What NOT to do on a Facebook Fan Page
By David Aziz
Facebook has been extremely beneficial for small businesses over the years. 72% of marketers who have been using social media in general for more than 3 years report it had helped them close business. Even with a minimal time investment, the majority or marketers (81% or higher) indicated their social media efforts increased exposure for their business. Although Facebook and other social media networks can help increase exposure for a business there are some things that should NOT be done during the set up and ongoing management process. Incorrectly setting up your business page could potentially damage your brand reputation and drive your audience away from your page. Below are a few basic tips on what not to do and what to avoid on your Facebook business page.
- Don’t turn off the comment and post function
One of the most important metrics within social media is interaction. The two main methods to interact and communicate on Facebook is to make a post on a page or comment on a post. It is extremely important to allow your audience to make posts and comments on your page. Disabling the comment function will restrict “likers” of the page to interact within the page and destroy any potential engagement. Restricting “likers” from creating conversation will display your to customer service negatively.
- Don’t send mass messages to your network
Sending mass messages to your network is the last thing you want to do. A few reasons why mass message is not the way to go,
· Users will not pay attention and interpret it as insignificant
· Can come off spammy and could irritate users
· Depending on how you send the message this could go against Facebook’s terms of agreement
- Don’t delete customer posts
If a customer makes a post or comment complaining or showing concern about your business the last thing you want to do is delete the post. This can negatively affect the image of your page and brand to other customers. Deleting posts from unsatisfied customers makes your audience interpret this as your brand not caring about what customers think. Instead of deleting negative posts you should confront them head on and reply back to your customers. Replying to posts directed to your page shows that you’re listening and your business focuses on customer service heavily.
*Although you shouldn’t delete complaints or posts from unsatisfied customers, it is important to monitor your page for any posts that are inappropriate and irrelevant to the page. If you find an inappropriate post on your page it is important that you remove it immediately. The longer you leave the post there the more it discredits your page and can eventually drive your audience to leaving your page.
- Don’t abandon your page
When your customers join your page they join because they want to stay updated on content from you. If you haven’t posted anything on your page in weeks or even days this makes your page irrelevant for customers and they will leave. Not posting frequently also decreases your chances for engagement and promoting your product or service. It’s important to consistently update your page (at least once a day) to keep content fresh and give your audience something new to see.
- Don’t set up your business page under a personal profile page
This is a big social media DON’T, a lot of businesses accidently set up their page as a personal profile page and end up facing a lot of restrictions.
· If your business is set up through a personal page it is much harder for your audience to stay in touch with your business. In order for them to get information about your company they would have to friend request your page and wait for you to approve them as a friend. For pages that are set up correctly they customer doesn’t need approval and can “like” the page and instantly receive updates. Another problem with setting up your company page as a personal profile and the fact that the page is tailored for a person, the info page shows interests and activities that are not relevant to a business page.
· The second reason this is not recommended is because this goes against Facebook’s policies and guidelines. Facebook will notice that your page is not relevant and will eventually shut it down.
*Already set up your business page as a personal profile and have no idea what to do?
Click here!
- Don’t over post and don’t post to sell
It’s important that you post regularly on your page, but not too regularly. When you make a post to your page customers who are following your page automatically see your post in their newsfeed. If you over post this can flood their newsfeed and become very irritating to them. Over posting may also seem spammy to them your likers will leave your page. Having your business set up on all social media platforms it important to communicate as well as listen to what your customers have to say. Make sure not to post just to sell your product or service, people want to see more than just what’s for sale or what the current promotions are. Users enjoy content that educates them as well as posts that are interactive and engaging. Making posts that seem like you’re on Facebook just to increase revenue will come off bad and spammy to your audience.
*According to a report from Exact Target and CoTweet.com 44% of Facebook users list frequent posts as the top reason for unliking a brand.
- Don’t let your Facebook wall tab be the first thing new comers see
If someone is new to your page and is interested in joining, you want to make sure the first thing they don’t see is the wall tab. The first thing a newcomer should see is the landing page. A landing page is a tab set up with a huge banner asking the newcomer to like the page to stay updated. Landing pages should be very visual and attract the user. Having the user view the landing tab before the wall initiates a call to action telling them to join. If the first thing a newcomer sees is the wall tab they already have access to view the content on the wall but they might not have liked the page which doesn’t keep them coming back.
So next time you set up a Facebook page look this over and make sure you haven’t missed anything! Avoiding these common mistakes will greatly improve your brand on social media. Making sure to post regularly, engage with your audience, and maintaining a strong reputation is important Optimizing your page and watching out for these pitfalls can display your page as an authoritative entity on Facebook.
David Aziz is the Social Media Analyst for Advance Internet. You can follow him on Twitter@DaveAziz and see what he’s sharing using the +1 Button by adding him to your circles onGoogle+.
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