The Pitfalls of Facebook for Business

If I had a pound for every time someone asked “What am I doing wrong?” I would probably be able to retire.

Facebook is a fantastic shop window for any business to regularly showcase their services or products however it only works if you do it correctly.
We are therefore sharing with you our 7 key thoughts in this blog to help you with getting your Facebook strategy working for you and ultimately getting you new customers, sales and results.

1. It’s not all about you!

Do you know someone that always talks about themselves? … Irritating isn’t it.
If you know someone like this after a while it tends to get tiresome … they are completely self-absorbed and usually they don’t listen to you.
Well the same goes for Facebook – while you may be posting up regular (or irregular) adverts on your business’s services and products, doing so can come with a huge drawback of people being turned off, therefore decreasing your engagement and people interested in what you are having to say.
The more that your content touches, effects and turns on your potential customers into paying customers, the more likely it is that they’ll move further along the sales cycle to produce a return.
Make sure your content is relevant to them and that it’s going to interest them more than it interests you.

2. You don’t diversify social content on your page

While we all love a giggle from a picture, video or quote, your Facebook business page needs to be more than just this to keep up the momentum and variation of meaningful engagement.
Pages that only share photos provide no reason for a follower to convert. These non-imaginative and non-creative posts can become monotonous and boring. They also won’t attract the advantage of sharing content that can move prospects further into the sales cycle toward a conversion.
Try sharing articles and information that is interesting or useful to your potential customers, as well as relevant to your business.
You’ll likely find that people respond more positively when there’s a healthy mix and variation of content that meets their needs and requirements and mix this with content that is meant to be directly promotional.

3. You don’t reply to messages … oh dear

Your followers, potential customers and the supporters of your page will now be using your Facebook page as a main method to get in touch with you.
As with any contact or enquiry, we need to get back to these messages as soon as possible to show competent service levels.
Your response times should be as prompt as possible so assure you set up notifications and get back to them right away.
Make a point of treating Facebook messages like any email inquiry and seek to get back to people as soon as possible.
Not only is this good social media etiquette, but its good customer service and needed to make sure you get back to them before your competitors do!

4. You don’t share consistent updates, news and reviews about your business

Most people follow business pages because of one thing … it is because they are interested in what you do as a company, what you offer, what you sell and what service(s) you provide … if they had no interest then they wouldn’t follow you.
Therefore if they have the time to follow you, make time to give them great content on what is happening in your business (news, reviews, what’s hot, what’s not, special offers, events, competitions, etc).
More importantly, make sure you have a consistent stream of posts that engages your audience and keeps them informed of what’s going on in your business.
Whilst you’re at it, consistently update things like your hours of opening, new team members and don’t miss out on any opportunity to connect.

5. Don’t expect a quick fix or to become a digital expert or millionaire overnight

Your Facebook (or any other social media portal for that matter) is no quick fix and it won’t happen overnight. Just like search engine optimisation, it takes time to build and a lot of effort and hard work to maintain.
Investing your time and money into this form of digital marketing will not make you a millionaire from a weeks worth of posting!
Provide a steady, constant and consistent flow of great content that people will engage with. This will steadily grow a solid base of followers and provide your business with a valuable marketing tool.
Be patient.

6. Don’t have duplicate, old or unwanted Facebook pages

If you have a multitude of duplicated Facebook pages and these have not been used then delete them. Duplicate or unused pages can become confusing as well as looking unprofessional.
People use Facebook as a search tool to find out about businesses in their area that can provide a service or product to them that they need. On top of this Facebook pages are endorsed with reviews so it’s another great platform to market from.
If users are confused that you have more than one page they may just move to your competitor. It looks unprofessional and can come across to the user as a lazy business that has no time to manage their marketing.
The easier you make it to find your business then the more likely it is that prospective clients or customers will visit your page and then move forward in contacting you to do business.
You can do an exercise in sorting out this issue by claiming unmanaged and duplicated pages and merging them into one awesome Facebook page.

7. You share content to the wrong audience

• What is your target market?
• What is your ideal customer?
• Who would be interested in what you do or what you sell?

Sharing content with customers that have the same interests in what you sell or provide is key.
There is no point in sharing a post about The Wimbledon Tennis Championship to a die hard football fanatic … They are worlds apart!
So if you sell tennis balls, sell them to tennis players … If they love football, sell them the latest soccer ball. I know this sounds crazy and pretty simple but put some thought into matching your product or service toward your ideal customer.
It’s like building a relationship based on mutual interests.
Over time, this practice builds trust, keeps you top of mind, and creates a key point of difference between you and your competition.

Read Also: Are you heading for brand suicide?

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