So everybody has been saying how great Facebook is for business promotion and getting new customers, but to you that sounds like a joke because you've tried everything and the results you've been getting are nowhere near what you would like them to be. Don't worry, you are not alone! Before you give up on your Facebook business page, though, I will let you on a little secret - there might be things you are doing wrong and here's a list of 10 of them.
1. Oops, you spilt Call to Action all over your page!
You know how you have about a thousand likes on your Facebook Business Page, but when you post something on it, you struggle to get 20 interactions? Ah yes, I'll tell you why. Facebook has this policy, which is meant to keep users happy and not overwhelm them with too much promotional content. So in plain terms if you post direct call to action too often your posts and even your page get filtered by Facebook and out of your 1,000 followers only 2% to 5% see your posts. That fantastic poster you made with a great value offer will hardly be seen by anyone because you put "Order now" in your caption. To get your Facebook business page back up on your fans' news feeds publish inspirational, funny and relatable content. This means, study your followers, find out what they like and post things that fall into that category. You'd probably need a pinch of creativity to relate all that to what you actually do, but hey, I believe in you!
2. So...You've been boosting posts lately, but where are your adverts?
Most of us are guilty of this! Boosting specific posts seems so tempting because it costs peanuts and promises to reach a wide range of users who might be interested in what you are sharing on your Facebook business page. Plus, some posts just deserve to be shouted out to as many people as possible. However, there's only one problem. Facebook recently announced that they will be applying the same policy of filtering direct call to action posts to paid or boosted posts as they do with your normal unpaid ones. That means even if you spend £16 per week on a single post that you are so proud of, it will reach a limited number of users and the likelihood of it not bringing you ROI is very high. Instead, use your creativity and social media marketing budget to create engaging and efficient adverts. Those can truly reach thousands of people who are much more likely to engage with the advert and come to your website, e-store or contact you directly. Your ads must be eye-catching - bright colours, interesting designs and little but powerful text. Facebook advertising comes just a little more expensive than boosting a post, but even with the minimum of £35 per month you can do wonders!
3. Advertising fur coats to animal rights activist probably won't work.
Ok, so you've scrolled down to here and you are like "blah, blah, I've been doing all this and still nothing". But did you select the correct audience based on their behaviour on the Internet? I'm sure you got the demographics and the location right, but what about the interests and the things the audience you want to target engages with? Behavioural settings in the Facebook advertising tool are a new, but extremely powerful feature. There's no need to waste resources showing your ads to people who fall into the demographic and geographic frame of your target market but are not actually interested in what you have to offer. When you create your ad, choose the "custom audience" option and then select the behaviours which would portrait best your future customer.
4. "Damn, girl! Yo' eyebrows on fleek!" - Said no Yorkshire grandma ever.
By now you should have figured how crucial it is to know the people you are trying to market your products or services to. So if you've been using modern or racial slang in the content you put on your Facebook page but the people your business caters for are from the older generation, identifying with another ethnicity or race you will have no success. In the same sense, youths won't build a connection or loyalty towards your trainers brand if you keep using Oxford Dictionary language and grammar in all of your posts. Know your audience, speak their language!
5. Oh fab, you just published a new post! Wait, this must be a déjà vu!
I feel like I shouldn't even be telling you this, because it is so obvious, but if you keep posting the same sort of stuff, even the people you reach either organically or through paid posts will dismiss your publications like they never existed and even worse, they may singlehandedly dislike your page! Take time to plan your content and make sure it is compelling so it catches the attention and diverse enough to keep it.
6. A little extra scheduling time never hurt nobody.
As I just said, take your time to plan and schedule the content you will be sharing throughout the week. I know Hootsuite and Buffer are great because they save you so much time, giving you the opportunity to manage the posts for all of your social media channels from one place, but... Facebook doesn't like that. No wonder they are doing so well in business, because they keep coming up with new ways to force you to use their platform for, let's say, just about everything. Your scheduled posts will get filtered and therefore less people will see them if you manage them from a third party tool, like those mentioned above. To maximise your reach always take the time to allocate your posts for the coming days and weeks using your Facebook business page own scheduling system. Yeah, it's a bugger, but it's worth it!
7. You won't believe the difference a link can make!
Speaking of things Facebook doesn't like, front seat takes Google and all its products. That's understandable, because they are their biggest competitor in size, cash and influence. Having said that, sharing videos from YouTube on your Facebook business page is a no-no. Just like any other content that doesn't meet the guidelines and requirements of Zuckerberg's empire, your YouTube links will get filtered and shown to less people than if you uploaded the video directly on your page. It's a bit of a dirty play, but they can afford it.
8. Dear Lord! It took you days to respond to that message!
From a consumer's point of view, there's nothing more annoying than asking a question regarding a product or service on the brand's social media platform only for them to take forever to respond. Yes, I know it's hard to juggle everything at once, especially if you are just starting now and have mostly your two talented hands to rely on, but you couldn't have possibly expected money will be raining on you without the necessary effort put at your end. Facebook haven't made it particularly easy, because now, for you to be able to respond to messages on your business page from your mobile phone or tablet you have to install Pages Manager. Brilliant, one more app in your already cluttered system storage. No matter how long you and I complain about this, things will hardly change in our favour. Better use that time to respond to any messages coming to your Facebook business page because your response rate and speed is closely monitored and displayed for everyone to see. Slower rates or higher level of unresponsiveness can be off-putting to quite a few potential customers. Sorry!
9. Oh, you bought a thing from us today! Thanks, bye!
Treat your customers with respect and care and they will come back. This is a golden rule and there is no business that has applied it and not been successful. Responding quickly to messages on your Facebook business page is not enough. You must build a relationship with your customers or potential such. React to the comments they post on your page, ask them questions, be polite, bubbly, but not intrusive. Make them believe you are there to make them feel good, not that they are here to make you rich. Content marketing is gaining so much popularity because it plays on people's emotions and feelings. Relate to your followers with everything you put on your page and they will develop a special bond with your brand.
10. It's been 6 months since your last post. Are you still in business?
If you've been taking notes on the Facebook business page tips so far and already have a clear picture in your head of all the amazing things you are going to do with your page this week, I have one more thing to say to you. It's not going to work if you are not consistent. There's no point in creating a well-rounded and thoroughly thought through social media campaign, which you only use for a month or two. You must diversify content, but you must never stop publishing. The more nice stuff you put on your Facebook business page as frequently as possible, the less Zuckerberg's soldier bots will be hiding you from your followers' news feeds.
Get on with planing, creating and scheduling jaw-dropping content for your Facebook business page and all your other social media channels. And if by any chance you need me, I'm here to help.
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