work hours have the highest engagement rate peaks

• Thursday, Friday and Sunday posts have the highest engagement rates

• Each brand needs to consider the behavior and peak engagement rates for their audience

Facebook has optimal times to post fan page content.

Source: Buddy Media Study

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Take advantage of Facebook’s built in post scheduling and post targeting features.

Schedule a post.

Target a post based on fan demographics

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Promoting a post works well for some types of post that you want most of your fan base to see.

Promoted Posts Work for:• Product announcements• Promoting contests, giveaways,

sweepstakes, etc..• You will be charged for promoted posts

just like running a Facebook ad

Promoted posts typically deliver lower fan conversion rates than landing tab ads. So, avoid promoted posts if your goal is to grow new fans.

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• Using action words increases fan interactions wit h your posts

• “Like us” if you ……works

• Asking for comments works

• Posts with 80 characters or less gain 27% more engagement than posts that were more than 80 characters.

• Only 19% of posts in the study were shorter than 80 characters

• Posts with a full-length URL had three times the engagement of their shortened bit.ly, ow.ly and tinyurl counterparts (the likely reason is readers want to know the link destination)

Post characteristics drive engagement rates.

Source: Buddy Media Study

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Optimal frequency of posts varies by type of business fan page.

• Optimal Post Frequency is relative to the type of brand page site

• 1 – 2 posts per day for a typical company brand page

• 3 – 4 posts if you have interesting and compelling content

• 6 – 12 posts per day for global media sites

• Post at least 2 hours apart• Don’t repost the same content• Write an optimal status update with the content

• > 4 lines will yield …”more” link to see full post• Photo and video posts increase engagement

quality and ultimate Facebook impressions• Ending with a question increases comments

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• A weekly or monthly content calendar keeps posting topics organized and helps combat monotony.

• Be sure to switch up the calendar, exchange ‘Monday’ content with ‘Thursday’ content to keep posts fresh.

• Example Content Calendar for Mondays: 9 AM: Quick Getaways- Guide fans to deals on excursions

within the US, focus on region (West Coast, Midwest, etc.) 1 PM: Travel-Ticker Favorites- Destinations, Activities, Travel

Accessories, Restaurants, Clubs, Cultural Experiences, etc. 5 PM: Fan Question (ex. Which tropical destination would you

like to escape to this winter? Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Hawaii, etc.)

Preparing a content calendar helps ensure that all involved are on the same page (Travel Industry Examples).

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Photo and video posts drive the most Facebook impressions and links can be shared within the comment section of the post.

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• U Score - An active user that engages (likes, comments, clicks links, etc.) with your brand’s newsfeed posts creates a higher affinity score with that fan

• W score - High volume of likes, shares, and comments drives a higher EdgeRank for each respective post

• D Score - Time remains a factor….the older an Edge is, the less important it becomes.

• Attached content (photo and video posts) drive a higher edgerank and photo posts have the highest edge score

• Several other factors appear to drive relative Facebook impressions across fan page posts

• Competition against other fan page posts• Weighting of factors driven by Facebook (e.g. promoting

places feature)• Time and day of posts (peak usage times of Facebook

users)• Volume of fans on your page helps (critical mass helps to

drive more likes and comments)

EdgeRank Brand Page Optimization

In Summary, Business Fan Pages have several EdgeRank considerations.