Do Your Facebook Stats Look Like a Rollercoaster?

Facebook page statistics that go up and down like crazy are a sign that your posting strategy needs to be optimized.  Your content is attracting attention but not enough to boost your Edgerank. Fortunately there is a simple solution.

Facebook’s Timeline has moved the goalposts of engagement in the last six months. Strategies that worked in the past are no longer effective.  “Reach”, “viral reach” and “talking about this” graphs that look like roller coasters are a strong signal that your posting strategy needs a revamp. 

Review our post about Facebook’s Edgerank and how it controls who sees your content. Edgerank is a simple and elegant system and understanding how it works is essential for social media success.

The most important factors that influence Facebook engagement since the introduction of the Timeline are:

• Posting frequency: The most likely explanation for roller coaster stats is that you are not posting content often enough. Facebook posts now go stale within a few hours: If you are posting once per day most of your fans simply don’t see your content.
• Content type: Photographs receive the highest Edgerank, followed by videos and links. Texts should either be short (under two lines) or long and rich in useful or interesting information.
• Calls to Action: Include easy to answer questions and don’t be afraid to ask for likes and shares.
• Original Content: Sharing other pages’ content receives a lower Edgerank than posting your own original content. Sharing is important as it builds relationships with other pages in your market,  but it shouldn’t be the main source of content on your page.

To even out your stats and boost engagement and reach, increase your posting frequency to a minimum of two or three posts per day. Prepare themed content in advance so that you can post up to five posts on a particular day. The image above is an example of the up-and-down pattern that comes from not posting often enough. The rise at the end is the result of increasing posting frequency. 

More frequent, themed posting puts your content in front of more of your fans and encourages them to visit your page. This boosts your page’s Edgerank and creates a virtuous cycle of engagement.