Many businesses now
realize that Facebook is a useful addition to their
marketing toolkit. With billions of registered
users, Facebook offers the potential to reach out to
more customers than most other channels, but a lot
of brands still don't understand how to make the
most of the social network. Maximize the return on
your investment by checking for the following common
mistakes that other businesses are making with their
Facebook pages.
You post nothing but
product adverts:
Facebook doesn't work
like a conventional advertising tool, and you're in
for a disappointment if you treat it that way.
People who like your Facebook page already know
about your products and services, but they also want
to learn more about your brand, and have fun along
the way. Facebook is a great way to engage people,
but you can't just go in for the hard sell.
You ignore your
customers:
The whole point of
Facebook is that it gives you the chance to start a
two-way conversation. To find out more about your
customers, you have to listen to what they are
saying. If you don't respond to comments, people
will think you are ignoring them. Thank people
individually for their opinions, and respond to as
many comments as you can. Use open, friendly
language, and avoid sounding like a corporate drone.
Your followers want to feel as though they are
talking to a human being, not a robot.
You post poor quality
content:
It's important to post
high-quality, relevant content on your Facebook
page. Check for grammar and spelling mistakes by
proof reading every post. Only post links to pages
with content that meets your standards, and check
carefully for any faulty videos or links in the
pages you share. When you post a link to content on
your page, you must make sure that you're happy it's
suitable for your audience.
You don't have a
complete profile:
It's important that every
business puts complete information in its Facebook
profile, and it's particularly important for small
or family owned businesses. Give your customers your
opening hours, your address, website, telephone
number, email address, and add striking profile and
cover photos. Make sure your cover photo conforms to
Facebook rules too. For example, you can't put
contact details or advertise customer promotions in
your cover photo.
You bombard your fans
with posts:
Your fans probably like a
lot of other pages too, which means that they don't
want you to bombard them with endless posts. You
should post Facebook updates once or twice a week,
and certainly no more than once a day, to give your
followers a chance to read what you have said. It
takes time to build a valuable, long-term
relationship with your fans, and bombarding them
with posts will just annoy people.
Your posts are too
long:
It's important to assume
that your fans and customers don't have much time,
so short, snappy Facebook posts work best. If your
customers need to click the 'read more' link in a
post, then it's likely that there is too much text.
If you want your customers to read a long article,
post a brief description and add a link to a
separate page.
Your content is boring:
If you can't say
something worthwhile, it's probably worth keeping
quiet. Customers want to read interesting,
informative content, and flat, repetitive or
uninspiring posts aren't going to gain you a lot of
followers. Mix up your posts as much as
possible. Use photos, videos, infographics and polls
to communicate with your followers in different
ways. Try not to post promotions and special offers
too often. Restrict yourself to using only one in
five posts to promote an offer to customers, and
focus on other types of content for the remaining
updates.
You fail to deal with
customer complaints:
Your Facebook page will
probably attract some customer complaints.
These complaints are a great opportunity to get
feedback from the people who use your products and
services, and they're also a good chance for you to
show other followers how you treat your customers.
Never ignore complaints. Acknowledge what your
customer has said, and then find a way to resolve
the complaint privately, away from your Facebook
page. Avoid letting customers draw you into a
debate, and never argue or disagree with people.
You don't post often
enough:
It's bad to post too many
updates, but it's just as bad not to post often
enough. When people follow your page, they expect
you to talk to them on an ongoing basis. You should
aim to post an update at least twice a week, with
daily comments, likes and shares, so your account is
always active. It's important to remember that a
successful brand is constantly evolving and
updating, so you should always have something useful
to say or talk about.
Facebook is now a great
way to market your brand, but it isn't as easy to
drive results as you may think. Lots of brands use
Facebook, but many businesses make the same
avoidable mistakes. Learn from the competition, and
adapt your Facebook marketing strategy for success.
