by Bryan Bren
The more successful you become, the more attention your social media accounts attract. With that fame inevitably come internet trolls. Trolls often get into fights with other followers and post hateful and upsetting comments. If you find your page contains trolls or people who only want to cause trouble, handle them professionally. Do not engage in a negative manner with them because this will reflect poorly on you. At the same time, don’t allow them to post whatever they want because they may run off other followers.
Don’t keep selling
Facebook is perceived as a domain where people engage in a kind of social activity, chat with their friends, view photos and videos of others, and relax. They want to engage in conversation and become part of the community, not be bombarded by "outsiders" who are trying to aggressively sell products.
There are certain hard sales tactics that you should avoid. These include the use of advertising slogans, sending multiple messages about a specific product or service, and providing redundant information about a product or service unrelated to a conversation. Your subscribers can unfollow you, but they can also do even worse: leave bad feedback about your business on your page. As a public page, these poor reviews can be seen by anyone who visits your page. Poor reviews will only hurt you.
Always have a clear goal
It is very important to have a clear goal in mind while using Facebook and a clearly defined strategy to achieve that goal. For example, a café can easily decide that its goal is to increase sales generated through Facebook by 10% within six months. The strategy could then include creating daily posts that use a coupon code to display unique specials or deals of the day so you can track a specific sale on Facebook. You can post a photo of the buyer with a cup of coffee at your café. You can also encourage users to post their photos (for example, in a coffee shop or with a small amount of coffee) to attract more attendees. Setting a goal as well as a strategy helps you to determine the direction and achieve the desired success.
Human side
In general, a Facebook user wants to communicate with another person and not engage in conversation with an impersonal company. Regardless of who is responsible for managing the Facebook page of a business or brand, that person should be able to write and develop content that communicates the "human" side of the business. Facebook gives you the chance to be more informal and lighthearted when interacting with customers. Do not make things sound too formal or hard.
Be regular
Unlike other media such as television, magazines, newspapers, etc., social networks allow you to include regular updates. Most Facebook users generally review their pages at least once a day, so you need to make sure your company publishes new content. Depending on your audiences’ demographics, you can decide how often and when to post new content. Be regular, but don’t go overboard.
Encouraging comments
You should encourage Facebook users to respond to your posts or comment on your posts about your business or its topic. When a user posts something, make sure that their message is answered within 24 hours. Refusing an answer can be seen as a lack of interest on your part. If you do not respond, you may not be tracked by users.
Use pictures and videos
One of the most attractive elements of Facebook is the fact that users can post photos and videos. Take advantage of this ability to keep your followers interested and engaged. As discussed in previous chapters, there are multiple ways to do this. For example, a chain of clothing stores may post images of a new inventory as it arrives, or a personal trainer may post a training video with instructions on how to perform a particular exercise.
Try to be as interactive as possible and attract your audience by holding various contests, conducting polls, creating quotes, and so on. Facebook should be fun, so you should include the fun element in your marketing strategies.
The two most common reasons why a user visits a business page on Facebook are discounts and gifts. Competitions and games can make your site exciting. Customer surveys can be conducted via Facebook. If you want to do a survey, make the questions easy and make the survey short. Facebook facilitates short bursts of engagement, so try not to post long updates or surveys.
Develop relationships
It takes some time to build good relationships with other Facebook users, so you have to be patient. Try to get to know your followers. Take time to interact with them in the comments. You can like their comments or respond to them directly. Building relationships with your followers will make them more likely to continue a relationship with you.
Remember to use Facebook Insights
With Facebook Insights, you can better understand those who love your site and want to follow you. Once you know the characteristics of those who follow you, you can tailor your messages to their needs and their interests. For example, if a bookstore serves customers of all ages, but most subscribers are between 18 and 25 years old, the offers shared on Facebook should be designed according to that target audience of 18- to 25-year-olds. The offers in the store, however, should be more diverse.
Interaction
Make sure that you post actively on Facebook and engage in other ways. The more users come into contact with you, the more they will remember you. This can be achieved by posting content throughout the week. Use analytics to figure out when and how often to post, and don’t be afraid to try different strategies. It can take time to figure out what best serves your audience. Once you find the sweet spot, you should see your engagement and follower count increase.
Tags are important
Tags allow you to identify who is in a certain post or picture. For example, in a picture of your employees, tagging each person will make it possible for followers to identify them and visit the employees’ personal pages. Tagging someone in something will also make that content show up on their personal timeline. This increases the number of people who see your content. Don’t overdo it though. Too many tags can be overwhelming.
Do not forget the commentators
This point cannot be stressed enough. Always remember to answer direct comments, opinions, and questions. Let your followers know that their opinions are important and that someone is paying attention to them. You may think it is best to ignore a critical comment or complaint, but remember that others can see your failure to respond. That doesn’t reflect well on you.
Make sure your company profile is complete
You have enough room in your profile to give your subscribers a lot of information about you. It may seem tedious to fill in so many sections, but all of those sections contain information your followers want to know. The more detailed your profile, the better your audience will understand who you are and what you do. Remember that your Facebook page appears in Google search results and may be the first thing people come across when looking for your company. Don’t leave them with unanswered questions after they visit your page. Make it as complete as possible.
Make sure your subscribers want to see your updates
The ultimate goal of a marketing plan is to get people to read your content. You want these people to cling to every word you write and strive to see what you will post next. You want them to check to see if you have published something recently. You can do this only with high quality, valuable, and relevant content.
Make it easier to share your content.
While the age of technology has allowed us to do as little as possible while still being productive, you need to work if you want your content to be engaging. You need to pack your content in a way that makes it easy to share and then give people the buttons they need to send content to a friend or other user on their social networking sites. Make it so easy for them that it's almost harder for them not to do it.
If you share something, comment on it
Do not just click the button that lets you share a post and leave it at that. Add a comment to let others know why you think content is worth sharing. This helps you build your own experience and reputation as an expert.
This, in and of itself, increases the value of what you share.
Check your grammar and spelling
Texting lingo may be popular, but grammar and spelling are still important. You are a professional business, and the worst thing you can do is to publish content that is poorly written and contains mistakes. Review your work, then review it again. Make sure it meets professional standards before hitting send.
Learn the rules of the platform
Look at the recommendations for each platform and make sure you know what is acceptable and not acceptable in terms of behavior and content. Common sense should determine the nature of the content. You must review the platform's terms of service before publishing. Some platforms, especially Facebook, are constantly changing their rules for conducting competitions, and their violation may result in removed content, suspensions, or total exclusion from the platform. This is not what you want for your business.
Strategies for Facebook Pages
When it comes to promoting and using your page on Facebook, it's best to use page-only strategies to increase your appeal. This means that you will be posting exclusive offers on your Facebook page rather than publishing them elsewhere.
Below are some Facebook strategies that you can use.
Product
It's a good idea to start with the goods. This includes offering exclusive products that are not available in the store. For example, you can offer a full product that can only be purchased through your Facebook page or website, but not in a store. You can also offer an individual product that is exclusively available online. For example, you may suggest customizing the product by changing the color scheme or encrypting a message. You can also suggest a product in a color scheme or pattern that differs from the one available in the store. You must make this clear by making relevant announcements and telling your customers that they are exclusively online. You can also ask people in your store to like it online to get your "page" noticed.
Deals
You can make exclusive online deals. You can offer programs like "buy 1, get 1 for free" or include a bonus gift or a surprise coupon. Such offers will certainly attract interest and increase the value of your site. Again, it is important to promote this so that people know about the offer. You can send emails with details and inform others about the offers you have made to your online audience. You can also promote it in your store or distribute flyers to people telling them to visit your Facebook page for special information.
Awards
You can reward people who bring likes. This works well because people are being asked to get more and more people to like your site. The reward should be attractive enough to arouse the interest of your audience. You can offer coupons, free goods, or specially designed goods. Make these deals specific to Facebook users. You can place an ad on both the page and your other social networks telling them to visit your page to be eligible. You can also mention this on your website and inform people who visit your store.
Discount coupons
You can offer your customers discount vouchers and special coupons or codes. These vouchers give you a discount on the goods and services you offer in your store. You can only use these coupons on the Facebook page. Again, you must announce this on all your social networks, such as Twitter and Instagram, to let people know about what is happening.
Competitions
Competitions are a fun way to get people to visit your site and encourage them to interact with you. You can announce the contest on your Facebook page. The competition may be associated with products or services you offer. It could be something like asking your followers to create a slogan, come up with a phrase, or post product photos. Make sure the prize is desirable enough to entice people to actually participate in the competition. Set a short time limit for the competition, such as a week, to encourage immediate engagement and quickly increase followers.
Events
You can also announce upcoming company events on the pages. These can be events where people meet and get to know each other better. Such events also help you get to know your audience better because you can interact with them in person. Providing free refreshments or some other free gift is a great way to encourage attendance.
Events can help you a lot if done correctly. All you have to do is create an interesting event, invite as many people as you can, and spread the information on your page. Try to use the event to promote your company and your product. This has the advantage where you do not have to spend a lot of money on sponsorship events organized by other people. Many people sponsor local events to gain recognition for names. You can use Facebook to get name recognition without spending a lot of money on events. Events can spread beyond just your target audience if you make them public and invite many people. First, determine the type of event and when your target audience is most likely to be able. Start inviting people immediately to help spread the word as fast as possible. Give ample notice before the event. Announcing it with too short notice is a great way to host an event that no one attends.
Chapter Thirteen: Build a Community
Importance of Building Community
Facebook is not about people; it's about the community. Facebook is a means of communicating with other people, and that’s the goal of the platform. It is a global social platform to meet like-minded people. The Facebook community helps to raise the visibility of your business or brand, promote your product or service, and drive your business. So, it's important to create a community for your business on Facebook.
It is not all about you
Most businesses will eventually face the pressure of having to maximize their sales via some sort of marketing strategy, and Facebook is one way to do this. But you must understand that Facebook communities are not a place for you to keep delivering your sales pitch.
Groups on Facebook are not created to solely serve your interests. Your community might or might not be a part of your target audience. You can determine whether a group is your target audience or a part of your Facebook community by this simple test: Check how the conversations flow. If the conversations essentially flow between you and the other members of the group, then they are your audience. If the conversations primarily take place between the members, then they are just a part of your Facebook community.
The Facebook community is made up of people who build relationships based on their shared goals, experiences, or interests. Your community is only part of your market, and those who are a part of it will obviously be interested in all that you offer. You must opt for such users who have had some past experience with your brand or business and whose USP matches yours. Please remember that the focus of the community must be on creating shared relationships and not on your business. You can act as a facilitator, but you must not try to hijack any conversations. Your role is the role of the facilitator, and your goal is for the conversations to grow. You can do this by asking questions and encouraging conversations. You need to get to know everyone in your community better. You can do this by welcoming people, sharing your common needs, showing patience, and waiting for that connection to continue.
Exclusivity
Who does not like the feeling of exclusivity? Everyone likes it when they feel they have exclusive access to something. A Facebook page is the official profile for an entity like a celebrity, a business, a brand, or even an organization, while a Facebook Group is a place for communication consisting of other users who share common interests and opinions. Groups allow users to come together according to a common cause they believe in, to express their opinions, or to even share related content.
Well, that's a great thing in Facebook groups. Exclusiveness helps build closer relationships not only with other members on Facebook but with other businesses too. For instance, don’t you feel quite “cool” if you have a membership to an exclusive club? Well, the same logic applies to Facebook communities. The more exclusive the group is, the more the members will have in common, and their participation will naturally increa
se. You can control access by entering specific registration rules and checking participants before you accept them. The result of all this? The participants feel part of something exclusive.
You may wonder why this is important. Well, participants are encouraged to discuss and promote your business, and you do not even have to offer them information. They automatically assume the role of spokespersons for your brand or business.
Avoid being a salesperson
When it comes to making purchases, people are picky. Most customers prefer the recommendations given by their peers as opposed to professionally authored content. User-generated content is certainly more effective than the ones that the brand creates. By nature, people tend to trust their peers more than a business or a brand. Community members automatically support your brand or business if they feel that they are welcome and their support is acknowledged.