Ever notice that when you make a post on your business page, the number of people who see the post is often less than the number of people who like you page?
Here’s why: Facebook’s goal is to show users the information that they’ll most enjoy seeing. (Unlike Twitter that shows all information from everyone in chronological order.)
Facebook has 3 major metrics (and many other minor factors) that they use to determine what shows up in a user’s news feed and this gives some insight into how to get your business page content to show up there.
1) Time Decay: Facebook is more likely to show your followers a post made yesterday than a post made last year. Posting consistency is key to getting your brand in front of your clients regularly.
2) Interaction History: If someone has interacted with a recent post on your page (Liked, Commented or Shared) then Facebook sees that they enjoyed your content and is more likely to show it again. Ask a question or ask your clients for feedback in your post to encourage them to engage.
3) Viral Interaction: Showing your post to others who have frequent interactions. For example, if my wife makes a comment on your business page Facebook is likely to show me that interaction because she and I comment on each others status and posts often.
Why is Facebook reducing the exposure that your business page gets?
1) Facebook wants to increase the enjoyment of the user by reducing business information and increasing personal information.
2) Facebook now is a public company and wants to increase advertising revenue by suggesting you pay to have more people see your posts.
5 Things you can do to enhance engagement:
1) Give viewers your desired action: ask them to like, comment or share your post.
2) Ask questions – people love to share their opinion.
3) Try posting more frequently or less frequently to find your audience’s sweet spot.
4) When someone comments on your status, reply as your business page and continue the conversation.
5) Pay to boost your posts… and in light of that, we’ll pick up next week with paid promotion options on Facebook, pros and cons of paying for engagement, and some strategies that I’ve found have worked.
What will you do this week to increase your Facebook fan’s engagement?