When businesses turn to Facebook they’re not looking to check up on Aunt Sue’s college reunion pictures or share a video of Baby Jeannie’s first steps.
Businesses look at Facebook as another weapon in their marketing arsenal, and like all weapons, if it’s not firing, it’s not doing its job. And the metaphorical equivalent to firing in this case is how “likable” or “shareable” any given post is.
If people aren’t commenting, liking or sharing your post, there is a significantly reduced value. Chances are, if you check the numbers on posts with low shares, comments, and likes, you’ll see very small “XX number of people saw this post” reports. That’s not good.
There are a lot of ways to succeed with posting, but here we want to examine tactics you should either avoid of use with extreme caution if Facebook success is part of your strategy. Nod your head, Facebook success IS part of your strategy.
When you consider that most USERS on Facebook are paying attention to businesses in the FB world through the prism of “What’s In It For Me,” you’ll have a good compass for guiding your content strategy.
- There’s no “I” in team, but there’s a “ME!”
Those thinly veiled “self-congratulatory” posts about something your company did or accomplished are “like”-worthy but probably not “share” worthy. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t let people know how you’re saving the world’s ozone layer or rescuing cute kittens at the humane society shelter, but do it in small doses, and don’t expect anyone else to carry that water for you. Consider those “likes” as “atta boys.” - Being Foul is a Foul
Aim for middle of the road when it comes to edginess, sauciness, risque, or steamy content. Consider your audience and the demographics of the people you’re marketing to. Also bear in mind that although your direct audience may get a kick out of your post, THEIR friends or family might not find it equally amusing. So that limits the “share” factor on your post. In fact, it also limits the “like” factor, because savvy users will know that if they “like” a post, there’s a chance their friends and family could see that action. - Begging for Likes
In the sports world, a lot of veterans will tell younger players to “act like you’ve been there before” when it comes to scoring a goal, basket, touchdown, or whatnot. The point is: Keep it cool, and don’t look desperate for attention. The same sentiment should guide your approach to “asking” for likes. It’s not bad if you encourage your fans occasionally to “please share with your friends” so that you can connect with more people and hopefully get a variety of fresh input from other people’s perspectives. Notice that we did not say to ask your fans to share your page (or post) so that you can get more likes, or sell more widgets, or get a wider reach for your marketing efforts. It’s subtle sell versus direct sell, and it pays to know the difference and pay attention to how you’re phrasing your asks
As with most things, there are right ways and wrong ways of doing things on Facebook, and the same tactic that works in a certain way can be tweaked so that it becomes a cinder block as opposed to a hot air balloon in terms of its effect on lifting your company’s efforts at increasing awareness and driving results.
