1. Create a Memorable Brand
Your business has an amazing opportunity to translate an established offline reputation to online currency. Unfortunately, what I see all too often is a complete lack of understanding on how to transition an offline “look and feel” to a memorable online brand.
Imagine the unbelievable power of a group of people that not only love your business, but eagerly share everything they love about it with friends, family and others within their sphere? That is the power available to you when you use Facebook to properly position and promote your business.
The keys to creating a memorable brand are simple:
- Share your business story in a real and authentic way, allowing prospective clients an intimate look in to who you are and why they would want to work with you.
- Create content that caters to your fans particular by crafting content that speaks to their wants, needs and desires.
- Discuss what matters most to anyone in need of your product or service. Avoid ever using Facebook to discuss immaterial, vapid or otherwise irrelevant topics.
2. Keep it Current and Consistent
While content might be the reigning King of a powerful online presence, consistency is Queen. Creating quality content without a posting strategy is nothing more than a hope and a dream. The hope is that eventually someone will find you, even though your posting is at best erratic and sporadic. To that I say, keep on dreaming.
Here’s why you need to end that cycle today.
The only way to build relationships and earn the trust of consumers is to show up on a consistent basis. This means that you not only must post interesting and relevant content, but engage in the conversation.
A few tips to stay current and consistent:
- Schedule time in to your calendar each day to interact with fans and other pages. Social media is not a one-way street. Participation is the key to a successful strategy.
- Make a list of your content, both online and offline. Determine what you can share and how you might be able to repurpose that content. For instance, take your latest newsletter and turn your top tips into a shareable graphic.
- Use an RSS reader such as Feedly to curate content. This will make it quick and easy to find and share quality and timely information with your fans.
3. Mix it Up
Great Facebook conversations begin with great content. Don’t get stuck in a rut.
Many businesses make the mistake of simply blasting their marketing message instead of using Facebook as a platform to create energetic and evocative discussions. As the saying goes, variety is the spice of life, and the same holds true for content.
Keep fans engaged with playful, but highly entertaining facts, personal commentary, statistics and topical news around your business or niche.
4. Ask Questions
Facebook is an excellent platform to crowdsource questions vital to your business.
Launching a new product or preparing to roll out a new logo? Ask your fans what they think by offering them a special sneak peek.
Everyone enjoys being an insider when it comes to revealing news and as you can see from the KISSMetrics findings below, questions can boost engagement exponentially!
5. Have a Clear Call to Action
There is no sense in posting if you have yet to figure out what your end goal is. Whether you are simply looking to gain shares on a post or you are actively promoting a new product and directing your fans to a landing page, never leave your desired result to chance.
Be specific and tell your fans what specific action you want them to take. Do this by including something as simple as “SHARE” if you agree or “click the link to see more.”
While there are many different ways you can tweak your posts to make them stand out, the end result should always be the same. Your fans should take action in one way, shape or form.
Not including a call to action can be the difference between a post that never reaches the newsfeed or a post that receives an enormous amount of engagement and extended reach.
6. Use Images to Connect
Use images and graphics to connect fans to your brand. Whether it is a picture of your latest product or one that promotes your recent blog post, make sure the look and feel best represent who you are offline and online.
Often times, images can do the talking for us on Facebook. They drive engagement by creating a focal point whereby fans can relate and engage over a shared interest.
In fact, images are so powerful that a study by HubSpot of over 8,800 Facebook posts found on business pages, it was found that photos get 53% more likes, 104% more comments, and 84% more click-throughs. Those are exciting statistics to consider as you determine what type of content you will share with your fans.
7. Use Keywords Wisely
Keywords, whether in a blog post of Facebook post, work the same. As people search for particular keywords, you want your page to pop up at the top of that search. With Facebook graph search, potential fans are searching for interesting pages based on their interests and your niche.
If you are branding a particular keyword, use it within your posts as well as your about section. This does not mean “stuffing” a certain keyword over and over again into your content, but working it organically and naturally in to your posts.
Remember: keywords are a powerful tool and can be an enormous branding aid. Use them wisely, but frequently.
8. Implement Automation
Schedule your interaction at consistent and regular intervals. While this might sound a little calculating, think about this: a conversation that is allowed to drop will wither and die. Automation tools are not meant to detract from your online presence, but rather enhance it by allowing you to stay in front of your fans and freeing up your time so you can authentically interact, respond to questions and chime in on other pages within your niche.
The bottom line: like it or not, you need a daily presence to build and expand your page. Automation can help you do that. Whether you choose to use Facebook’s scheduling feature within your page or a third-party tool such as Sprout Social, get started today rather than letting one more day go by without a posting strategy in place.
9. Optimize Your Profile
There are many ways to optimize your Facebook profile, each one is a valuable opportunity to catch the attention of your fans and Google alike. So why optimize your profile? It is the first thing people will check out when deciding whether or not they want to LIKE your page, so put a little effort into preparing your content for this section.
Have fun with it and inject your personality. Remember: people connect with humans beings, so make your business approachable. Express what interests you and what topics matter most to you.
Include topics of interest and the details that make you unique. It will help others feel like they have a better understanding of who you are, resulting in more subjects to engage in and around.
10. Repurpose Your Current Content
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel when more than likely you have an amazing amount of content already available to you. Whether it is offline marketing such as newsletters, flyers or emails or your website content, give that content new life by transforming me it into quick graphics, quick question and answer posts or links to a video tip.
And finally, take a moment to think about why your customers use Facebook. What is it that they are looking for?
- A place to connect with their favorite brands?
- A space to share thoughts with like-minded individuals?
- A way to be heard and find a voice in an often over-saturated social space?
- Answers to their most pressing questions?
- Advice on what to buy and whom to buy it from?
My guess is that it is a combination of each one. Give consumers a pass to your exclusive club that shares the news, events and educational content they are looking for.
The only way to create a vibrant community is make your page a destination. If you can make them happy and most importantly, help them understand that you care about their needs, I guarantee you will keep them coming back day after day for more of the same!
