The Very Common, Very Useful Facebook Feature that Most Forget

by Sue Koch

February 27, 2014

A common Facebook best practice that most forget now gets you more exposure.

Are you wondering why your Facebook fan page posts are not appearing in the newsfeeds of your fans? There are many possible reasons:

Facebook ads have definitely impacted those who do not advertise by taking up space in the newsfeed.
If you don’t post consistently, the algorithm determining what appears to your fans gives you less weight.
If your fans don’t interact with your page, the algorithm determining what appears to your fans gives you less weight.

There are many other possibilities that may relate to standard tactic and best practice, but that’s for another post.

‘Tagging’ in Facebook Posts

Today, I want to remind everyone of a very common best practice that is used too little. This is important because Facebook just released an algorithm update that may give you more weight when this tactic is used. What does that mean? The potential for greater exposure of your fan page posts in the newfeeds of your fans, as well as the tagged page’s fans.

The tactic? Tagging another fan page in a post. Below is a smart example done by Chicago Agent magazine.

Too many businesses do not take advantage of this simple tactic, which allows you to better engage with a strategic partner, and create brand awareness to their audience. Facebook has done some limited testing with this to supposed positive results. So it’s time to give it a try!

The Benefits of Facebook Tagging

Why might you tag another fan page in a post? Here are a few ideas to get the wheels turning.

To show appreciation for a real estate attorney, appraiser, home stager or lender that you work with, who also has a fan page.
With permission, if a client has a fan page for their business, you could craft a message to thank them for their business and tag their fan page to help promote it.
When planning an event – during or after – tag those you partnered with to host the event; show appreciation for the venue; and endorse their services.

Some rules:

Do not simply tag a fan page to get attention, name drop, brag or share negative sentiment.
Do tag a fan page to announce an exciting new partnership, provide a rave review, share an enjoyable experience or brand evangelize.
General rule: Make it about them, not you.

Be strategic:

When you find relevance in tagging another fan page, look at what content their fans are engaging with most. See if your topic and key words align, as you will get more momentum out of your post this way.

Give it a try!

Remember, if your fan page isn’t seeing a lot of action yet, just doing this once is not going to change things right away. Post status updates consistently, find relevant reasons to tag others in posts, check your statistics to measure any boosts in success and report back your successes in the comments.

Sue Koch is the chief navigator for Soaring Solutions, LLC. She can be reached at: