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13 Mistakes To Avoid On Your Facebook Business Page
What're the top Mistakes Small Business owners Make on Facebook?
Facebook business pages offer small business owners an opportunity to let customers know,
- you exist
- how you can solve their problems
- they can like you
- and trust you
But small business owners make common mistakes that when discovered can be easily solved.
"Some small business owners are under the impression that if they set up a page on Facebook, that's all they have to do."
1. Broadcasting instead of interacting
Your job is to interact, not just to broadcast. Fans are looking for a reason to connect with you, and they're showing you that by clicking 'Like.' Your job is to give them a reason to stay.
Many businesses immediately ask how Facebook is going to make them money, as opposed to trying to engage customers and provide a meaningful, authentic online experience. "Marketers need to recognize that people go to Facebook to make a connection or feel like part of a community. (mashable.com)
Promoting your business should account for 20% or less of your posts if your products or services aren't used daily by customers, to avoid turning people off and getting unfollowed.
2. Its about community not fan counts
The biggest mistake people make is focusing on the Fan count. It's not difficult to grow your fans, but it's much more difficult to build an engaged community. (postplanner.com)
If you build a community of engaged fans, your fan count will grow gradually & you'll have a page that is more valuable to your business. (postplanner.com)
Simply said, all it takes is one person in your group to tell other people about your business to help grow your business. A person will only do that when they are part of your community family!
3. Not Showing a More Personal Side of Your Business
Most people use Facebook to connect with friends and family. So to create interest in your business page, you must communicate like a ‘person' rather than a company. Instead of impersonal posts, write Facebook posts that show the human side of your business. For example, share employee stories, or upload photos/videos of your workplace and customers. You could host a Facebook Live session, where you talk about your products, and your experiences as a small business owner. (virtasktic.com)
4. Making It All About You and Not Your Visitor
A Facebook page is not another platform for blatant business promotion. Your target audience will follow your Facebook page or share a post only if they find the content to be engaging, relevant, informative, or empowering in some way. (virtasktic.com)
For instance, sharing figures about the impressive growth in your customer base may seem like an apt post for LinkedIn, but on Facebook, convey the information as, “Our sales last month have been higher than ever before. Thanks for all your support in helping our business grow”. Include a photo of your staff holding a ‘thank you' banner. (virtasktic.com)
A real estate agent can focus 80% of his or her posts on providing useful information about buying and selling real estate and 20% on marketing listings.
5. Not Using a Content Strategy plan
You can create weekly content themes. For instance, if you sell clothes your weekly content plan could be –
- Week 1 – Educate the customer about the latest fashion trends;
- Week 2 – Share details of an upcoming exhibition;
- Week 3 – Photos of customers wearing your garments; and
- Week 4 – Create a series of DIY fashion accessories.
6. Not Creating Different Types of Posts
What do most of your Facebook posts look like? Are they mostly text posts accompanied by stock photography images, or links to articles? (virtasktic.com)
Facebook posts that tend to be more popular contain
- videos
- an element of humor
- high-quality visuals
- contest announcements
- informative infographics
Publish a combination of these post types. (virtasktic.com)
I see Businesses (especially dining) posting the same pictures of their products which although they are mouth watering don't engage the dopamine part of our brain that seeks new things.
7. Being Inconsistent in Publishing Content
Too many times when I'm Auditing a Client Facebook page I see a Flurry of Posts in the beginning then silence for months.
If you publish thirty posts over a month and then don't publish for the next two weeks, that is bad for your Facebook page. Building a following on any social media page takes time and effort. When you post fresh content, it tells the visitor that your Facebook page is active, which increases the likelihood of them following the page. (virtasktic.com)
Publishing posts once a day, or even publishing every other day should be fine, as long as you do so consistently.
A word of caution – don't post too often as your fans may get fed up of seeing your business name pop up in their news feed. However, there are events when posting more often than normal may be more acceptable; for instance, when you run a customer promotion, or when you share live updates from an event. (virtasktic.com)
Decide Right Now what your posting schedule is AND STICK TO IT! even if it's once a week or month
8. Posting at Weird Times
Similar to the previous item I noticed a lot of small business owners post at times that are not ideal for when their viewers will see it. For example.
- Food establishments will post at 11:30 pm after the restaurant closes before the owner is locking up
- Food establishments will post today's special after their fans have already eaten for the day instead of the day before when they can plan to visit. How do I know this, well, I see it in the comments!
Pay attention to your analytics for the days and times when you get the most views, comments likes, and shares to post content. If you dont know how to do that then ask me in the comments below!
According to a CoSchedule study, Facebook posts published between 1 and 3 p.m and between Thursday and Sunday tend to perform better.
9. Not Completing Your Profile
When you do correctly set up your Facebook page, you will notice it has a lot of places to put information. While you certainly don't need to overload your about section with an essay about your business, but be sure to actually put the information customers are going to want.
This includes URLs to your website or other social media, your store hours, your phone numbers, and any other relevant or interesting information about the business. (valleysbdc.org)
10. Ignoring Comments and Questions
As we stated above, Facebook is all about creating a dialogue with customers. If you're not responding to their messages and comments, how are you supposed to start a conversation? By talking with your customers, you truly do build brand loyalty by showing them that you care about their needs.
If not daily, At least weekly go thru all your posts and reply to questions and comments in a genuine and authentic way.
11. Not Delegating the task of Creation and Posting To The Right Person
Anyone can post on social media, right? Even your average teenager knows how to do it.
So many business owners want to save money and do all the posting themselves or in house.
I also usually ask the front desk/reception person who and how they post to their social media and all too often I hear that its the front desk/reception person because they are the newest youngest person and they have large gaps in their work schedule that a small owner wants to fill 'to keep them busy'.
Pay a content specialist to either Consult with you or create content for you OR research how to post better content or take an online course on how to do so.
12. Using A Facebook Page instead of a website
Over and over again I see small business owners use their Facebook page instead of a website because they think having a Facebook is better for business than a website.
This is not true because did you know that Facebook only notifies your newest post to about 10% of your page followers.
This is done on purpose as they want to encourage you to pay for ads to broadcast to a wider audience. Also, you do not OWN your Facebook page, so changes can and will be made without your knowledge.
You are 100% in control of your website message though.
Think of your website as the bottom of your funnel with Facebook and other social media leading to that final step that leads to a sales.
Bonus tip
13. Not using Facebook Page Only Specials
To encourage more subscribers, visits, shares, and comments use Your Facebook page to post specials only seen on your Facebook Page. That way you can offer an incentive for return visits to your page or website
Too many times Business owners are afraid the money they spend on advertising won't show a measurable return on investment. e.g. spend $100 to get $200,
BUT,
with social media only offers you can make your viewers feel like Charlie finding their 'Golden Ticket" to the Willy Wonka Factory. For free
If you're' concerned about overuse then make the Facebook Only offer very time-specific.
p.s. Facebook has an Offer section under the 'MoRE' dropdown for free