Are you underestimating the power of Facebook? Roughly half of all Australians have a Facebook profile. There are more than 750 million active users worldwide, and 50% of active users log in every day. The average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events – all opportunities for brand promotion.
So, it makes sense that a Facebook page is a great tool for engaging with current and prospective customers. It’s so ingrained in the lives of people young and old, it’s not going away any time soon and if your brand does not have a Facebook page, it’s certainly time to think about starting one.
Follow our easy steps to starting building a Facebook page.
- Before you do anything, research what is already being said about your brand on Facebook. If your brand is well-known, it’s likely that there are already unofficial (ie not created by your business) pages about your brand. These could be positive, negative or neutral, might be very popular (hundreds or thousands of fans) or not.Look at what your target audience are discussing, what kind of pages they like and how those pages engage with the fans.
- Prepare for your Facebook page by deciding on a name for the group, who will be the Community Manager (the person in charge of driving and monitoring the group), how you will handle potential issues and questions, and the content.Choose your Community Manager carefully. The best person for the job is not necessarily the token Gen Y in the office, but rather, someone who is articulate and professional, has a great understanding of and passion for the company, the target audience and social media, and is organised.
- Create your page and start engaging. Once your page is up and running start posting great content. Depending on your product and your audience, you might engage with questions (both fun and serious), offering discounts and vouchers for your product/service, and company news and marketing messages. Build your number of fans by spreading the word through your marketing channels, like your website, emails signature and e-newsletters. Facebook advertising is also a good-value and effective way of building awareness of your page.
When someone ‘Likes’ your page and therefore becomes a ‘fan’, they are showing interest in your brand and essentially opting-in to receive company news, marketing messages and information about products. Therefore Facebook is a channel that can be quite promotional.
How often you post content depends on how interesting and valuable your content is, but as a general rule, don’t update your page more than once a day. If your fans feel annoyed by seeing constant updates that don’t interest them, they will ‘unlike’ you.
The best way to learn what works for your Facebook page is to practise and experiment. Only experience can truly teach you what your target audience wants and how to encourage them to engage.
