Since 2008 I’ve done a lot with Facebook pages and seen a lot of data. We used these pages to promote new ventures or create communities (like the 8pm Warrior page) and my team tried to be as engaging as possible.
The EdgeRank problem (fans not seeing your posts in the news feed) is not a new one, we’ve been dealing with it for years. However, Facebook recently made changes to it and irritated a lot of people. I am one of them.
I got this private message today.
As I’m sure you know, Facebook has their “Edgerank” and interactive ranking systems that determine who they think should be able to see liked page comments. You may or may not have found the lack of fan reach from your page frustrating.
From one page admin to another, do you mind if I ask…how do you personally deal with the limitations Facebook puts on page reach?
Here’s what I’m seeing now.
Going off the “XXXX people saw this post” report on the bottom of unshared updates, I looked at some recent numbers. Updates from my older community pages (like this one) get viewed by up to 75% of the fans for free. My newer brand pages (like the page for my new Attention Era Media video production group) don’t do nearly as well, getting in front of up to 50% for free. Most are about 40%.
For less active pages, like the 8pm Warriors discussion page, only about 15% are seeing the posts. When I share this post, only about 80 people out of almost 500 will see it in their news feed. Not so good for discussion. In fact, it’s the least discussion of any major platform I use. Blog comments, Google+ communities, and Twitter are all far more active.
Edgerank is not so nice for casual pages.
What I do about EdgeRank
The first thing I do is try to share the best content possible, as regularly as possible. Facebook rewards pages that earn engagement by giving them more attention. Pages that don’t update often, get fewer likes/comments/shares and don’t get Facebook EdgeRank love. Pages that people aren’t passionate about, don’t get seen.
That’s the point of EdgeRank.
So, while we continue to keep our various Facebook pages active and engaging, here are five other things we’re doing to help make sure people still see our content:
1) We buy ads
Starting at $5 per day, their new system of promoting a page is pretty slick. Only problem is once you get the fans, they have a very low EdgeRank page history rating because they probably aren’t engaging with the page much at first. They only clicked the “Like” button on an ad.
If you do #1, you probably need to look at #2 shortly thereafter.
2) We pay to promote posts
We only do this on posts that are really important. It does get more eyeballs than pre-EdgeRank days. However, it’s gonna cost you some money. The cost starts at $5 and goes up from there. It depends on how many fans you have.
The Dallas Mavericks have to pay $2000 to reach 40% of their fans.
3) I’m trying to move away from Facebook as much as possible.
There’s no getting away from Facebook. It’s too big, too important. However, I am trying to diversify my investment of time and money for community building. I blog here and at AttentionEra.com, as well as use Twitter @Biebert, @AttentionEra, and @8pmWarrior extensively. I’ve also been using Google+ communities and Linkedin more lately too.
4) We tag people in posts and comments to get them to talk.
Facebook will be more likely to show future posts to people who Like, comment or share the posts they do see. Tagging them gets them involved. Don’t be spammy, but don’t hesitate to tag someone if they are in an article or should be part of the discussion. If you look at our updates, you’ll see that we don’t abuse it.
5) We “Like” and comment on our own stuff.
Pure and simple, Facebook rewards posts with more likes/comments/shares with more views. Sadly, even our own likes and comments count. Yes, it’s weird. Yes, we do it anyway.
6) We’re utilizing our personal pages when appropriate.
Even though EdgeRank applies to people’s personal updates too, they are much more generous with people compared to pages. I used to use my personal Facebook profile exclusively for private stuff. No longer. If we’ve had some good conversations online, I’m looking to connect personally via Facebook.
I recommend that every single member of your team Likes your updates and then comments/shares the update when appropriate. That will be a good start.
That’s about about all I got on this topic. Hope it helps.
I would discourage folks from using the EdgeRank system as an excuse. It is actually quite brilliant and makes Facebook more user friendly. Plus, everyone has to play by the same rules.
Yes, it does give a bigger voice to bigger companies. The level playing field is gone now. However, if you’re posting regularly and intelligently (non salesy, engaging stuff), you’ll get engagement and more views.
What are you seeing out there?
Have a great night,
Aaron @Biebert
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