Common facebook marketing mistakes
so cialm ediat o day.co m http://socialmediatoday.com/jim-belo sic/1179856/7-ways-businesses-fail-facebook? utm_so urce=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=So cial+Media+Today+(all+po sts) 7 Ways Businesses Fail on Facebook If one of your goals f or 2013 is to have a stronger presence on Facebook, don't make the mistakes that too many businesses make: 1. T hey break the rules. Facebook changes the rules of ten. And unless you are diligent about staying up-to-date by f ollowing blogs like Socially Stacked or AllFacebook, some rules might change and you won't know it. Even if you inadvertently violate Facebook's terms of service, your Page may be removed - - along with all your content and the connections to people you've made over the months or years. To save yourself a headache, bookmark Facebook's Terms of Service and read them periodically along with our blog, of course - - and make sure you're playing by the rules. 2. T hey ignore their fans. Remember the #1 tenet of social media? It's the "social" part of the equation that matters most. If you have f ans who leave you messages and ask questions on Facebook, you must answer them. No two ways about it, and there is no such thing as a stupid question (or at least you shouldn't make your f ollowers f eel like their questions are stupid). Another thing to remember is that on social media your f ans/f ollowers expect a response f airly quickly. A question asked on Facebook is not the same thing as a question asked via email. At the very least, when someone directs a positive comment your way, "Like" it it's a pretty easy way to let them know you're paying attention. 3. T hey post inconsistently. If Facebook is part of your marketing ef f ort, attend to your Page. It's that simple. You have Likes and f ollowers because people are sincerely interested in your business and what you have to say. There are tons of studies out there suggesting the best times of day, and the numbers of times each day or week to post, but there are so many variables to consider that it's tough to say there is a hard and f ast rule. Aim to post at least once a day and remember the 70- 20-10 rule: 70% of your Page’s content shared should be inf ormation that is valuable and relevant to your Facebook f ans. 20% of your posts should be shared content, i.e. content that comes f rom other people. The f inal 10% is Facebook posts that are promotional: sale announcements, new product alerts, events, etc. 4. T hey leave URLs in Status Updates. If you're linking to your website or some other content, remove the extended hyperlink or at least shorten it bef ore you hit post. Why? Once a pasted URL appears in the body of the unpublished Status Update, the link appears in the status box so you can saf ely remove the link without af f ecting the content. Leaving in the the URL just clutters the post. Which looks better? T his: or this?: 5. T hey forget to include a visual wit h every post. According to a recent Fast Company article, "44 percent of respondents are more likely to engage with brands if they post pictures than any other media." Why? Pictures help us sort and understand the piles of inf ormation we're exposed to every day. Plus, they can be f un! Which would you rather see? T his: or this?: 6. T hey don't add basic *free* apps. There are dozens of f ree apps you can add to your Page to make it more engaging f or f ree. Using the def ault apps, such as Events and Photos is a good start, but why stop there? If you're a retailer, you should have the Pinterest app; if you're in the service industry, install SnapGuide and create step-by-step guides f or cooking, building, f ashion, etc. that you can share with your f ans. 7. T hey don't create custom apps. Obviously this one is near and dear to my heart, but create custom apps to make your Page stand out! It doesn't have to be dif f icult or time-consuming. With a third-party provider you can create contests and promotions - - as many businesses know but also newsletters, calendars, reservation and appointment requests, f orms that let customers request more inf ormation about your business, maps, customer support, testimonials, surveys and the list goes on. Connect: Authored by: Jim Belosic Jim Belosic is the CEO of ShortStack, a self -service custom app design tool used to create apps f or Facebook Pages, websites and mobile web browsing. ShortStack provides the tools f or small businesses, graphic designers, agencies and corporations to create apps with contests and f orms, f an gates, product lines and more. Jim started his f irst company at age 22, a graphic and web design See complete profile Would you like to contribute to this site? Get started » . cial+Media+Today+(all+po sts) 7 Ways Businesses Fail on Facebook If one of your goals f or 2013 is to have a stronger presence on Facebook, don't make the mistakes. - - along with all your content and the connections to people you've made over the months or years. To save yourself a headache, bookmark Facebook& apos;s