If you are wondering how you can have 550 friends in Facebook but only have 15-20 show up in your news feed, here is your answer. It is not that those other friends have stopped using Facebook. Chances are they are all still there. It is just they are not showing up in your news feed.If you have not noticed, there are two settings on your Facebook news feed. The Most Recent news feed shows most of the content published by your Facebook friends in a chronological order and the Top News filters content based on EdgeRank.When you have friends and family with a high EdgeRank, they are more likely to show up in your Top News feeds. Users with a low EdgeRank may not even show up in your Most Recent news feeds.For businesses or others that are looking to promote, market or just interact through Facebook, the implications of this new change are huge. Top News is the default setting. Unless a friend or fan changes their default, it is quite possible they will never see your updates . No matter how great the content, no matter how well you manage your Facebook page, EdgeRank may be holding you back.Facebook looks at everything published as objects. These can be identified as status updates, links, photos, video or anything else that is shared on Facebook. Each object receives a ranking (EdgeRank) which determines if the information will show in your personal newsfeed. Posts with a high EdgeRank appear in your appear in your Top News feed. Posts with a low EdgeRank will not. According to a study done by The Daily Beast last fall, posts with a really low EdgeRank may not show up in your Most Recent news feeds.A posts affinity score is based on the interactions you have with the friend or fan who published the post. Friends or fans with whom you interact with regularly receive a higher affinity score. Every time you visit a fan page, click the Like button, comment on a users status or view a picture, you increase the affinity score with that user.In The Da ily Beast study, it points out that this affinity score only works one way. It cannot increase your affinity score in another users feed by constantly clicking on their Like: buttons or viewing their pictures. Although doing this will increase the likelihood that youll see their updates, your posts will not do any better in their news feed until they return the favor.How to Level the Interaction.Different types of interactions are weighted differently in Facebook. Activates that require higher levels of user engagement receive a higher score than those that dont. For example, if you leave a comment on a photo it takes more effort on the users part than clicking the Like button. Posts that receive higher levels of interaction are more likely to show up in a users newsfeed.
Timeliness of Posts.Most people do not want to read yesterdays news. Newer posts have a better chance of showing up in your news feed than older ones.Here are six quick tips to arm you with a better understanding of these three elements to increase the likelihood that your content or posts will appear in your friends or fans Top News feeds.
1. Publish Posts that Encourage Interaction.Unless you are interesting enough to draw comments, simple status updates are not going to move you into the Top News feeds. You need to publish content that naturally encourages others to click-through or create a discussion. Content such as creative games that require a response (i.e., caption contests or trivia) open up opportunities to add high EdgeRank weighted interaction and build affinity with your new users.
2. Keep your Content Fresh.The Facebook stream moved fast. It you have content that is not getting a response, dont be afraid to let them go and move on to the next best content post. If the content post is good but didnt get you the response desired, consider repurposing it or sending it out again at a different date and time.
3. Try Creating a Forum.Ever notice how political content on Facebook generates a ton of comments? Although it makes sense not to mix politics and Facebook, people love to debate and discuss hot topic issues. Make your fan page a place to be known for constructive discussion on the latest industry topics. Although this approach may be a little time consuming in the beginning and requires careful management, content from a fan page filed with healthy discussions are more likely to receive a higher EdgeRank.
4. Share Links with Others.Links require interaction with other users when they click on the link to view the content. While it is good to share content from your own website, dont be afraid to promote some interesting content from other sources too. Twitter users discovered long ago that the more valuable content you share, the better chance you have of driving followers to your own content. A comment that encourages someone to open the link or leave a comment can go a long way.
5. Make the Most of Your Photos and Videos.Photos and videos show up in a Facebook news feed as a thumbnail image. Due to the size, they almost require some type of interaction as users click on them to make them larger to see what the photo entails. Be sure to add a comment when posting photos or videos to encourage users to open the photo and add comments of their own.
6. Ask Other Users to ShareDont be afraid to ask other users to share your content or click on the Like Button, especially if you are new to Facebook. It can take a while for a Facebook page to gain momentum and anything you can do to help it along will only speed up the process for growth.
With the introduction of EdgeRank, it may make it more difficult to share information on Facebook. Ultimately, it still comes down to your content being posted. Publishing content that users are willing to share and interact with has always been vital to any Facebook marketing campaign. With the recent Facebook changes that occurred on March 1st and the new Send Button assed the end of April, that content may now need a little extra push to get the attention it deserves.
DJ Heckes, CEO & AuthorEXHIB-IT! Tradeshow Marketing Experts BRAIN Marketing
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