Have you ever looked at a Facebook business page and wondered how that brand gets so many likes and comments on their posts when your own engagement is seriously lacking despite daily updates?
Part of the reason you may not be receiving much engagement on your Facebook posts has to due with the type of post you are creating. For instance, did you know picture posts are more likely to show up higher in News Feed over plain text posts? It’s true! A local Utah company, Underwater Audio, has done a great job with their posts- creating a unique illustration for every post. Obviously, it’s paid off. Facebook’s EdgeRank Algorithm: If you work in online marketing you are likely familiar with some basic SEO knowledge. Part of that includes the fact that each search engine has its own algorithm for determining which sites rank for which search terms. Facebook also has its own algorithm for determining which posts show up in News Feed and how high and how long they show up. Facebook calls their algorithm EdgeRank.
Three basic tenants make up EdgeRank:
- Affinity: Affinity is how friendly you are with someone. For example, if you comment on someone’s Timeline and they respond, Facebook will increase your affinity score with them and thus your posts will show in their News Feed more often (and vice versa).
- Weight: All content is not weighted equally. Videos, photos and links all tend to be weighed more than other content, and thus show up more often and higher in a News Feed.
- Time Decay (Recency): Old news is less likely to appear front and center in someone’s News Feed regardless of what type of content it is. Schedule your posts at intervals to ensure you always have good content showing up in the News Feed.
3 Types of Visual Content for Facebook
Videos are great for engaging your most loyal audience members. However, not everyone has time to view videos. This is why your most important Facebook posts should probably come in the form of pictures or graphics. While there are a lot of different types of visual content pieces you can use on Facebook, this post will focus on what we think are three of the most important types. 1. Promotional Graphics Promotional graphics are a great way to offer your Facebook fans exclusive deals as a thank you for staying engaged with your brand. Some brands, like Rent the Runway, offer a Fan Friday promotion every single week: While other brands, like Ellie, will “randomly” offer special promotions: I put “randomly” in quotation marks because I am sure these promotions are planned out in advance; however, there is no set schedule detectable to the outside viewer. By including a special promo code in your graphics you are able to track the ROI from your Facebook promotions. 2. Educational Graphics & Pictures Educational photos are another great type of visual content for Facebook. You can create an album that walks users through a step-by-step tutorial, or you can create a graphic that includes instructions on it. Educational graphics are also perfect for Pinterest, Instagram and blog posts! 3. Inspirational Graphics Inspirational graphics are a great way to connect with your audience and get them to engage with your posts. Who doesn’t want to hit “like” or “share” on a post that makes them feel good?!
How You Can Get Started:
To get started creating your own visual content for Facebook all you need is to purchase a few stock photos and open up your favorite photo editor. If you’re not good with Photoshop or similar software, you can hire a freelance artist to help you put together a few graphics that you can use over the coming weeks. If you prefer not to purchase stock photos you can also create your own template the way Unbounce did in the (blue) example above. Along with your educational and inspirational graphics and photos, be sure to include a few promotional ones. You’ll want to plan those ahead to make sure they don’t clash with any other sales you might be running and to ensure you have proper inventory levels. Once your graphics are created you can go ahead and start posting them to your Facebook page!Your Thoughts
How are your Facebook posts performing? Anything that has/has not been working? Let us know in the comments below!]]>
TJ has worked in the digital marketing space since 2006. He has worked at a number of agencies and and helped hundreds of clients grow their business through SEO, PPC, Social Media and Content Marketing. He currently lives in Lehi , UT and enjoys spending time with his family.
TJ Welsh
TJ has worked in the digital marketing space since 2006. He has worked at a number of agencies and and helped hundreds of clients grow their business through SEO, PPC, Social Media and Content Marketing. He currently lives in Lehi , UT and enjoys spending time with his family.
