By: Joanna Guldin-Noll
If you’re a small business owner, you’ve probably complained about Facebook. Facebook throttles views. Facebook constantly changes. Facebook makes things difficult. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Sound familiar? I know I’ve said some of these exact things. Until recently, that is… because I’ve figured out how to make Facebook beneficial for my followers and for my business.
If you’re feeling sluggish about your Facebook presence (or maybe downright hostile toward it), you can absolutely take steps to change the way you interact with your customers/clients. It’s easy to take just one or two of these strategies and consistently apply them. You’ll be building relationships through Facebook easily in no time!
Respond
You wouldn’t believe how many businesses do not respond to their followers’ questions, comments, and posts. Ignoring posts silently says, “You’re not important” to your customers/clients. Responding is not a waste of time. Sure, writing back and liking comments doesn’t generate an immediate profit, but it definitely helps improve customer satisfaction. Be responsive and helpful. If someone posts a negative comment or review, make sure you respond to that and try to make it right. You’ll be surprised how a few seconds will help make a lasting, positive impression of your brand on your followers.
Post Less of You
Stop talking about yourself…or at least, stop talking about yourself so much. No one likes being in a one-sided conversation where the other person only talks about how amazing they are. There needs to be give and take. The same goes for social media. When you constantly post only your links and only information about you, your audience will soon tune it out or unfollow.
Post More of Others
If you can’t talk about yourself all the time, what are you going to talk about? Talk about other people. Share links that are pertinent and interesting to your following. Tag other pages when you do. Share a little love. Not only does Facebook seem to boost links you share that are not yours (meaning more eyes will be on that post), it also helps generate goodwill with the businesses and individuals in your particular niche. It’s more likely that those pages and organizations will share your work with their audiences, too.
Boost Important Posts
If there’s something you really want your followers to see, make sure that you reserve a few marketing dollars to boost important posts. Facebook prioritizes boosted posts and ensures that your specified audience sees them. It’s a pretty economical and useful way to find new followers and possible new clients. (By the way, after boosting a post, you’ll usually see higher engagement numbers on subsequent posts without spending a dime.)
Make It Worth It
Nothing helps create relationships with your customers or clients like a giveaway, coupon, or other exclusive freebies that your audience would love. You’ll absolutely see an increase in engagement – pay attention to what your followers are saying. And don’t forget to respond, too! (Be careful when doing a giveaway – Facebook has specific rules on what you can and cannot say and do.)
Ask Questions
This one’s really easy because people naturally want to chat on social media. Ask your audience questions. Make the questions open-ended to discourage yes/no answers. You’ll also want to make the questions interesting. If you’re a bakery, ask what flavor cupcake your audience would love to see you make. If you’re a tax preparer, ask for your audience’s questions surrounding tax returns. Take note of what’s important to your audience – you can use this to your advantage in marketing and product/service creation – and don’t forget to respond to their answers!
Share the Scoop
Everyone loves a little bit of gossip – and you can create that allure using Facebook. Hint at exciting products or services coming soon. Give “spoilers” of new products. Show what happens behind the scenes of your business. It will make your content interesting and give your followers a deeper appreciation for what you do…and it’ll get them talking.
Use Pictures and Videos
Pictures and videos are especially eye-catching on Facebook. Use them to your advantage. Share quotes, videos of your staff, pictures of interesting things relating to your business, photos shared to you by fans…the sky’s the limit for how you can creatively integrate other kinds of media.
Before applying these strategies, think about your audience. It’s unique and one that you’ve worked hard to cultivate. Make sure the strategies fit your audience and your brand. Then, make sure you’re consistent with your strategy. Remember: relationships are built over time in the real world. It works the same way in the digital one.
