Return visits and conversations
Bring them back
The unofficial percentage of fans who visit a Facebook page once and never return is astronomically high at more than 90 percent. Some brands spend upwards of $50,000 or more creating highly interactive environments on Facebook, only to lose them after the first visit. In many cases, the brand's primary foci are on the design of the page, the initial push of traffic, and fan conversion. There is little focus on returning visits and ongoing engagement via the news feed.
Immersive pages are terrific, but it's critical to bring the fan back regularly to interact with them. If your page offers a great experience with multiple custom tabs and content to interact with, you have a real advantage. Use it.
Your status updates should include links to content on the page itself. External clicks do weight in the score but not as much as clicks to pages within the platform. When a fan interacts with your page, EdgeRank assumes that they are interested in hearing what you have to say and will deliver your posts more frequently. The more the fan clicks to your page, the more consistently you will reach them through the news feed.
Get them talking
A status update to your fans should always be an invitation to a conversation. By now, it's common practice to frame your status updates as questions so as to invite comment. Everyone loves to give their opinion, and inviting your fans to do so can drive up the EdgeRank score. Even when you are delivering a link to content -- both on or off the platform -- invite your fans to comment or "like" it. When a fan comments on or "likes" one of your posts, the likelihood of your next message showing up in their news feed is much greater.
Now, it's important to point out that begging for "likes" can grow tired after a while. It's unseemly, and most savvy Facebook users can see right through the ploy. That said, the "like" button is a simple way for your fans to express themselves, and you should be exploring creative ways for them to use it. Often, you can use the "like" button as a voting mechanism. Any post that requests a short-form response -- either positive or negative -- can make use of the button.
Whether you are seeking a "like" or a comment or both, every single time you engage your fans by way of their news feeds, you should be giving them an opportunity to be heard. This is the basic premise behind good communication, be it digital or otherwise, and it's one of the cornerstone principles of EdgeRank.
