Hi there, 

How many new likes do you usually get? The increase in “talking about” looks good but are the new likes a lot more than usual?

Early signs would suggest it is working and whilst the debate goes on as to how often you should post on a page, I’m convinced after facebook admited only 16% of fans on average see your updates that you should post more than “1-2 times a day and that if your posts are quality then there is nothing wrong with 4 or 5 times.

You stated above ”I looked closer at what Edgerank is looking for.  They want people to come to our business pages.”
Where did you read this? I’d be interested to read that information if you could please link me to it.
You also stated “Using the “Scheduled Posts” feature,  I moved up to every 3 hours.“

Is that around the clock? 24 hours a day?

Could you please give us a couple of examples of what you consider a quality typical every 3 hour post?
Early signs are good…please keep, us updated! 

Good work and well done

Scott

@scottlinklater

 Hi,  Yes, this has been very interesting.  The number of likes I get depends on what I am doing.  I would say recently maybe 5 a week for HTMYHB.  The other business page,  HARA,  was maybe getting one a month if even that as I was not keeping it active.  I would say that this was a big change and only cost me time.  No ads, no promoted posts or contests.  I really wanted to show the HTMYHB fans that they can also do this.

At first, I was afraid that I would lose fans with so many posts.  I did lose a few, but gained many more. I think that more posts has made both of my business pages more visible.

As to the Edgerank, there are so many articles out there. You can do a search and you will find that there are many people who are writing about it.  I took the time to look up how to get better results in the Edgerank and that is when “The Great Experiment” began last week.

I am posting every 3 hours for HTMYHB.  From 8 am EST to 11 PM EST.  I thought this way I would be able to (hopefully) have posts show up in all the USA time zones during the day.  With HARA, I started posting 3 times a day.  I am thinking I will bump that up to at least 4 now.

As to the quality of posts.  I am trying to keep balanced. Like many of us, it is easy to post all serious topics.  You know, business, marketing, social media….  Now, I will post one serious to every one that is lighter.  The lighter posts are usually quotes with photos or just photos that I add thoughts to.  I always add a least one question to any that I post so that I can get people to interact.  Those are what is really getting me out there.  Yesterday, I had a quote shared 75 times.  This took me further out on the newsfeeds than would ever happen with the serious posts.  Since people can see where the posts are shared from, they can choose to come back to either of my pages and like them.  I found this very interesting.  This week I am having a graphic artist add my branding to the photo/quotes.  We will change the photo so they are originals, and start sharing them with HTMYHB on the bottom with a FB icon.

I will continue ”The Great Experiment” again this week and let everyone know the results.  Those Scheduled Posts really do help.

Scott, are you going to try and add more posts to see how this works?  Would love to see what happens when other serious marketers try this.  

Randi

@randithompson

Thanks for the reply. That’s some good information there. For a page with, what was it, 6000 fans???? To get a quote shared 75 times is very good! 

I’ve got some pages with very passionate fans and I’m stoked when they share 75 times, and that is with 28,000 fans. That’s a lot of shares, not going to ask you what it was but boy, that’s some quote!

Re edgerank, yes I have read a lot about it and i am aware there is a lot of stuff out there but i was referring more to a particular point you made in 

”I looked closer at what Edgerank is looking for.  They want people to come to our business pages.” 

I haven’t seen anyone say that specifically in relation to edgerank. I’m not questioning you, I think it’s right and i agree, I just would like to see what they said, how they said it and in what context as I think it is a very interesting point that many people may gloss over but i think it raises some interesting questions so i’d love to know who said it and in what context.

Cheers

Scott

@scottlinklater

That is interesting about the shares. I have never gotten this many until I started sharing the quotes and photos.  It sure is getting both of my pages a lot more attention than only sharing the serious posts.  You would need to check out the How to Market Your Horse Business to see which ones are getting the most shares.  I have now added 3 “fun posts” every day.  Thank goodness I can schedule them…

I tried to find the article that talked about the importance of getting our fans to our business pages for Edgerank.  I could not.  However, everything I am doing seems to be making a difference as the nuumbers continue to rise.  We have what is called “Friend Friday”  I invite my fans to share what they do for their business.  I have found that by Highlighting their posts on the main page of HTMYHB that a lot more of them are now returning to post directly on that page.  This is a video I did on how to do that (you might already know, others here may not…  How to Move Your Fans Comments to Your Main Timeline Page  The fans love to see their comments featured on the main page.  When they changed to the Timeline we had lost that ability so this was very exciting for me to be able to start up again.

 These are the totals as to today, from June 12th

How to Market Your Horse Business

43 New Likes
Talking about it up 647 people

Horse and Rider Awareness (very small niche)
8 New Likes
Talking about it up by 257 people

I am posting on HTMYHB every 3 hours,  8 AM EST to 11 PM EST.
On HARA, have been posting 3 times a day. Today, moving up to 4.

This week I am also starting a HTMYHB “Best Business Photo Contest”
This will be my first contest.  I decided not to add a fan gate as I really do not want all those “Empty seats” of fans who never participate.  Anyone can vote and I am encouraging only those who have business pages to “like” us.  We will see how that goes. 

Have you tried adding more posts, of different types, to your business page yet?

Randi

Cheers

You’re doing an amazingly good job. My family was in saddlery for 20 years finishing up 20 years ago but I’m blown away there is a business in teaching other people how to run their horse business! Amazing!

That’s what you call a niche market! But you are showing that done correctly, most businesses can be successful!
Re the edgerank, it’s all good. By pure coincidence I happened to tweet out for everyone to look out for this new Venture funded company in Palo Alto that is going to do big things with edgerank optimisation. 

I just read an article about them in a tech blog and was providing interesting content for my fans. Well they picked up on it as they were monitoring tweets for mentions and I got chatting to the CEO briefly 140 characters at a time and then via email briefly but I’m doing a call with him later this week about some business so I’ll be sure to ask him and let you know.
These guys know more about edge rank than nearly anyone in the world outside of those working on it in facebook….and even there is so much they don’t know yet.
He did briefly say on twitter when i asked that they believe it has huge edgerank score as so few fans ever go back to the page! 

So you were right on the money!

Keep up the great work and keep measuring! 

Cheers,

Scott

I have been keeping up with the posts, especially the Scheduled Posts. They make life much easier.  I did all my posts for the week in two hours yesterday for two business pages.  6 a day for HTMYHB and 4 a day for Horse and Rider Awareness.  I also held a contest which might have attracted a few fans. Since I did not use a Fan gate ( I only want people to “like” my pages who are interested in them)  So these are real likes.

HTMYHB (had a contest)  Since June 17th  I have picked up 213 new fans.
My people talking about this went up 1298.  The contest lasted 11 days and the amount of fans did not pick up anymore than the week before or after.  I think the difference is in the posting I have added.

Horse and Rider Awareness   Since June 17th.  (this page was pretty much dead and before I started this, was down to 35 people talking about this.  97 new fans. People talking about this up 42.  There are 1612 fans so a reach of 1155 is pretty good! 

This shows that we can post more!  I did not have results like this with ads or the promotional posts. Have you tried posting more yet?

Randi

@scottlinklater  LOL!  I know what you mean!  Now I am posting 6 times a day on my main business page.  I find that people are more interested in the “fun” photos and such.  I think that is the way it is…  However, it is those fun photos that get the name of my business page’s out on the newsfeeds in ways that might not have happened otherwise.  I am shocked at how fast the HARA page is growing with fans now.  It is only a result of those photos.  The good news is that now more people are starting to notice the serious posts and are liking and commenting on them.

I am still keeping up the amount of posts because I can see that this is working.  I try and keep them balanced with half fun and half serious.  I know it is the fun ones that will get people’s attention.  They do not have to “like” my business pages unless they really want to.  

I have also  noticed that more people are starting to comment and interact on both pages.  I thought this was interesting.  I do not have the numbers that you have, but do see a difference.  Have you also noticed this?

Randi

@alexandrapotora  I agree.  I really do not focus as much on the numbers, but have been keeping watch as I play with different ways to help my fans find ways to reach more to their fans. My focus is on showing them how to use their posts to get people to connect and talk to them.  I can use the numbers to show them what works, as that seems to make more sense to some of them.
For me, the real proof that what we are doing is working is by looking at our communities. For me, that shows through the posts that people are sharing and interacting on.  That is when it is up to us to help show them how to build a community of people who care about each other and are willing to share their ideas and experiences. Without that…  we would be just another Facebook page that is focused only on selling.  That would not inspire me or anyone else, as you know.

Thank you for sharing how you are keeping track.  It makes sense, but would be too much work for me.  It is easier for me to try and get my fans to interact and now worry about the numbers.  

What are you doing to get your fans to interact on your posts?   

Randi 

@randithompson Right on! We keep on experimenting with all sorts of different content, but (like many folks), pics always get results, so we make sure to include pics in almost every post. We ask questions, call for likes and comments, and try to put fun content out there that we think people would be inclined to ‘share’.

@randithompson That’s awesome!! I gave your page a Like too Good luck & keep us posted!!