18 May Facebook — The Elephant in the Room
We are incessantly told that businesses need to utilize social media. That it is crucial to survival in this digital age. We need to post frequently. We need to be on several social media sites. We need to have great content. Educate and not sell. We need to customize our message based on different formats and types of audiences on various outlets.
We need to do all this besides usual responsibilities of our day job. It is daunting especially to most of us who did not grow up eating dinner with a smartphone sitting next to the plate. I cannot allay all your fears but would like to give a helpful hand in how to post on the most popular sites.
Let’s start with the elephant in the room, Facebook:
Let’s start with the elephant in the room, Facebook
More than 1.8 billion people use Facebook every month. 1 of every 5 minutes people in the US spend on mobile is on Facebook or Instagram. The numbers speak for themselves. You can generate leads and boost sales by enhancing awareness and engaging potential customers. You start by setting up your Facebook page which takes minutes. You select a category for your type of business and enter business information. Then you can upload logos, photos, and relevant content that would be interesting to read for visitors.
This was the easy part. The more challenging task is to update and manage your page frequently. You can manage your Page on desktop or from anywhere on mobile using the Pages Manager App, available for iOS and Android. The time-consuming part is that in order to have repeat visitors, you have to develop interesting content and respond to comments that have been left. Keep posts short and sweet, generally between 100-250 characters. You can set up notifications which alert you when there is activity on your page through a message you will receive on the e-mail address you provided during the registration process.
This was the easy part. The more challenging task is to update and manage your page frequently. You can manage your Page on desktop or from anywhere on mobile using the Pages Manager App, available for iOS and Android. The time-consuming part is that in order to have repeat visitors, you have to develop interesting content and respond to comments that have been left. Keep posts short and sweet, generally between 100-250 characters. You can set up notifications which alert you when there is activity on your page through a message you will receive on the e-mail address you provided during the registration process.
This was the easy part. The more challenging task is to update and manage your page frequently. You can manage your Page on desktop or from anywhere on mobile using the Pages Manager App, available for iOS and Android. The time-consuming part is that in order to have repeat visitors, you have to develop interesting content and respond to comments that have been left. Keep posts short and sweet, generally between 100-250 characters. You can set up notifications which alert you when there is activity on your page through a message you will receive on the e-mail address you provided during the registration process.
Use Settings to control who gets to see your page and, more importantly, who is permitted to make changes to your page. You can also control the apps you can use on your page, ask your page to create posts through email and even get suggestions about content and edits from the customers who like your page.
Use Pages Manager App to:
• View and reply to received messages.
• Post photos, videos, or new content and respond to comments.
• Get push notifications when there is page activity and get tips and reminders.
• Get Page Insights
Use Messenger for your Page to read and reply to messages. When you sharing messages with people, you can see previous interactions and nature of those interactions that person has had with your page. You get access to their public profile that they have decided to share which can be useful in customizing your message to be more relevant and have some context in managing the relationship.
You also need to study your score card given on Page Insights. It will show which posts are getting attention and generating comments. This is valuable information to make adjustments in what and how frequently to post.
You can create an ad once and then under placement tab you can choose to show it across 3 places- Facebook, Instagram and Audience Network to improve your reach. No resizing or reformatting required. With ad placement options for mobile or desktop, your ad can be shown on whatever device your audience may be using. Supported ad formats include video, photo, carousel, slideshow, and canvas (mobile only).
Useful Tips:
1. It is important to remember that Facebook is less about marketing and sales and more about conversations and relationships. So behave like you are a friend and not a marketing manager.
2. Always link back to your business website and other social media accounts. This boosts your page’s organic search engine rankings and visibility with potential customers.
3. At the end of a post, invite fans to comment, like or share. If people respond, engage them in a conversation by responding to their comments.
4. Show your products being used by happy customers instead of posting a picture of your product.
5. Remember the ultimate goal is to positively impact business. This requires a blend of education to be seen as a credible information resource and useful content about your business such as product tips, upcoming events, etc.
Check back later for information about LinkedIn, Snapchat, Google+ etc.