|
Although at the moment Facebook doesn't exactly look like a great financial investment, it certainly can be a great tool for your business if used correctly.
Facebook gives you a great platform to find and gather new customers, promote your products or services and provide a simple and easy way to interact with your target market, however there are some do's and don'ts that will make your Facebook experience much better.
DOs
Post to your Facebook page regularly. An active page is a good page and you're more likely to gather more "fans" if people see things happening on your page.
Keep it relevant. Make sure that anything you post to your page relates to your business or your industry, and ensure its information your fans will be interested in.
Respond and Interact. It's important to make sure your fans feel loved; after all they can be gone in a click. Make sure you respond to any comments or posts on your page, both good and bad - especially if they're bad. There is nothing worse than someone with an issue feeling like they're not being heard. How you respond says a lot about your business.
Keep your information up-to-date. If you move offices or change phone numbers make sure you update it on your Facebook page, and post about it to let people know.
Follow the rules.
With the introduction of the timeline layout for business pages back in March Facebook brought in a few new rules that you should follow.
You would have noticed that on pages now there is a large image across the top of the page - this is called the Cover Image. Although I see many pages that break these rules Facebook state that cover images must not contain:
- Price or purchase information, such as "40% off" or "Download it at our website"
- Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page's About section
- References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features
- Calls to action, such as "Get it now" or "Tell your friends"
Although these rules have been in place for a while now I still see many people who break them - surprisingly there are many global brands who do, and even more surprisingly is the number of so called Facebook and Social Media "experts" who have call-to-actions in their cover image (I won't name and shame, but you'll find many examples if you Google around).
DON'Ts
Make sure you don't SPAM your fans. Your fans are there because they've either done business with you, had some interaction or because they find your business interesting, so don't destroy this by constantly doing the hard sell or posting the same information.
Make sure your page it setup correctly. I see many businesses setup as a personal account rather than a business page. This is not only against the terms of Facebook but it adds so much more admin work for you managing friend requests.
Take and not give. I see pages that are constantly asking for fans to sign up to this, that and the other. While it's great to build your database, from time-to-time you need to just give your fans something for nothing - make them feel loved.
Keep it business related. There should be a clear separation between business you and personal you. Don't post personal views on your page - you have your personal Facebook for that.
So give some thought about how you're using Facebook for your business, or if you're not currently using it think about how it can help boost your business.
|
