1. DO: Have A Page Not A Person
Many companies have both a Facebook page and also a person registered under the company name, for example: Benny’s Shoe Repair page and Benny Shoe Repair (person). This is not only confusing to customers but also communicates that you don’t really get how Facebook works, which is not good for your credibility.
Facebook’s old features did not allow pages to post or interact with social media interfaces, so having a personal account on Facebook as a business did make sense at one time, however now it seems outdated. In order not to lose the friends you have accumulated on the personal page, post to personal page that all further feeds will be posted on the public page and to like the page. This should engage your already active members. Repost this a few times before deleting the account.
Keep in mind, when you delete a Facebook personal account it doesn’t actually delete you off Social Media, it just remains unsearchable until you decide to resurrect it if need be.
2. DON’T: Post Personal Pictures
This is a mistake we see often from businesses offering personal or esthetic services (makeup artists, clothing designers, estheticians). Grainy iPhone selfies of the owner of a company doing their own makeup or wearing their own clothes does nothing for the consumer. Firstly, it makes the business site inextricable from the owner’s personal page. Secondly, it does nothing to showcase your product. Of course you are going to use your services, but what about everybody else? Posting photos of satisfied customers will do exponentially more because it means people trust your with their time/money/face.
3. DO: Engage Customers To Post THEIR Personal Pictures:
Encourage customers to engage with you by taking photos of themselves with your product or using your service. Invite them to hashtag it with something like #bennyshoefix to be featured on your site. This lets your customer base know others have been satisfied with your product and also allows for your customers to engage personally with your social media platform.
4. DO: Have A Logo
It is irrelevant if your logo is something you threw together on a photo editing app or a professionally done design, you need to have some sort of identification on the main page of your website. Make sure that it looks neat and clean. If you cannot get your logo professionally done, avoid complicated designs. Go for bold colors and block lettering. Make sure your logo is CLEAR otherwise, no matter how great it is, it will be extremely distracting, which brings us to our next point.
5. DON’T: Post Poor Quality Photos:
Even if you are taking pictures with your iPhone, make sure they are good quality photos in good lighting. This may seem intuitive but we see way too many businesses posting poor quality images to their social media platforms.
6. DO: Remember People Follow You For More Than Your Product:
People follow Social Media pages because they have something interesting to offer. Try to post content that relates to your business and is visually appealing, relevant to your business but also interesting enough for people to actually want to read and look over. Most of your content should be social (cool facts, how to’s) that relate to your product. If you just bombard people with ads, they will unfollow you.
7. DON’T: Pay For Likes:
Customers have access to your site stats, meaning that they can tell when your likes have shot up 2000% in the past three days. It comes off as dishonest and desperate. If you must buy likes, do it in a way that makes sense in relation to the number of likes you already have. If you have 100 likes, buy another hundred not another thousand. Having lots of likes and poor interaction based on those likes is just as bad as not having those likes in the first place.
8. DO: Keep Written Content Short And Interesting:
Shorter statuses are more likely to be read. Make sure that it is also something that prompts a further click from social media users. For example:
This: We are clearing out! Hit the link for news on our HUGE Summer Sale!
Not This: Our huge summer sale is back on again! Click the link to get discounted prices on everything from kitchenware to outdoor patio furniture! Sale ends September 1st while supplies last; enter promo code “summer” for discount.
The second option gives the customer everything they need to know without engaging with your products or your website, while the first is just enough to have them wanting more.
Remember, your Facebook page is not only a representation of your business but also your brand. How you present yourself over this interface is a crucial element both for sales and for customer outreach so, share carefully!
