Where Your Other Facebook Friends Roam

by Steve MacDonald

Optimized Referrals on FacebookSocial Media is how we communicate these days and Facebook is currently the belle of the Ball.  While spending 90 seconds on a web site is a good long stay, most Facebook users spend about 25 minutes wandering Zuckerberg’s conversational multi-sphere at any given time.  How long that dominance lasts is anyone’s guess but for the time being, if you are networking, marketing, or just connecting with people you know (or looking for people you have not seen since Nixon–or maybe Clinton–was in the White House), odds are you have a Facebook account.

So are you connecting?  The average user has a few hundred friends.  Serious users peak around seven-hundred. And then there are the folks who get up past 800 and just blossom into the thousands.  Whether you have thousands or hundreds, regardless of whether you are actually friends or just share an interest, odds are good you are missing or ignoring most of them, and they you.  And it’s all your fault.

Most%20Recent%20-%20Where%20your%20Facebook%20Friends%20are.png

You decide what you see, with Facebook taking its cues from you, using an algorithm to sort the entire stream of content people are sharing with you to provide immediate access to the things you show the most interest in.  So like a waitress who knows your order before you sit down at the counter, Facebook has looked at how you use it and has your virtual "coffee and newspaper- Onion bagel lightly toasted with butter and cream cheese," waiting when you arrive.  The algorithm determines something called Edge Rank.  It measures how you interact or are interacted with and then prioritizes content (new and current) accordingly.  This premium brew populates your news Feed under ‘Top News.’ Friends with whom you have little or no engagement will never find their way into your Top News, unless you start engaging with them.

Since engagement is what Facebook is all about, why not get started?

If you are trying to expand your audience, engage with more people, or use inbound and conversational marketing to create word of mouth brand recognition, you need to share some love.  Remember, you don’t have 900 facebook friends so you can ignore 865 of them.  So look right next to ‘Top News’ on your home page at the link labeled ‘Most Recent.’ "Most Recent" is where the other interaction is.

Remember, you don’t get edge rank on anyone elses Feed unless they interact with you.  But if you don’t make the first move, that may never happen.   And if your "move" doesn’t consistently deliver content they are interested in, then you will not earn the distinction of edging up into their Top News on a regular basis.

You need to be both pro-active in engaging your friends, (you did friend them or accept their request,) and you need to offer them something that will encourage them to click, tag, like, comment, or share what you have to offer.  You need to work your brand.

Yes, everything, in its own way, is a brand.

Your brand might be you, a product or service, a small or large business, a hobby, an organization, a group, a cause, or just an idea.  Some or most of the people who friended you–and did not later unfriend you–did so because there was some reason to stick around; even if it was not dissimilar to that reflex that keeps you from putting away folded laundry or emptying the dishwasher when the dishes are clean.  Given the slightest motivation these people will stay with you, and even engage you in conversation , because that’s why they are on facebook.  It is why they are friends with hundreds of people they have never met and who may, to the best of their knowledge, actually be that cartoon character,  landscape, or the dark-gray Labradoodle named Francis.

So how do you get their attention?  Rule number one is always content.  If what you say or share is in too fine a niche, or for lack of a better word lame, be content with the small circle of people who engage you.  There is nothing wrong with that by the way.  In fact it’s pretty awesome.  Start a group or page on those interests and see who else shows up to the party.  The rest of you, pay attention.

You will never grow your "brand," or peak the interest of others in taste-testing your digital brain buffet, if you do not go out and talk to them.   Visit the Most Recent news stream daily, and look for conversations that interest you.  Say something relevant and see where it goes.  Oh, and don’t waste time pretending, or pandering, because it is unsustainable and people will figure it out.  And please be aware of people’s tolerance for your opinions.  I write for a number of political blogs and my Facebook page is built around that.  People expect strong opinions from me, and are free to express their own.  Most situations will not be so clear cut and word choice matters, especially if you are promoting a business.  When venturing out be respectful and know your audience.

Rule number 2 is, People love to talk about themselves and what interests them, so let them educate you about those interests.  Everyone knows something you do not and they are just itching to share it so ask questions, but stick to what, where, when and how.  "Why" questions traditionally have lower rates of engagement and you’d like to get a crowd involved in the discussion whenever possible.

Locate, Like, or friend local businesses and small business owners.  These are great places to meet people with whom you may share an interest or two.  You can get free advice on their areas of expertise or they can point you to a local group or association that knows more.  Small business owners and local companies probably hire and employ most of the people in your community and it never hurts to be on good terms with people who create jobs.   They also understand the rules and laws relating to operating a business and know vendors and suppliers who may also be future facebook friends.  And if you have a start up, or own a small business, you should be connecting to these people as fast as you can, not just as a brain trust or to build your fan ticker, but to share and attract friends and fans with whom you can engage in conversation to build your brand.

Genuine engagement builds those numbers all on its own through word of mouth marketing of your brand, whatever that brand may be.

At the end of every Facebook day ask yourself if you or someone representing you has reached out to someone new?  If the answer is no, your day is not over yet.  By reaching out to them you are also reaching out to everyone in their friends list, and then theirs and theirs…and if you are genuine and share killer content they will come.

 

Steve is not just a Grokster, he is also the Chief Content Officer for Optimized Referrals, a local social Media Marketing Start up here in New Hampshire. "Word of mouth Marketing on Steroids."

 

 

 

Author

  • Steve MacDonald

    Steve is a long-time New Hampshire resident, award-winning blogger, and a member of the Board of Directors of The 603 Alliance. He is the owner of Grok Media LLC and the Managing Editor, Executive Editor, assistant editor, Editor, content curator, complaint department, Op-ed editor, gatekeeper (most likely to miss typos because he has no editor), and contributor at GraniteGrok.com. Steve is also a former board member of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, The Republican Volunteer Coalition, has worked for or with many state and local campaigns and grassroots groups, and is a past contributor to the Franklin Center for Public Policy.

    View all posts
Share to...