It’s fairly safe to say that if you are reading this, you are already familiar with the Facebook News Feed… it’s the first thing you see once you have logged in, occupying the largest portion of the screen. Essentially, it is a constantly updating list of the things that people in your friendship network are posting. But you probably knew that already right?
What you may NOT know, however, is how this list is actually created. Why do you see some things, and not others? Marketing professionals have had an idea about how this works for quite some time, but recently Facebook revealed some very interesting details about the algorithm used to put the News Feed together, shedding some welcome light on this much speculated topic.
Not all posts are created equal
At the top of the News Feed on the right hand side are two options – “Top Stories” or “Most Recent”. On the default setting of “Top Stories”, Facebook attempts to show you content that it believes is going to be the most relevant and interesting to you in terms of the brands and people that you have liked and friended. “Most Recent” is simply a chronological list of updates by your brands/friends, much like a timeline on Twitter.
Top Stories is default for a reason, and this isn’t really that surprising – people want to see content that interests them, not just an unadulterated list of who’s going where, and who’s cooking what! This has massive implications for any brands seeking to use the Facebook platform for engaging with their consumers. Simply because – if you don’t get into the “Top Stories” – your content is not likely to be seen.
Facebook decides what content to display on your News Feed by using an algorithm called EdgeRank. When you publish an object into the News Feed (such as a status update, video or photo share) and someone interacts with it, Facebook calls this interaction an “Edge”… Edge’s are created when someone comments on your status, likes your photo, and so on.
You need your EdgeRank score to be as good as possible in order for you to maximise your chances of appearing in your potential fans/customers/friends news feeds! It’s as simple as that. Don’t let your updates be left alone in the dark whilst your competitors ones shine out in YOUR potential customers newsfeeds….
What you can do
There are three main known factors included in the EdgeRank algorithm; and we’ve provided a few simple tried-and-tested actions you can take to tweak them…
1. Affinity
This refers to the level of engagement that users already have for your Facebook page. If a user is regularly engaging with your brand, by commenting your posts, liking them, sharing your content and so on – then they would have a higher Affinity score than a user who seldom (or never) engages with your Facebook activity. It’s also essential to note that affinity is a one way process!!! It’s about how the user interacts with you – not how you interact with them. You could like everything another page posted but if they aren’t doing the same back to you, the affinity score will still be low, and you aren’t enhancing your chances of appearing in that user’s news feed. However – if you comment on a post and this comment initiates that user/brand to comment back – then you will have increased affinity.
ACTION: Comment on the activity of fans and brands wherever you can, and try to take the opportunity to invite a response. Both on your page/content AND on their pages/content. It is this response from the end-user that is KEY in getting your content into their News Feed.
2. Edge Weight
Facebook assigns “weight” to Edges pertaining to certain types of content, and to the way in which a user interacts with it. When posting content, it’s often better to post objects which are known to be highly weighted – although there is currently no definitive list, it is safe to say that video and photo links are higher weighted than a simple text status update.
In terms of interacting WITH your content, and creating Edges – if a user comments (rather than just likes) your content, then to that user that piece of content will gain a higher Edge Weight score, and future content is more likely to end up in their News Feed. It is also worth noting that if a user frequently comments upon photos rather than videos, photo’s will be more likely to appear in their News Feeds.
ACTION: Attach higher weighted content such as video or photo’s to your posts where possible, and mix it up a bit (one day do video, one day do pics). And as with Affinity, encourage comments/feedback – if you can turn a “like” into a comment then that user will have both increased Affinity AND your Edge Weight score!
3. Recency
This is the simplest of all the factors in the EdgeRank formula. The older a post is – the lower it’s score – and hence the less likely to appear in News Feeds. This factor decreases regardless of the other two criteria. Therefore even if you post something that attracts hundreds of likes/comments initially – a few days later it won’t be any more likely to show up.
ACTION: Post quality content regularly! Don’t assume your great previous content continues to appear – it doesn’t. Take note of what generated interest, and post something new – following our guidelines above.
We hope you found that all useful, feedback welcomed on www.facebook.com/netnatives (we want a high EdgeRank score too you know!)
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