We understand the feelings that many of our clients have about social media. It can be frustrating and time consuming to keep up with ever-changing social media trends.  Social media is critical to the health of your business though, with around 80% of consumers spending more than an hour a day on social media. 1 If you spoke to ten marketing experts about how to manage your business’s online presence on Facebook, you would get 10 different answers. To simplify things, we decided to discuss a few tried and true things NOT to do on the world’s most popular social media platform.

 

Don’t post too often.

 

Too many posts can be a turnoff to your followers. It’s ok to post more than usual if you have a retail business and Black Friday is approaching.  Beware though that bombarding followers with a dozen posts per day is a sure way to quickly cause your customers to click the “unfollow” button. Most small businesses have a successful social media presence with as little as a 2-3 post per week. Anymore than a couple post a day is probably too much under normal circumstances.

 

Don’t get too personal.

 

We all have feelings we are passionate about. It may be politics. It may be religion. However, unless your business is of a particular religious or political affiliation, keep those type of topics to your personal Facebook feed if even there. You do not want to alienate great, potential fans of your business because of a difference of opinion.

 

Don’t forget to use photos and videos as often as possible.

 

If you really want to catch someone’s attention, you need more than just text. People are about six times more likely to remember content that is accompanied by an appropriate image.2 Take advantage of that fact and remember to brand images you have the right to use with your logo as well.  

 

Video is the fastest growing medium on the internet today. If you have the ability to produce quality videos, go for it! Also, keep in mind that you really only have a couple minutes to get your point across before the average viewer loses interest.

 

If you don’t have the ability to produce video of the best quality, that is ok too. Sometimes just going live on Facebook while using your phone for a moment or two is very effective. When you go live, people get the feeling that what you have to say is important to you. They will be more likely to join you, if even for just a moment.

 

Don’t take things too personally.

 

No matter how great your business, products and staff are, eventually we all fall victim to negative publicity. Unfortunately, these claims are often unfounded. Whatever you do, keep it professional, and don’t argue. If someone gives a negative comment on one of your posts, apologize for their experience. Then, ask them to privately message your page to handle the matter one on one.

 

Sometimes people are just set on making you look bad. If this is the case, it is possible to ban someone from a page, report them and hide comments. Address matters always, but don’t let yourself fall victim to those that are just set on hurting your business.

 

Don’t post only about your products and services.

 

If you really want to sell someone a product or service, remember to talk about something else. That may seem like the opposite of what you should do. However, people are put off by someone coming across as too salesy. Sales tactics that worked in the past may make you come across as untrusting today.

 

Social media has changed the way we do business. The best way to remember it simply is, “People do business with people.” With social media usage constantly on the rise, users want a look inside your business. Let people see behind the scenes more than you post about products and services.

 

Creating effective social media strategies and campaigns for your business can be challenging. With practice, you are sure to get better and better. If you need help getting started or you don’t have time to manage your social media pages for your business, please reach out.

 

Sources

1American Marketing Association. 25 October 2017. Facebook Rated the Most Important Social Platform for Marketers.

2 Hubspot. 2018. 45 Visual Content Marketing Statistics You Should Know in 2018.