By Kristen Moorhead, NRECA
EdgeRank, Facebook’s infamously tricky algorithm that determines what content is displayed in which user’s newsfeed, is changing (again). While the implications for company pages are still foggy, here’s what we know:
Users choose
While interest, post, creator, type, and recency will still play a factor, the key to newsfeed visibility now lies in the hands of your fans. Starting July 9, Facebook gave users the ability to control the friends, pages, and subsequently, the content they See First in their newsfeeds. How can your page be among the chosen? Provide quality content, remind fans of the updates (outages) they value most from your co-op, and ask them – teach them – how to add your page to their “See First” list.
New rules of engagement
Likes, comments, shares, and clicks are clear indicators of an engaged Facebook community. While still handy for your own analytics reporting, there’s a new “action” in town. While the numbers won’t show up in Insights, Facebook is now taking into account how much time users spend viewing a story and factoring that into the EdgeRank equation. Simply put, the more time users spend with your content, the better your rank. Similarly, for video, “choosing to turn on sound, making the video full screen, and enabling high definition” contributes to higher rates of dissemination.
(*NOTE: I do this for all of NRECA’s video uploads via my personal Facebook page and you should too! No analytic left behind! Every action counts.)
Viral my video
Do you remember a time when you could upload a video to YouTube, share it on Facebook and Twitter, sit back, and watch the analytics roll in? Those days are over with the launch of Facebook’s native video uploader. It auto-plays, it’s HD, optimized, and leads to 40% higher engagement levels and 10 times the viral reach than sharing a YouTube link on Facebook. And remember, Facebook bought Instagram. And Instagram allows video sharing. The writing’s on Mark Zuckerberg’s wall.
* Remember, YouTube is still Twitter’s go-to video platform. Doing the double-work on both platforms will lead to better optimized and higher performing videos.
Show, don’t tell
A picture is worth a thousand words and the most engaging posts on Facebook still include images. Facebook posts with photos account for a whopping 87% of total interactions on the platform, followed by links with a 4% return. The same holds for Twitter: tweets with images receive 18% more clicks, 89% more favorites, and 150% more retweets. Be it illustrations, infographics, or photographs, high-quality, appropriately sized, value-add visuals yield big(ger) results.
Kristen Moorhead is NRECA’s Social Media Editor and also an avid writer and speaker.
