Presentation on leading practices for optimizing Facebook newsfeed posts.

1. Optimizing Newsfeed
Posts for Brand Pages
Confidential to IT Agility LLC

2. 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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3. 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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4. Understanding the Facebook EdgeRank Algorithm is
critical for brands to maximize newsfeed impressions.
Facebook’s EdgeRank Algorithm
• 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.
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5. 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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6. The “social rank” score identifies which content is getting
the most engagement across social media platforms.
SocialRank Score
SocialRank considers content
engagement across major
social media platforms.
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7. Engaging content generates buzz and improves brand
impressions across destinations.
Trending
• Increase likes, • Increase • Attract more • Increase open
Content comments, and retweets members to rates
shares per post • Gain more your group • Improve click
• Improve fan followers • Improve thru rates
affinity with your • Increase engagement per • Grow viral
brand engagement post sharing of
• Gain more with followers • Increase content newsletter
impressions shares attached across
• Increase fan to your brand colleagues,
conversion rates family, and
friends
Brand
Mobile Devices
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8. Posting engaging content generates “social clicks” and
attracts viral fans by reaching friends of fans.
5 Six of his top friends also comment or like the
4 article creating a new wave of viral sharing to
20% of Joe‟s close their friends.
friends (28 people)
discover the article via 1
his newsfeed post. “Joe user” clicks on a photo
post and link to an article
shared via a brand page post.
2 Joe user likes the
brand post sharing
the article.
3
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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9. The trending view of content helps page managers
identify the most engaging content for brand page posts.
Engaging Content Increases Brand impressions
2) CelebBistro
posts the
trending item to
our wall
1) Article hits trending content
view with a 112 social rank
3) As expected, post receives high
levels of fan engagement: 3,585
likes, 472 shares, 206 comments
Facebook’s EdgeRank Algorithm
4) High engagement
optimizes post
impressions and
reach via 103,472 people reached
Facebook’s
EdgeRank Algorithm
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10. Picking engaging content is a key factor for driving
impressions via Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm.
Facebook EdgeRank Brand Page Optimization
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’s EdgeRank Algorithm
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11. Successful Posting 101
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.
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12. A photo post is the top performing type of post and
should always be utilized versus sharing a link.
Link included in text.
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.
Large and engaging
photos.
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13. 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 No link posts!
Note: A link post is created
when you paste a link into
the “Status” posting window
on your wall.
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.
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14. 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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15. 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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16. Facebook has optimal times to post fan page content.
• 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
Source: Buddy Media Study
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17. 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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18. 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 Promoted posts typically deliver lower
• Promoting contests, giveaways,
fan conversion rates than landing tab
sweepstakes, etc..
• You will be charged for promoted posts
ads. So, avoid promoted posts if your
just like running a Facebook ad goal is to grow new fans.
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19. Post characteristics drive engagement rates.
• 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)
Source: Buddy Media Study
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20. 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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21. Preparing a content calendar helps ensure that all
involved are on the same page (Travel Industry
Examples).
• 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.)
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22. 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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23. In Summary, Business Fan Pages have several EdgeRank
considerations.
EdgeRank Brand Page Optimization
• 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)
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