So, now a more positive spin on social networking. All of this is me going off observations of my own page and also the old Creative Screenwriting
page that I ran for a little over a year.
It’s what I’ve been doing for a while now and it seems to work well for
me so far.
1) Be casual.
The more
forced and regimented a page seems, the less people will enjoy it. Facebook is all about casual connections and
interactions, and people aren’t going to be impressed by the hard sell. Try to sound more honest and sincere and less
“fact-checked and approved by the legal team.”
I’m not saying ignore the legal team or common sense, just try to sound like you could. No one likes the hard sell on Facebook.
I’d guess
at least half the posts on my fan page have nothing to do with my books or me
as an author. Maybe as little as a
third. They’re just about other stuff I honestly find interesting and like
talking about. Other books, movies,
television, LEGOS, etc. A tiny bit of
politics, but not much and nothing too divisive...
2) Post something every day
May seem
kind of obvious, but... Considering that
Facebook’s algorithms already affect the number of people who see each post,
only posting two or three times a week doesn’t improve my odds. Sunday’s pretty much the only day I take off
(not for religious reasons—I’m just a lazy person at heart who likes having
time off).
I also try
to be careful when I post during the day.
Most people are using their computers right before or right after work
(sit down, turn on computer, check Facebook before diving in—wrap stuff up at
the office a little early, kill time on Facebook before leaving), so I try to
time posts accordingly so they’ll be near the top of people’s home/
newsfeeds. I tend to aim for EST or PST.
Don’t have
anything to post? Well, there’s a chance
to talk about other stuff, like I mentioned above.
3) Don’t make more than two or three posts a day.
I keep it
at two and do three sparingly (maybe once a week). Going for more than this on Facebook becomes
spammy in people’s newsfeeds and they’ll block or ignore you. Neither does any good. No one likes the hard sell. It’s not what Facebook’s about.
This goes
for Notes and Links, too. Just don’t put
up more than three things per day. More
posts also means it’s less likely people will like or comment on said post, so
more posts actually means less chance of getting the posts seen (see below).
4) Likes, comments, and shares. Posts, links, pictures.
This is the
big one. The more likes/comments/shares
on something, the more it shows up in people’s newsfeeds. The more newsfeeds it shows up in, the more
people find their way to the site, which makes it show up in more newsfeeds (and they told two friends, and they told two friends, and...). This
is one of Facebook’s little hidden algorithms (quality of posts over quantity of posts).
In this algorithm,
it goes Likes < Comments < Shares.
So anything you post, make a point of liking it yourself. If you’ve got extra information, add it as a
comment rather than an extra-long post.
If you have two pages to post it on—or a page and a business profile
(for example “Bob Smith” and “Bob Smith’s Author Page”)—post it to the main one
and share it to the other.
The same
holds for links<posts<pictures.
For example, if I just want to say something today, post a
semi-relevant picture and make your post the caption. A picture with lots of shares is the most
visible thing on Facebook.
Worth
noting that Facebook’s recently (as I write this) tweaked things to really push
down the visibility of Amazon links and other “buy this” posts. Really of links in general. So keep that in
mind.
Anyway, this
leads nicely into two connected tips...
5) Ask questions.
Asking
prompts people to answer questions, which means I'm getting likes/ comments
(see above). If you check out my fan page, I “crowdsource” answers about geeky things a lot. A while back I asked everyone on the page a
Transformers toy question. Dozens of
people leaped forward to answer, and their answers spawned more comments and
likes. Every Saturday morning I ask a “What’s
your favorite...” question about something that's crossed my mind and it always gets a hundred or so responses. This is also a great way to post things on
the occasional week when you’ve got no relevant material to post about.
Again,
though, don’t go crazy. I’ve seen pages
that phrase every single post as a question
I cannot
stress how important this is. Because of
Facebook’s casual nature (much like the whole internet), people expect
answers. Nothing aggravates them more
than to feel like comments or questions are going down a black hole. That lack of response is what builds anger
and resentment, which lead to the dark side.
Note that I don’t need to know the answer to do this. Just acknowledge the question and tell
whoever it is that I'll try to find an answer for them. You’d be amazed how much goodwill can
build just off that. Look over my fan page
and see how many people became happy just because I said “I’ll look into that
for you” or something along those lines.
And, yes, you'll be biting your tongue on a few of them to keep giving
the answers they deserve.
And, again,
answers and responses are all more comments, which push posts higher in the
newsfeed.
7) Keep it clean.
This refers
to language and contoversial topics, but also to the page itself. Don’t let lots of other people clutter your
page with their unwanted/inappropriate posts and spam. Don’t be scared to delete stuff, but make
sure it’s delete-worthy. Leaving up negative
comments makes you look big and able to handle criticism. Addressing said comments (see above), makes you
look even better. And—again—makes you
show up on more newsfeeds.
8) Do NOT Pay For Ads or Followers
Facebook is
more like a high school cafeteria. The unpopular girl can say something
twenty times and no one hears her. The head cheerleader can say something once
and everyone in the room knows what she said. It really is a popularity
contest.
Facebook ads are doing the cheerleader's math homework in exchange for sitting at the popular table. I'll be on top for half an hour and then everyone will forget me again.
Facebook ads are doing the cheerleader's math homework in exchange for sitting at the popular table. I'll be on top for half an hour and then everyone will forget me again.
Worse
yet—it’s been pretty much proven that, when I pay for likes/ads, almost all the
responses I get are from clickfarms in developing countries (yes, even when I pay Facebook for it). And these
“fake” likes will actually mess up the algorithms on my page and cause me to
become less visible. Seriously. It’s because they don’t interact with my posts
(they’re just clickfarms) so they cause that branching effect (point #4, above)
to collapse. The more fake likes on the
page, the less my stuff is actually seen.
And that’s
it. I know it doesn’t sound like much,
but it’s an easy formula for boosting your page’s visibility, which then leads
to more likes, which leads to more visibility.
My fan page averages about four or five new fans a day, my average post
is seen by about half my fans (usually 2500+ people) and I haven’t paid
Facebook a cent to boost posts or any of that. It takes time, but it builds a much more solid following.
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