I see a lot of Facebook pages on a daily basis. A lot of them are really using Facebook well. But a lot of others are doing some things that not only drive me crazy, but may also be alienating their existing fans or preventing new ones from liking their page.
Rather than simply banging my head against my desk, I wanted to outline these common Facebook mistakes to help you avoid them.
Too Many Posts
OMG people, we do not need to see a post from you every hour. I'm serious! Stop it!
I get that you want to increase your reach and exposure, but flooding people's news feeds is not the best way to do it. Instead, spend your time crafting valuable content and sharing only a couple quality posts a day. You'll find your engagement on each post will increase.
I will concede that if you have tens of thousands of fans, it might warrant higher posting frequencies. But if you only have 128 fans, trust me, posting every hour is not helping you grow your audience!
Poor Quality Images
If you're sharing pixellated and poorly formatted photos, it's obvious you grabbed whatever image you could find off of Google. First of all, there's no excuse for poor quality images in today's online world. Take the time to find better quality images. Secondly, simply grabbing images off Google goes into a whole new world of attribution and copyright. Yes, we all do it and share images that aren't ours. But give credit where credit is due and limit the number of times you "steal" other content for your Facebook page.
No Cover Photo
Facebook introduced cover photos a long time ago. If you don't have one on your page by now, it makes you look lazy and unprofessional. Take the time to find a relevant photo or craft a well-designed image that represents your brand. Use this real estate on your Facebook page to convey the message you want people to see!
Only Your Own Content
You obviously want to promote your own content. I get that. But it's important to mix in other content on your Facebook page. If your page is only your blog posts, your latest accomplishments, and your services/products, your fans aren't going to stick around.
Bragging
Similar to the above point, if your Facebook page is just a place for you to hype up your business, people are going to get sick of hearing about you. Yes, you should absolutely share a great recommendation or review. But this should not be the only content you post.
Please, stop making these Facebook mistakes! Stop and think about why people are "using" Facebook. They want to connect with others. They don't want brands shoving content in their face. Stop making these mistakes and people will stop dropping you like a hot potato.
Have you seen other bad Facebook behaviors? Leave a comment with what drives you crazy!
You would think that these tips would make sense, but sadly some will not change no matter what! I think my least favorite of all of these are the last 2 (sharing only your own posts and bragging). These, to me, seem the most intentional and the least “social”.
You’re right, Kim! Some people refuse to embrace the “social” aspect of social media and continue to conduct themselves as a marketing megaphone. I just hope that they will learn, in time, how to use these tools more effectively.
Great advice Jenn.
Thanks Julia 🙂
All very good points Jenn. What works for Michael Sheely? I find that if I follow some of the social media experts, ie. Mari Smith, Jon Loomer, Gary Vaynerchuk, Jenn’s Trends, and some others I will do fine, as will the pages that I admin. Unfortunately, some of my Clients feel that they know better. Maybe, they shouldn’t be Clients… Hmmmmm! I think that “the golden rule” applies here. Do unto others…… I like to keep things informational, entertaining, educational, or helpful for the most part. I have implemented, what I believe to be an industry standard of 80/20. 80% of the time my posts are just that… informational, educational, etc., while 20% I may use some type of subliminal sales messaging. I think that has worked for the pages that I admin and my personal style. Additionally, I am a huge fan of creating (nurturing) engagement. I love great content for my Clients! Sometimes it’s mine or theirs and sometimes its OPC (other people’s content). At the end of the day…. did I bring value to their FB experience? That should be our role at the end of each day, did we bring value through the telling of a story! Thanks for allowing me this opportunity to comment!
Thanks Michael! I think you hit the nail on the head when you said “did I bring value to their FB experience?” That is such a good (though difficult) standard to set. And your strategy and process sounds great to me 🙂