Facebook Updates: Are you using all your medias?

Did you know that up to 75% of your Facebook fans may never “see” your Facebook page once they have liked your page?

That’s an awful waste of your time and effort attracting new fans, don’t you think?

Numbers may look good on a spreadsheet, but if your newly acquired fans are not liking, commenting, sharing and … more importantly … clicking through to your website and becoming a client at some point, then collecting fans is just going to be a waste of your time.

The problem with getting noticed on Facebook, once someone has clicked that Like button on your Facebook page, is that Facebook is very helpful in making sure that the ‘right’ updates appear in each person’s newsfeed.  Whether your fans use their smart phone or desktop to use Facebook, the place where they hang out is that home page … their newsfeed.

If an update doesn’t appear in your fans’ newsfeed, they don’t get to see it.

You can select the option to have updates appear by date order, but the default setting is “Top Stories”. And I bet my bottom dollar that most of your Facebook fans wouldn’t have even realised this and stick to Facebook ‘helpfully’ giving them the best stories to view.

Before I get on to the topic of which media to use in your updates, let’s take a step back.

How do your Facebook updates get to appear in your fans’ newsfeeds?

Facebook has what is called its ‘Edgerank.’ Facebook’s newsfeed automatically calculates how ‘popular’ your update is based on a number of factors: Likes, comments, shares as well as whether the person has added to your updates to one of their friends’ lists or decided to hide your updates or select that they want “more updates” from you.

As with Google and their search engine algorithms, the exact calculations are top secret! But basically, the more likes, comments and shares you can attract to your updates, the more likely future updates will appear in your fans’ newsfeeds.

So, if attracting Likes, comments and shares is the name of the game (and oh what a game to be playing!) then updating your Facebook page without thought, strategy or planning is not going to get you a good score!

There’s plenty you can do to increase the chance of engagement, which is the focus on this month’s Web Tech Training Session, but let’s start with your different types of media … and how to make sure you take full advantage of what there is to offer.

Mixing up your media is a great way of getting attention, as well as working out what your fans like to respond to more.

1) Photos. Images and pictures is the No 1 energy force of Facebook. Without photos and images, Facebook would be very dull in deed. As our attention online is far shorter than anywhere else, our brains flit from image to image on our newsfeed. Create your own images using Powerpoint can be really simple way of getting a quote or message across.

Or share other people’s. As long as you keep to topic, your updates don’t have to be original content (as long as you stick to sharing the source!)

2) Videos. Facebook wouldn’t be Facebook without the obligatory funny cat video or latest movie trailer, would it? If videos are kept short and sweet, they work brilliantly with certain audiences. And again, remember your updates don’t have to be original.

Dive in to YouTube, subscribe to relevant channels and you will have plenty of inspiration each and every week.

3) Status Updates. Yup, good old fashioned text updates still work. And work really well is kept short and sweet. Even though you can technically share 26,206 characters in an update (which I wouldn’t recommend!) the magic character count to get you noticed is apparently 80. With the introduction of the ticker tape, if your update doesn’t get to the point quickly, it’s going to get ignore.

4) Questions. A lot of the big brands are using this Facebook feature really well, but many small business owners still seem to be ignoring these. Don’t be scared that no-one will answer! It’s often a great way of getting a quick click from your fans if your survey is funny, topical or to the point.

5) Links. Your blog articles are often the only doorway to your website. Hard sell promotions don’t work on Facebook so unless you have some great offers to make, adding a blog article link is going to be the only way to draw your fans over to your website and thus increase the chances of them either opting to a free offer or checking out your services.

Remember to add a short introduction (that all important headline to stand out in newsfeeds!) in your update with the link to help your fans work out whether it’s work clicking the Like or share button. Ask a question on other blog links as this increases your chances of drawing a comment or two.

All these media options are available to you, so use them throughout your week; post two or three times a day if you can as this will make a massive difference to getting noticed, too. By mixing them up and trying out all these options at different times of the day, you will be able to see over time which posts have better responses with your fans.

What works for one business, may not work for another so it’s important that you work out what’s best for your Facebook fans.

For more tips, strategies and practical advice on how to boost your Facebook engagement, join me at this month’s Web Tech Training Session. Click here for more information.

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Other articles you may be interested in:

1. The Facebook weekly round up from the Web Tech Club
2. Don’t write your own stuff! 5 things to share on Facebook
3. 7 reasons why Facebook marketing won’t work