When you post to Facebook, do you get a lot of "thumbs up" and "hearts," or do you see your fair share of negative Reactions or comments? Or worse, are you getting ignored, unfollowed, or unliked?
How can you tell if your Facebook content is sub-par? Do you see a steady number of Impressions, but gain few engagements? Your audience is probably ignoring your content. Or isn't interested. Do you see a significant number of "hide posts" in your Analytics? Has your Likes count dropped? Your audience doesn't enjoy your content. A "Hide Post" or "Unfollow Page" tells you just as much as a Like, Share, or Comment - your Followers are sending you a message to up your content game.
Follow these four tips, and you'll start seeing an increase in positive engagement on your Page.
Don't treat your business page like your personal profile
Those cutesy posts that get a lot of "Likes" on your own account? You know the ones - think "Happy Monday!" or a picture of an adorable cat - keep them on your personal profile. Unless, of course, your business is cats. In that case, show those kitties some love.
Sure, those posts might get a lot of Likes, even on your business Page. But they're not valuable Likes.
What to do instead?
Take the "Happy Monday!" concept, and make it purposeful to your brand. Good examples are:
- Monday Funday - Share something fun going on in your office.
- Testimonial Tuesday - Share a testimonial you've received from a customer or client.
- Whiteboard Wednesday - What does your whiteboard look like this week? What about the conference room?
- Throwback Thursday - Take a trip down memory lane with a picture from your company's past.
- Fun Fact Friday - Share an interesting tidbit about your business or industry.
Bonus: each of these ideas can easily be hashtagged, which can increase your visibility! Above all else, make sure every post has a strong visual component.
Don't just Sell, Sell, Sell
Look, people don't want to feel sold to. Yes, you have a product or service to sell; we all do! But people want more when they're on Facebook.
What to do instead?
Provide value. Share tips and tricks for your customers, industry news and pertinent updates. Provide answers to the questions you often hear. Share your blog posts to your Facebook audience, share content from other sources, hold a Facebook Live Q&A session, create a FAQ video series - the possibilities are endless!
Don't be boring
Your social media presence doesn't need to be all serious, all the time. Don't share article after article, or worse, post without any kind of visual like links, pictures, or videos.
What to do instead?
Social media should be fun! Give people a reason to visit, and stay, on your Page. Break up the informative content with the lighthearted for some balance. Ideas include:
- Behind the scenes pictures - Share pictures of your team in the office, at events, or having a lunch cookout.
- Share posts from your customers - Give them a shout out for a recent achievement, share their events, and promote their products and services.
- Acknowledge your staff - Wish them a happy birthday or work anniversary, and welcome new employees. Show the faces and names behind your brand.
- Incorporate national "holidays" - Have a pizza party on National Pizza Day, share a prank on April Fools Day, bring in pies on Pi Day (March 14th - 3.14). You get the idea.
Don't use poor grammar
Your Facebook presence may be the first impression a customer has of your business. Don't sabotage yourself with spelling errors and grammatically incorrect sentences. You will look unprofessional, and you surely don't want the embarrassment of getting called out on it. There is a saying that the best way to tell if anyone reads your content is to include a spelling error.
What to do instead?
Practice these three musts before hitting "Publish":
- Spellcheck
- Proofread - read your status out loud, if it helps.
- Get another set of eyeballs - ask a coworker to check if you're unsure you missed anything.
Are you ready to make some changes to your Facebook profile? Go for it! We'd love to see what you've implemented. Still have some questions? No problem! Give us a
call, and we'd be happy to chat.
