Four Ideas for Your Business Facebook Page
Let’s talk Facebook today, shall we?
Sorry, Howie. I know you’re not a fan so you can go read another blog today.
I’m going to make a pretty big assumption most of you have at least checked out the new timeline. Even if you hate it, if you’re using social media for work, it’s important to understand how these most recent changes affect your business pages.
You’re going to become pretty creative in how you use Facebook now. I’m going to give you some tips.
- Ads, Sponsored Stories, and Creativity. Mari Smith, Facebook expert extraordinaire, posted, “The news feed is *clearly* favoring posts and activity from friends and subscriptions (vs. fan pages) — it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get fan page content seen in the news feed. So, do businesses then need to turn to ads/sponsored stories?” While I’m not completely sold on the idea that, in order to be seen in the news feed you have to buy the space, creativity is definitely something you need to have in order to get people to see your stream. We do Facebook question of the week to get people to visit our wall. Some additional ideas are coming this year.
- Subscriptions. If you don’t already have the subscription button turned on for your wall, do it now. This allows people to subscribe to your feeds so they always see what you have to say. You can create public posts and private posts so you’re not sharing everything with everyone. Think about the people within your organization doing the same thing. For instance, my subscription feed is public and I put stuff on there that is both characteristic of me and newsworthy or interesting. The people inside your organization are what makes the culture. Share them with the world.
- Recommendations. On the right-hand side of the company Facebook wall is a spot for recommendations. Ask friends to write something there. Not only does it live on that right-hand side for all to see, it hits the stream of the person who wrote it, expanding your network beyond the people who already know you.
- Photos. Use the cover photo and other photos to tell the company story and show off the culture. And change them frequently. People like to look at something visual and, the more you give them, the more apt they are to spend time on your page.
I’m sure there are a ton more ideas. In fact, you should pick up a copy of super smart Facebook marketer Brian Carter’s, The Like Economy to get some additional ideas. He teaches you not only how to be found in the news stream, but to do it in an engaging way that generates revenue.
What else would you add?
I campaigned for re-election to the city council last year and created a Facebook page for local residents and business owners to like and follow my page updates.
That was short lived, for I quickly recognized despite people manually clicking the like button, there was zero interaction afterwards. By way of a case study, I posted the same content to both the page and my profile -- and the profile got far more interaction (comments and shares) than the page. So, I killed the page.
I now tell residents to befriend me instead.
I hate pages. It needs to be a well known brand to get anywhere.
I was lucky to be in the middle of a case study when Facebook first altered the algorithm. At first they changed the timeline so it ONLY showed people you interacted with within a certain timeframe and users had to go and adjust their settings to start seeing everyone's posts again (you guys remember that?) Your updates will go out to users who are online at that very moment and don't have your posts set to "show only important", but Page posts will almost never be seen by someone who has accumulated a bunch of backlogged posts unless they have went into their settings and told Facebook to show all your page posts. I covered the disadvantages imposed on Pages vs. Profiles in my latest E-Book (it's actually free on my website w/ subscription).
I believe they constructed the subscribe button JUST for celebrities. Celebrities aren't the ones buying advertising, but users do like to get their updates. It's trying to capitalize on what users like about Twitter. Businesses aren't allowed to have Profiles, Facebook has put a lot of thought into turning their Social Network into a Business that takes advantage of every facet of their platform. The value of the latest modifications (for Facebook) escape the average user.
etelligence What is your website?
troynalls you can find my social media website at http://adamjustice.me/ .
I need to get caught up on all the changes with business pages. My page posts used to get a lot more attention and views than they do today. Thanks for the info!
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One of the toughest things for business pages is that they can't tag people who've "fanned" the page in posts. I think Facebook disallowed this in the middle of last year. So one way around that is to post an update as the page, and then post a comment as yourself (i.e. person), and tag a few people. Obviously, this should be in a non-spammy, relevant way, and it doesn't have to be done with every single post. What this does is a) show the update in your personal timeline, which can help especially if you have way more personal friends than business fans, and b) alert the people you've tagged to the post.
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Shonali Clever.
Hi Gini (MIddle Eastern wifi progress ahoy!!) - welcome from afar (which is SO close to "welcome from a bar" - which would be more sociable I guess)....
In my new gig - It's like stepping back in time - without a skipper who really knows what he is doing. I am the self-nominated Social media champion - who got knocked out at the first round when he competed against other 'big schools' in the Big Leagues -
It is great to read your updates / education. - but for me to educate others (less 'in the know' than our selves) - can you refer to me an earlier version of SSucks, or even go off piste (on someone else's website). Where do you start with a new Facebook campaign (SM campaign) - what are the basics that can make the biggest diffference....
Sorry that the first time you hear from me is with a question (so needy!) - but I have to use my internet uptime carefully!!!
It's about 80 degrees here this morning - a chilly winter morn!!!
About #1: I think its forcing brands to be more engaging with their content. Its also making brands to grow their fan base organically or paid.
I'm noticing celebrities that I have "like" months ago appearing on my timeline and I'm not seeing smaller pages.
My latest conversation: 7 tips to humanize your brand on Facebook
With #1, I suspect EdgeRank is becoming more complicated. The amount of "stories," or any content shared on Facebook, has increased exponentially year after year. Think about how much stuff you aren't seeing you're 600+ friends do. Add in any pages you like, and it's obvious that people and pages without a robust presence are getting lost in the mix.
JayDolan Precisely!
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Regarding #1, I don't believe it's absolutely necessary to go the paid ads/sponsored stories route. (I'm not a big proponent of those anyways. I think it detracts from the ultimate purpose of social media utilization and that, while you may boost your fan numbers, it doesn't seem to correlate with engagement. But I digest...) Timeline revamps aside, I think increasing news feed appearances have more to do with Facebook's EdgeRank algorithm and how/how OFTEN you post page content, i.e., constantly switching it up between Photos, Videos, Links, and Questions. So the argument could be made that the more creativity you put into your social strategy, the more likely your org's page is to succeed in the "Social Sea."
jacque_PR I'm with you - not a fan of paying for stuff on social media. It does defeat the purpose, doesn't it?
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ginidietrichjacque_PR What we shouldn't pay for fans? I wish I knew this earlier!! (hehe jk)
rachaelseda Well, Rach, you have to pay for them because no one likes you.
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ginidietrich WHATTTT?! That's not what they tell me...at least that's definitely not what I pay them to say!
Since you asked...I HATE THE TIMELINE. Yes, it is convoluted, cluttered and chaotic.
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TheJackB Really?? I love it. It's so much fun to go back and see what you were doing two years ago.
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ginidietrichTheJackB I also love the timeline, though I'm not sure why you would want to go back and see what you were doing two years ago, unless it's to see how empty and meaningless your life was before you met me...
My latest conversation: Your Online Communities and Freedom
KenMuellerginidietrich I have a blog that tells me what I have been doing for the past 20 years.
But the timeline drives me crazy because it feels noisy to me. It doesn't come across as being calm and intuitive
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TheJackBginidietrich See, I had the exact opposite reaction. At the top there might be a bit of noise based on the variety of things you are doing at this moment (plus, many of us are more active on FB than we were a few years back), but once you scroll down, there is a definite flow and pattern.
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TheJackB Even though we disagree, you remain one of my favorite people.
My latest conversation: Three Values to Hold High in 2012
KenMuellerginidietrich It might make more sense to me if I spent more time messing around with it, but it just feels like nails on a chalkboard to me.
I'll try to take a second look.
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ginidietrich Now what can I say to that. My daughter does stuff like that. Right after I say no she says something like, "I love you daddy" and damn if that doesn't melt a little of the ice...
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TheJackB LOL!! Sounds like she knows EXACTLY what she's doing!
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ginidietrich There is no doubt that she does, but she hasn't quite figured out that having grown up with ten thousand sisters I know all of the tricks. They don't always work....really.
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TheJackB Only ten thousand??
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KenMueller Oh Ken. Of course, you're right. My life WAS empty without you in it.
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ginidietrich It felt/feels like it. Every one of my sisters had a bunch of friends who adopted me as their big brother. Got more than a few calls asking me to help them move and or listen to their man problems.
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TheJackB How many sisters do you have? I have four brothers so the opposite effect.
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ginidietrich Four and they are all crazy. Did I mention that they love it when I describe them like that. ;)
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TheJackB Oh I'll bet. I'd love it if my brothers described me as crazy.
My latest conversation: Thurs: Six Reasons to Practice Social Media Authenticity
ginidietrich Years of experience has demonstrated that one of the best ways to get a woman's attention is to:
1) Tell her to relax.
2) Call or describe her as being crazy/hysterical.
3) Ignore her.
Granted these are not designed to garner a favorable or loving response but I am a big brother and am speaking in said role.
Back in the day those sisters of mine used to scream...Got me in trouble more than once, but how else does a brother show his love. ;)
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TheJackB Tell her to relax. HAHAHAHAH!!!! You are so right. LOL!
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TheJackBginidietrich Jack, you forgot "compliment her on her outfit" and then she'll immediately start questioning the outfit, because there's no way you have decent fashion sense.
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KenMuellerginidietrich Ken, very true. Don't forget to look her up and down and then pause before you speak.
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TheJackBginidietrich I always pause BEFORE I speak. And then I automatically flinch AFTER I speak. Force of habit.
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ginidietrichTheJackB Unless you weren't going to class and your friends call you out on it....hahaha
TheJackB I agree with you - it is cluttered, even though I changed over myself and don't have any regrets. I suspect that our reactions have something to do with us being creatures of habit too.
John_Trader1 I don't doubt the creature of habit bit at all. It certainly describes part of me.
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TheJackB I hated it at first but quickly learned to appreciate it...
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[...] The new Timeline shines the spotlight on you and your business, and that’s a good thing, but don’t forget your users. You should still encourage them to post and share their content, even if it isn’t quite as easy to see and navigate. And hopefully, Facebook will tweak the Timeline to allow these posts to be seen more easily. They’ve already made a few tweaks to the Timeline regarding how third party apps post, so we’ll just have to wait and see. [...]
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