13 Tips to Increase Your Brand’s Exposure in Your Facebook News Feed

By Jennifer Bader | SproutLoud Client Project Manager

You’ve built your brand’s Facebook fan page, requested likes and posted content… so, now what do you do to encourage engagement and increase sales?

Facebook fans are notorious for liking fan pages on the fly and then never returning to the page to explore or engage with the brand. This is probably due to the overwhelming amount of content bombarding their news feed. It proposes the question, how do you get your content to appear on your fans news feed? The key is to increase your Facebook EdgeRank, which is the algorithm Facebook uses to determine how content posts appear in your fan’s news feeds.

Along the same guidelines as Google’s search ranking algorithm, EdgeRank is influenced by the user’s interactions and engagement. Following the tips below will increase the likelihood that your content will appear in your fans news feed.

Facebook’s EdgeRank Algorithm Tips:

1. Create a content plan, or calendar of posts, that support a consistent flow of messages to your fans. Being prepared and having consistent content will encourage activity which positively influences your EdgeRank.
2. Increase your chances of engagement with your audience by posting funny, interesting, and personal content that will influence more comments and likes.
3. Post content that entices your fans to post original messages to your wall.
4. Learn your most effective posting times. Good times to post include:
   • Morning- between 10AM and 11AM
   • Afternoon- between 4PM and 5PM
   • Night- between 10PM and 11PM
5. Encourage sharing and engagement by explaining why you want them to respond to your post. Ask for feedback.
6. Use polls and questions to increase engagement.
7. Create contests to draw in more interaction with your fans and support a growth strategy. Use a prize that is deemed worthy of the activity necessary to participate in the contest.
8. Share milestones and suggest that your fans share a milestone they’ve reached recently.
9. Follow the conversations and engagement to know what content type and messages resonate with your audience.
10. Know the reach of your content and discover your audience size using facebook analytics.
11. Find out who is talking about your brand and the impact of that influencer.
12. Try advertising to kickoff your engagement game plan.
13. If all else fails, use facebook ads to push traffic to your website and avoid the time it takes to engage with your audience.

It may seem like a lot to consider when determining what to post and when, but utilizing these tips will help ensure you are appearing in your fan’s news feeds. Posting inconsistently and disengaging content will only increase your chances of never being seen in a news feed.

Just the same, consistent posting without any sharing, commenting or liking on those posts, further decreases your EdgeRank and keep your brand’s messages out of sight. When you put these tips in play you are controlling your visibility and EdgeRank so that your fans will see your messages.