How Facebook’s New Algorithm Affects Your Veterinary Hospital’s Facebook Page

Much like other business owners, veterinarians must navigate through Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and a host of other social channels in order to successfully maintain their online presence. Posting upcoming events, health tips, staff spotlights and recognition characterize some of the most common feeds that veterinarians make.

Facebook now offers a unique way to expand your veterinary hospital’s online visibility. EdgeRank (also defined as the algorithm ∑=uewede) is the new algorithm that Facebook uses to organize the massive amount of activity generated by people, pages and apps. It also helps Facebook decide what stories to show, when to show them and to whom they appear on its Newsfeed page. Understanding the EdgeRank equation will help you make your veterinary hospital’s Facebook page more visible and more successful.

EdgeRank is based on three factors (the “uewede” in the algorithm):

1. The relationship between the creator and the user;
2. The user’s engagement with the post such as likes, comments, etc.);
3. The time decay based upon how long ago the post, status update or photo was uploaded.

To fully maximize Facebook to your hospital’s advantage (need a veterinary hospital Facebook page?), it is crucial to understand how best to engage your audience of “friends” and “fans.” Your hospital’s business page can have thousands of “likes” but if your EdgeRank is low, nobody’s going to see your posts. Therefore, the more your audience interacts with your hospital’s Facebook page, the higher your affinity score and the longer you will remain in their Newsfeed.

A few helpful hints:

• Do your Facebook posts contain an instruction or a call-to-action? If your Facebook fans “like” the content of a status update, upload photos and videos, and interact in dialogues, your EdgeRank score will increase. The more engaging your posts, the more your fans will be enticed to share it – and your EdgeRank will climb!
• Pictures are worth a thousand words so post, post, post those photos.
  Photographs give the best results and reach the most people. People love pet photos, so EdgeRank prefers them as well.
• Consistently update your Facebook page.
  The algorithm’s time decay factor means that your posts need to be current. The longer a post remains on your veterinary hospital’s Facebook page, the lower it will sink on the Newsfeed. Encourage your clients and pet owners to react on a daily basis or even several times a day.
• Use Post Targeting. By segmenting fans through certain criteria (type of pet, breed of pet, location, age and gender of pet owner, etc.), veterinary hospitals can take advantage of post-targeting. First, targeting posts to specific fans will help you engage a higher percentage of your fan base. Second, you can divide your audience and release multiple posts at one time. This content customization increases your chance of getting more people in each fan subgroup to see and engage with your posts.

Keep in mind that the best way to maintain a high EdgeRank score is to solicit frequent comments from your clients, pet owners and fan base. Frequently adding photos, providing interesting and quality content, and targeting those fans who are most likely to respond will help your veterinary hospital’s Facebook page climb to the top of the EdgeRank ladder – and stay there.

Copyright © VetNetwork, LLC / Mark Feltz, DVM,
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