Social media brings with it many challenges, but the opportunities far outweigh the negatives. In fact, the playing field has never favored the small- to-medium business owner more than it does today. Why? Because if you know how to use the tools of social marketing, and apply smart online engagement strategies, the potential to generate sales is unlimited!
In this post, we’re going to focus on Facebook … home to more than a billion users worldwide. In fact, we’re going to share mistakes that business owners make on Facebook, and how you can avoid these time- and money-traps to establish and maintain a winning Facebook marketing strategy that generates results for your business. There are so many social media challenges for business these days.
Over-valuing the volume of “likes” rather than the quality
of likes.
One of the first things most businesses want to create on Facebook is a large fan base, after all, the more people you have as fans, the more business you’ll generate via Facebook, right? Wrong.
Smart businesses focus on building a large fan base of qualified leads and customers. For example, if you’re a restaurant in Biloxi, having a ton of fans from Seattle isn’t going to drive much business to your Tuesday night buffet extravaganza. The number of likes you get is not nearly as important as the quality of likes you get.
1. When it comes to building your Facebook fan base, you need to be selective about who you target and how you attract fans so that your Facebook base aligns with your overall business strategy.
2.Posting content that fails to engage your Facebook fans.
Facebook makes it super-easy to post anything. You can add a status update, throw up a picture, or post a video in seconds. Yet, you need to resist the urge to post anything on a whim.
Instead, think like your Facebook fans: What’s important to them? What are they interested in learning more about? What do they want to see in their newsfeeds? The more you get your fans involved in what you’re posting, the more success you’ll have.
Remember, too, that you get to decide what you post, but you don’t get to decide what your base sees. Competition to get into the newsfeed is fierce. You’re at the mercy of Facebook’s EdgeRank , the algorithm that decide what gets in the newsfeed and what’s left out. The more engaged your fans are (as measured by likes, comments, and shares), the more often your posts will appear in their newsfeeds. Failure to engage on a regular basis results in diminishing post delivery … and that, my friends, is disaster.
3.Too much product/service advertising … or too little.
Facebook is not a vehicle for advertising in the traditional sense. That doesn’t mean you can’t advertise in your posts, it just means you have to be strategic about how you go about advertising and how often you do it.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to advertising in your Facebook posts. Again, you have to consider what your base wants to see. A restaurant is different than a boutique is different than a professional business coach, etc. What’s important is that you don’t overwhelm your base with material they don’t want to see.
In some cases, your Facebook fans will be looking for exclusive “Facebook Only” deals and will follow you as long as you’re delivering those to them. Just be creative on how you post these deals and try to create a sense of excitement so that you’re not boring your fans by doing the same thing again and again.
When it comes to how much advertising you should do on Facebook, know what your base wants from you and deliver it. That means you’ll be experimenting with the types ads and deals you offer. The best advice here is to go slowly at first so you don’t alienate your fans. Remember, it takes only a few seconds for them to “unlike” you … which you don’t want to happen!
4.Weak use of visuals
Facebook is a visual medium. Posts with strong visuals are far more likely to get attention and go viral than those without strong visuals. By the way, “strong” visuals means they are both attention-grabbing and professional. Sloppy, amateurish visuals can give your brand a reputation you don’t want! That means if you can’t do sharp visuals yourself, hire it out, otherwise you risk losing credibility
5.Failing to cross-pollinate
In this context, cross-pollinating refers to making sure your current customers know about your Facebook presence and encouraging them to go online and like your page.
Why is this important? It’s a fact that people trust what other people say more than they trust what a business says about itself. When your best customers are raving about you online, their praise is worth more than any advertising campaign you could ever create. Raving fans tend to create more raving fans … which is exactly what you want.
Plus, when you get customers to like you on Facebook, you open the door to communicating with them more often. That can translate into a closer connection, greater loyalty, and more sales.
So how do you cross-pollinate? Your Facebook address should be posted EVERYWHERE. For example, if you’re a boutique – you can give every customer who comes in your store a handout that tells them about your Facebook presence (and preferably, offer them an incentive to like you on Facebook, such as a special coupon). Your staff should encourage customers to like you on Facebook. All your emails should have a link to your Facebook page. All your advertisements – print or broadcast – should include a call to action of “see us on Facebook.” Store signage should include information about your Facebook page … you could even post a QR Code so that people could use their mobile phones to scan and access your Facebook page right there in your store. Do whatever it takes to make it easy for people to find and like you on Facebook.
Des Moines social media marketing - (515) 221-2214