As much as I love the movie Field of Dreams, and really want to believe Ray Liotta when he tells Kevin Costner “If you build it, he will come”, sadly that rarely applies to your social media networks. You may have built an amazing new branded Facebook timeline page for your business (and by now hopefully you have!) – however there is one thing of equal importance you still really need to focus on building – your audience.
This audience will be your brand champions, and you can use your existing followers to bring new people to your audience. The more the existing audience interacts with your brand, the more chance there is of their own social networks noticing this, and thereby doing the same. Ultimately, every time someone does interact with your brand via social media it is free advertising for you, so always bear that in mind prior to siphoning money into Pay-Per-Click advertising on Facebook as that time/money can often be better invested into the steps below.
1) If you haven’t already, make a song and dance about the fact your company is on Facebook. Announce to your customers you’re there (via email, existing newsletters, website updates etc) and they should be there with you. Give them incentives to be there, such as product offers, exclusive content and other initiatives. Most of all, make them feel like they’re missing out on something if they aren’t with you on Facebook.
2) Analysis is the king when it comes to social, as it’s your way of proving the value you are adding to your company. However, in this case, simply using Facebook insights can give you a clear idea of what types of posts have been engaging with your existing audience. Check out your top 10 posts and bottom 10 posts – and adapt your strategy. If polls you created and posted are getting the best results, post some more. See what kind of content your audience are most and least interested in, and give them more of what the numbers say they want.
3) Ask your audience – instead of just posting a link, ask your followers what they think about the content as well. Keep them engaged and the impressions on your posts will reflect that.
4) Keep your fans informed about any special deals, potentially with additional emails with direct links to your page (a direct link can also be easily measured to show the successful click through rate), but be careful not to overload them. Try and make your audience feel appreciated, so that they are inspired to communicate more with your brand, recommend you to their friends via Facebook, and post positive comments. This can also show people who aren’t following you on Facebook the potential perks of doing so.
5) Be proud that you’re on Facebook, and shout about it. Add the page link to your email signature, add icons to your website in as prominent a position as you can. Many recent surveys have shown that customers are more comfortable placing their customer service enquiry via a social media portal, so it is in your best interests to offer you Facebook brand page as an outlet for this – and to be publically seen doing so.
