Is Your Company Liked? Do's and Don'ts of Facebook for Business

Facebook has over one billion active users and, according to HubSpot’s 2011 State of Inbound Marketing Report, generates the most B2C conversations among all social networks.

The odds are that your target market will see your Facebook page at some point in time, and you want to grab their attention and increase the frequency of their visits.  Beyond that, you want those frequent visitors to become advocates of your company that will share your content with their friends, and potentially drive new leads to your business.

The last thing you want to do is get noticed on Facebook for all of the wrong reasons.  To make sure that your company is getting the most out of their Facebook profile, be sure to adhere by the following guidelines.

Do’s and Don’ts of Facebook for Business

Do…

Respond to customer comments, both positive and negative

People that “Like” your page and follow your business on Facebook tend to have a general interest in your company or the content that you post.  When users comment on a post or write on your wall, try to recognize them.  Responding to comments shows viewers that your company genuinely cares what its customers have to say, which creates a positive sentiment.  The more connected your customers feel to the brand, the more likely they are to spread the word.

Post multiple times per day

The concept is easy enough.  Posting quality content on a regular basis will draw viewers to your business’s page and keep them there.  Don’t spam posts for the sake of posting, but try a variety of content that relates to your business and its current events to see what your followers respond to.

Share content that you are using to generate leads on your website

Facebook provides you with a great chance to promote content that you have generated on your company website.  Feel free to link to your company blog when a new post goes live, and try linking some content to one of your landing pages.  Use Facebook as an extension of your website to drive traffic back to your website and blog.

 Use plug-ins to allow fans to like pages on your website directly

Allow customers to connect with your company on Facebook directly from your webpage.  Just as you want Facebook to link customers to your website, you also want to drive customers to your Facebook page.  Plug-ins that allow users to “Like” your page directly from the website will help drive customers to your Facebook page and create a closed loop.

Don’t…

Remove or edit customer posts

Never get involved with editing or removing posts.  Potential customers may see this as an attempt to avoid what may be considered an issue.  Rather, try to be proactive and attempt to come across as a caring problem solver.  Address the concern, and see if you can resolve whatever the issue is that lead to the negative comment.  If you have a customer that is spamming negative comments, or “trolling” your page, you can block that user, but only use this as a last resort.

Come across as a salesman

Facebook users understand that you want to promote your business, but don’t want to feel like they are constantly being sold to.  The goal is to promote your business without boring your customers.  52% of consumers say they have stopped following a brand on Facebook because the information posted had become “too repetitive and boring.”  So try to find a happy medium between promotion and interest.  Throw in some lighthearted or funny posts to mix things up and increase the potential of followers sharing your content with their friends.  Just be sure not to abandon your social media campaign’s goals by only posting humorous content.

Be overly repetitive or spam posts

Can’t think of something to post?  Don’t post for the sake of posting or repost old blog articles.  This is not to say that you cannot repeat links to your webpage; just spread them out and connect them to unique content.  If you are really stuck, try a new angle.  Link to an article that is relevant to your industry and connect it back to your company.  Be creative, but be relevant and avoid spamming your customers.

Post infrequently

This may seem like a contradiction of the previous point, but don’t come across as a passive company.  Try to post somewhere between three and five times per day to keep your followers coming back for more.  The goal is to find a happy medium in how much to post.  See what your target audience responds to the most, and run with it.

Looking to get more out of social media?

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