Posting effective Facebook content on a daily basis can be difficult even for the biggest of brands. The following are the eight most common mistakes to avoid in order to get the most out of your social approach:
1) Not defining the social voice of your brand
Fill out three columns that describe: “What’s our brand’s personality?”, “How would consumers define our brand’s personality” and lastly, “What is/should be our brand’s social personality?”.
Note that one-on-one, daily interaction from brands cannot look identical to mass distributed, impression-based communications. The social personality must be deeper and more defined. Develop a story, write it down, print, bind and distribute to all stakeholders for reference. For additional thoughts read, “10 Ways to Humanize Brands on Social Media“.
2) Brilliant text-only posts
Never miss an opportunity to reach additional human senses utilizing imagery. The recall is higher, the brand is reinforced and the post more sharable. When budget constraints prevent a design option or you’re just having an off week of L.B.D. (lazy-butt disease) consider postponing a post until a later time.
3) Open-ended questions from a large corporation
“What are your plans for the fall season?” This question sound familiar? It’s a legitimate question you might ask someone you just met at a business meeting. It’s not however, a question you ask community members with whom you interact with on a daily basis. It reflects being out of touch with the community’s culture and is often the output when #1 above isn’t addressed.
4) Dropping off conversations post-posting
We’re meticulous in creating content that spurs high engagement but brands often don’t follow up in order to keep the conversation rolling. Reply to comments so they know you’re attentive and reward the quality ones.
5) Inconsistent content categories and post scheduling
Be flexible with content but rarely with categories and timing. Community members count on a caption contest, for example, being held on Friday at 10:00 AM EST every week. In regards to the number of content categories it’s wise to stay at or below ten.
6) Forgetting to sell product
Always keep this top-of-mind: “Where could a shortened URL to the product page by inserted in this post appropriately.” Find ways to drive traffic and sell product or else you’ll see your budget minimized come next year.
7) Treating brand ambassadors like general coupon-hunters
Your brand ambassadors are those who liked your page without incentive. They go to bat for you in times of crisis, they further the reach of content and often know your brand better than junior staff.
When coupon-hunters are sprinkled or even poured into your community the temptation is to speak to them with communications that are general in nature. This will only ostracize and offend your devoted fans who are critical to your business.
8) Out of balance content: branded vs. un-branded
Follow “the 30/70 rule“. 30% branded and 70% un-branded content and you’re more likely to maintain a long-term relationship with consumers.
