Social media is a great, somewhat inexpensive way to advertise, interact, and sometimes sell to your clients and customers. Unfortunately, making a Facebook page is only the first step. Just like LinkedIn, Facebook has its own set of rules. We’ve gathered our experts to delve into five things you may be doing wrong on Facebook and what you can do to correct them for your business’s social success.
1. You use the exact same content from other social platforms.
Just like your business, your organization’s social media is unique. Facebook provides businesses the ability to connect with millions of users with ease; however, it’s common to find businesses misusing the platform without even realizing it.
When publishing content on your organization’s Facebook page, you need to identify your audience and create a business profile that is specific to your company and the social network you’re advertising on. Social media platforms all have different ways of presenting and communicating the content you post—therefore the content you include should be different from what your business prints on other social networks. Keep in mind, when using Facebook for your business, that this social network offers a variety of publishing tools, including Facebook Live, stories, news feeds, and more.
Spencer Gilgenbach, Content Marketing Buff
2. You focus solely on organic posts.
Earlier this year, Facebook incorporated a new algorithm into their social media platform that prioritizes content from a user’s family and friends over businesses. This means when you log on to Facebook, your feed is filled with pictures and updates shared from your loved ones, over new product announcements or news from the business pages you follow. For a business to make it to their followers’ feeds, they need to think about posting more organic content, or content that is easily shareable, such as, “5 Ways Families Can Enjoy Theme Parks on a Budget” or share news from a follower who uses one of your products. The best way to harness your Facebook profile though is to post rich organic content and “boost it” with minimal cost or create paid content (a Facebook ad) as if it were an organic post. For example, instead of “Check out our new collection,” try, “Conquer Spring break with tips for outdoor fun” with a picture of your new jogging stroller. It’s up to you how you weave in content about your new products or launches!
Pete Zimmermann, Social Media + SEO Aficionado
3. You only promote your products or services.
Your followers should definitely know your business’s products and/or services, but they’ll lose interest if your posts are solely related to sales. Keep your audience engaged and keep your products and brand front and center in more indirect ways:
Show your people in action at a professional or philanthropic event. Make sure they wear your logo!
Share updates and comment on industry news. Are you a manufacturer? Start sharing updates on technology you could implement, or interacting with your local technical and community college pages.
Recruit! While LinkedIn is a more professional platform than Facebook, you broaden your reach by posting your job openings on many platforms (in unique ways, as our first point explained). Recruitment posts showcase your expertise you have or want to offer too.
It’s all about balance. Make sure your Facebook page includes a good mix of engaging, relevant content and advertisements.
Carissa Miller, Marketing and Strategy Artiste
4. You are not frequently engaging with followers – influencers, media, customers and others – that mention or tag your brand or organization in their own posts.
To improve engagement and build relationships, share and comment on User Generated Content (UGC) that mentions your brand or organization. Even a simple “like” on a customer’s comment shows that your brand is paying attention and values what they have to say. Also, if you’re not using Facebook Messenger to communicate, then you may be missing an opportunity to have one-on-one conversations. Responding quickly or timely is crucial as customers have come to expect a quick response. Facebook also shows followers your average response time.
Kara Hamstra & Mackenzie Gorham, Public Relations Experts
5. You don’t have a plan.
In order to have a truly successful Facebook page you need to have a plan. There are three keys to any successful social media plan.
- Strategy – Put yourself in your audience’s shoes and come up with a solid strategy as well as reasoning behind your posts that you think they would be interested in.
- Scheduling – Once you have a solid strategy for what you are posting, you then need to think about when you will be posting. The time you post is just as important, if not more so than what you post. It determines just how much engagement you may get for any given post. Articles like sprout social’s “best times to post on social media” are a great guide to give you a better understanding of the best times to post.
- Measuring – It’s very common to create a strategy you think will work, set your time for posting, and then just leave it be month-after-month regardless of performance. Look at your past posts: Do you get more engagement in the mornings? Are Tuesdays a slow day? Does no one seem to engage in a specific type of post regardless of the time? These are all questions you should be asking yourself, so you can continue to make changes and improve your profile.
Pete Zimmermann, Social Media + SEO Aficionado
Facebook enhances millions of people’s personal and professional networks. Make sure your business seamlessly weaves itself into your target market’s feed. For help driving your digital and social presence or for more information on Facebook business pages, contact Sikich’s Marketing and Design team.
