How do you start a conversation about a brand? When should you post? What should you post and how should you post it? Today’s Internet Week panel run by Tersia Tatar from Social Media Society and Roland Hulme from MRM worldwide answered those very questions.

For those who don’t know (but most of you will), a content calendar is a calendar of posts to be broadcast on social media sites over a given period. This quick 20-minute round up of tips, hints and creative ideas explained the best ways to create an engaging and interesting content calendar for a brand’s Facebook page, how to rule the Facebook EdgeRank and how to encourage customers to not only read the content, but interact with it.

I was surprised to see I was one of a few people who raised their hands after Tatar asked “Who knows what Facebook’s EdgeRank is?” She went on to explain that to help ensure your posts get to the top of your followers feeds, you need to understand the three simple secrets of Facebook’s EdgeRank. Firstly, if your followers interact with you frequently, you’re more likely to feature in their feed. So keep it interesting. Secondly, the higher the engagement a post has (comments/likes) the higher it features in the EdgeRank. So keep it engaging. Lastly, the older the post, the lower it is ranked. So keep it (relatively) frequent.

Valuable information is King in social media. But what is value? Value is explained as what keeps a user coming back for more. Exclusive content for fans, loyalty programs, interesting conversation and imagery were some of the top drivers for content. These values are what push the consumer to interact, engage and explore your Facebook page and other social media sites. Once you give them the value, tell them what to do with it. People respond to directions, so be straightforward. If you want them to comment, encourage them to make one. If you want them to like a post, tell them so!

Know your audience. Facebook insights was seen as an important tool to seek out exactly who it is you’re trying to engage; what time zones they are in, their ages and sex. Once you determine the demographics, you can decipher what might interest them most and cater to that. Then once you know them on a more personal level, reward them. When you identify a fan as an influencer who’s willing to spread the word for you, show them you notice and appreciate it with rewards or simply by acknowledging their efforts. They’re helping you do your job, after all! Influencers often become brand advocates who are invaluable in social media.

This was a good overview of what drives engagement and how to start creating interesting content and reaching out to your fans, especially for those just starting out with Facebook. The main takeaway for me was to remember that if they’re a Facebook fan then they already like you, now they want something extra. Focus more on interacting with them instead of trying to sell them your products. Chances are, they’re already buying them. Engagement should dominate 80% of content, with 20% being promotional. Most importantly, make it interesting and fun!