The 80/20 Rule on Facebook and Other Content Sharing Tips
Successfully interacting with customers (and potential customers) on Facebook can be challenging to say the least. Unlike Twitter, which is a constant stream of information, you can very easily turn people off from your page if you post too often, or post only self-promotional materials. According to the latest research, companies do best by posting content every other day to once per day on Facebook, but it’s important to keep the content fresh, inviting, and not “all about you.”
So, what can you do to increase engagement and keep your page one that fans will want to keep visiting?
Similar to other marketing strategies, you will want to be sure you’re providing value to your readers. On Facebook, it might mean something different from traditional marketing efforts – do they want to be entertained, engaged in discussions, or only receive industry specific information? While this is something you’ll need to play around with to see what works best, remember this: 80% of your posts should be value added, with the remaining 20% business or promotion related.
Here are some other ideas you may want to try when engaging with others on Facebook:
1. Talk about Facebook: surprisingly, the highest number of shares on Facebook come from people talking about Facebook, according to recent HubSpot research. Who knew? If there is a new update or breaking news about Facebook, talk about it and encourage others to join in.
2. Local news: whether you have one location or 20, try to keep up with local events and then share them on your wall. Let your customers know what is happening in their neck of the woods. You can follow-up to see if anyone attended to engage customers in their interests.
3. Pictures and sharing in different formats: don’t just post to your wall – why not try sharing videos, links, and pictures? Take some pictures of your staff People love looking at others’ pictures, and getting a feel behind the people within a company! Along these same lines, encourage customers to take pictures at your locations, or interacting with your product to make it even more fun!
4. Use trivia to make it fun to promote your own products/news: have fans play “guess what this is” with your products, locations, or just about anything related to your company. Cooper’s Hawk Winery has done this before by posting a picture and asking fans to guess which of their locations it was taken at. Use your imagination to try this one for your company.
5. Like other’s pages and then interact: when you are using Facebook as a page (one of their newest upgrades), you can like other pages. How can this help? Thanks to a newer upgrade on Facebook, you can now comment on others’ content as your company page versus your personal profile. By doing this, your company’s page will get in front of friends of your fan’s friends, thereby increasing exposure and possibly gaining fans.
6. Facebook Questions – coming to a page near you: another new upgrade Facebook has made is Facebook Questions. Similar to polls you can create on your wall, Facebook Questions allows you to ask questions of your fans. The great thing about this new upgrade is that when you ask questions, it will show up on your news feed as well as the news feeds of your fans, so you are getting in front of new people by asking simple, fun questions. There are a still bugs to work out in Facebook questions, but if you’d like more information, you can read this article on adding Facebook Questions to your page.
Use your creativity and gauge fan reaction to determine what’s best for your company. If you have any other tips and best practices, please comment – we’d love to hear from you!
This is a great post and very true. It is all a lot to take in and things change rapidly. What is the best way to stay in touch with all of this? Does your company provide social media training for business? If so, how does that work?
Hi Bill! Thank you for your feedback. It is definitely difficult to keep up with it all – the trends and tactics change almost daily, and social media sites update their venues regularly. We offer all aspects of helping companies learn and manage their social media, from social media monitoring to training programs. We offer online training sessions for those who wish to learn more about social media from start to finish, as well as individual modules for those who only want specific information on marketing within a particular venue. We try to make it affordable and easy for people who need assistance with social media. Please feel free to contact us at 866-703-8238 to learn more.
Great tips, Ann. It really comes down to common sense, doesn’t it? The less you talk about yourself, and the more special you make other people feel, the more others will talk about you.
Another recommendation I would like to share is what I call “float a trial balloon.” If you’re planning a special promotion or marketing plan, try teasing it out on Facebook with a simple “What would you think about X?” or “What do you think about Y?” I’m not suggesting you have to give away state secrets or spill any important beans. Instead, I’m suggesting you use Facebook as a sort of advanced focus group.
At your service,
Michael
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Michael E. Rubin, Social Media Strategist, Fifth Third Bank
Disclosure: I work for Fifth Third Bank, and this is my own opinion.
Hi Michael,
I like your idea of the “trial balloon.” I have seen some great examples of using Facebook as a focus groups of sorts with good success. It is common sense to talk about others more than yourself, but I have seen some companies use it as a platform to solely pitch themselves. Social media is a great opportunities for companies to have fun and put a personality behind their brand!
Hope you have a great weekend!