Since its inception in 2004, Facebook has without a doubt changed the world. And it is poised to continue doing so, with 2 billion – and counting – monthly active users from across the globe as of this writing. Not surprisingly, businesses keen on reaching this population have built their presence on this top social media website.
But not all of them may be reaping the investments of precious time and effort. Below are some useful tips for brands that hope to create and grow their communities on Facebook.
Set goals. First, the business must know what it seeks to achieve on Facebook. These can be outlined in a strategy document, which should also feature guidelines regarding the form and content of posts. It is important to determine the baseline figures: the number of followers, the average likes and shares of posts, the distribution of the activity based on gender, age, and location, among others. They can establish their goals regarding their following, user engagement, and post frequency and quality, as shown in the improvement of these stats. Other possible goals include increased product inquiries via private message, inquiries for brand partnerships, or more perfect 5 customer reviews.
Delegate the management tasks wisely. Businesses new to digital marketing may become too enthusiastic about their company’s Facebook presence, and end up having everyone wanting to have a say on how the page should look like, and what should be on it. However, it has been proven time and again that too many cooks spoil the broth, and with dispersed accountability – with everybody, including the CEO, added as an admin –no one would feel obliged to focus on page management. Posts by different people might also bear different tones, styles, and messages, affecting how the brand is perceived by its followers. A good approach would be to assign a maximum of two people as administrators, while welcoming content suggestions and contributions from an extended pool of people, and approving them based on the overall guidelines.
Develop good page materials. Appearance matters highly on Facebook, so brands need to invest in good introductory materials – profile photo, cover photo, and the blurbs for the “About” section. Pictures must be in the right specs, so that they will load properly on whatever device, on whatever operating system. All blanks should be filled up, otherwise the page will look unprofessional.
Use Facebook to promote the other brand platforms. Connecting with customers via Facebook is a good goal in itself, but it is even better if the platform is used to boost traffic to other digital marketing assets owned by the brand. This might entail linking to the company’s tweets, or posts on Instagram, or responding to inquiries with an automated reply that lead to the company’s email database for the user to fill. Indeed, brands should grab every opportunity to build alternate connections – because a Facebook follow is as tenuous as can be, with just a mistaken double-click causing one to unsubscribe.
Learn more about managing online communities by getting in touch with GreyBox Creative.