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9/11 – Always Remember

Thank you to all of the brave men and women who continue to fight for our country and freedom. Never forget those who were lost.

Get Noticed with Social Media!

Reach more clients by engaging with them via social media networking sites!  The internet is contagious.

How Do You Reach "Fans" on Facebook?

Read our latest ARTICLE on the EdgeRank Algorithm, a formula comprised by Facebook that determines who sees your posts!  Enjoy your weekend!

Are Facebook Fans Helping your Business?

In early 2004, Mark Zuckerberg registered thefacebook.com domain, and today, Facebook is the largest social media networking site out there.  On a planet with a population of 7.1 billion, 1.15 billion use the site on a regular basis.  Facebook is more than just a cluster of cat photos, couples obnoxiously professing their love for one another, and the reason you no longer have an excuse to forget your aunt’s birthday – ever again.  While a lot that does go on, this popular social networking site also has a very influential, professional side to it.  Does your business have its own Facebook page?  If the answer is no, you may want to consider sitting down at your computer and making one.

What is the EdgeRank Algorithm?

Your business can reach new clientele every day if you manage your Facebook account properly.  The main goal is to attract users that will frequently engage with your page.  The quality of fans could mean more than quantity.  Why?  Facebook has an algorithm that determines what will be, and what will not be, displayed on particular news feeds.   This algorithm is calculated by the sum of three Edges: Affinity, Weight, and Time Decay.  An Edge can be understood by things that can come up on a news feed, such as, but not limited to, status updates, photos, comments, shares, tags, and likes.

This formula might seem a bit intimidating, but it is quite simple once we break down the three factors that determine the EdgeRank Score.

1. Affinity (closeness): This is the score that recognizes how close a “fan” is to you, and it is also considered the most important factor in the EdgeWeight Algorithm.  If someone comments on, clicks, shares, or likes your business’s Facebook posts often, this Edge score will be higher for that user.  It is about the relationship or interaction between your page and the fan.  Then again, if this fan does not interact with your page, the affinity between you and that user will be lower.
2. Weight: This factor determines the value of the Edges on Facebook.  Remember: Edges are comments, likes, etc.  The Edge’s “weight” is typically ranked by the amount of effort it takes to create the post.  For example, videos would be ranked higher than photos, photos would ranked higher than comments, and comments would be ranked higher than likes.  Another factor that goes into the Weight score depends on what the fan tends to prefer.  If he or she is liking more links than videos, links will show up more often on their news feed.
3. Time Decay: Time Decay is the simplest and most obvious of the three.  If you think about it, when you sign onto Facebook, the posts ranked at the top of your news feed are the most recent.  As time goes on, an Edge loses value.  That is why you have to usually scroll down further in your news feed to see older posts.  When considering all three factors, however, those businesses with a higher affinity to a fan may still be ranked near the top even after a decent amount of time (especially if the Edge carries more “weight” than the other recent posts).

Increasing the EdgeRank Score for Each Fan “Like” on your Page = Increased Reach

If you haven’t come to this conclusion already, EdgeRank essentially filters what users will see on their news feed.   According to Business Insider, “Each user post on Facebook is seen by an average 35% of the user’s friends, according to a comprehensive recent study led by Stanford University researcher Michael Bernstein, who collaborated with three Facebook data scientists.”  However, this statistic was formulated for users that are “friends” with one another, not for business “fans.”   It is debated that for businesses, the reach to fans is even lower than what was seen in the Stanford study.  In late 2012, Facebook changed the EdgeRank Algorithm.  This change lowered the average reach of any given post to 19.5% from the original 26% it had before, leaving businesses no choice than to sometimes pay to “boost” each post.

Now, these numbers aren’t meant to steer your business away from using Facebook.  In fact, it should give you incentive to make some changes to boost your fan reach to make your page more Facebook user friendly.  You have the potential to increase your EdgeRank score by increasing Affinity, Weight, and Time Decay.

Tips to Increase your Reach

Engage your Audience: Asking questions that compels fans to participate in your post will generate a greater Affinity score, and thus increasing your EdgeRank.

Create Interesting Content: As you have read already in this article, you will get more attention posting videos than plain text updates.  This will encourage more likes and comments, which will increase your EdgeRank Score by increasing the Weight factor.

Know Your Audience:  You should take a look at who your business appeals to.  If your business is, let’s say, a yoga facility, you should do some research on yoga demographics and statistics.  According to the Livestrong Yoga Journal, the percent of Americans that practice yoga between the ages of 18-34 and 35-54 is 40.6% and 41%, respectively.  72.2% of these individuals are female.  Considering that people between the ages 18-54 are most likely working Monday-Friday, you should take into consideration that your Facebook fans will most likely be online early in the morning, after 5:00 p.m., and on Sundays, which is when you should be posting your updates.  This will increase your Time Decay Score since users will see your post when it is fresh.

To find out in more detail what it takes to reach out to your fans, look for upcoming articles by Axiom Internet Marketing.

References:

NAMASTA, YIAS, LiveStrong, Yoga Journal

Ong, Josh. “Facebook Now Has 1.15 Billion Monthly Active Users and 699 Million Daily Active Users.” TNW The Next Web. TNW Network All Stories RSS, 24 July 2013. Web. 04 Sept. 2013. <http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2013/07/24/facebook-users-q2-2013/>.

“Popular SocNet Sites Prove Appealing to Varying Demographics.” MarketingCharts. MarketingCharts, 15 Feb. 2013. Web. 04 Sept. 2013. <http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/interactive/popular-socnet-sites-prove-appealing-to-varying-demographics-27040/>.

Sandhu, Sahiba. “What Is Facebook’s Edgerank and What Does It Mean for My Business?” OrangeTwig Blog RSS. N.p., 7 Apr. 2013. Web. 04 Sept. 2013. <http://orangetwig.com/blog/why-my-facebook-fans-dont-see-my-posts>.

Smith, Cooper. “How Many Of Your Friends See Your Facebook Posts? The Debate’s Over, It’s 35%.” Business Insider. N.p., 09 Aug. 2013. Web. 04 Sept. 2013. <http://www.businessinsider.com/35-percent-of-friends-see-your-facebook-posts-2013-8>.

“U.S. and World Population Clock.” United States Census Bureau. U.S Department of Commerce, n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2013. <http://www.census.gov/popclock/>.

“What Is EdgeRank?” What Is EdgeRank. Applum, 2013. Web. 04 Sept. 2013. <http://www.whatisedgerank.com/>.

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Happy Labor Day!!!

Everybody deserves a little break!  Relax, take care, and have a wonderful holiday!

Have a Wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

Enjoy the long weekend with your family and friends! Happy Labor Day!  As always, stay safe, happy, and healthy.

From all of us at Axiom Internet Marketing