With over 50% of the New Zealand population and about 68% of the population in Marlborough being on Facebook it would be a foolish and bad business sense for your brand not to be there. But what are the mistakes you want to avoid?
- Having a personal account and profile for your business.
Facebook Pages are created for businesses, organisations, brands and personalities. They are public in the same way your website is, and allow people to Like and Follow your Page. Creating a personal account is not only against Facebook Terms and Conditions, but means you miss out on some of the tools Facebook supplies you on a Page, like the Insights – how many people see your posts and engage with them, when your Followers are online, and where your Followers are from. You also have access to ads on Pages, meaning you can promote your content to audiences you choose.
Businesses don’t have Friends, and if someone has to become a Friend of your business then not only do they need to wait for you to approve their Friend Request, but they are also giving all their personal information to you as a business which they may not want to do.
You can convert your personal profile that has been created for your business to a Page.
- Irregular Posting
Don’t bomb post people, just because you remember today that you haven’t posted for a while, don’t make up for it by posting five things today and then forgetting for another few weeks. Posting should be scheduled out and regular, keeping your business in front of mind for your customers.
- Only Posting Adverts
Social Media isn’t about advertising it is about connecting with your customers and adding value to their lives. According to a Colmar Brunton “Overt advertising on social media is seen as intrusive – 78% of people don’t like advertisements on social media and that rises to 82% when it is on mobiles or tablets.”. Mix things up, post different things that your customers will be interested in and will not be seen to be intruding on their lives.
These mistakes are easy to correct and once corrected will help build your business profile and online community.